Communication Games for the Classroom
Communication skills are so important! If you are anything like I was when I was in the classroom, we find ourselves targeting communication with our students both directly and indirectly throughout the school day. The ability for people to ask one another questions, comment, respond to questions, and carry out a conversation is an important life skill. For students that struggle with communication skills, games can be a great way to get them chatting and having fun with their peers! Below are some games that are easy to play and will hopefully encourage communication skills between your students! To learn more about different aspects of communication in the classroom, click HERE.
Guess Who
This is a game that I am sure many of you are familiar with! This game is such an easy way to get our students communicating with one another! To play, students are required to ask questions in order to “guess who” the other student has chosen. The student responds and then asks a question in return. This game will surely spark some great conversations about the different characters! Provide models for questions and comments students can use throughout the game as needed! Here is a link to the original version but several other options are available including “Guess who” with Disney characters, Dory, and more!
Neds Head
Here is a silly game that students love! Students have to choose a card and feel around in “Neds Head” to try to find the object that matches! You can encourage communication by having students describe what they feel and what they’re looking for! The silly objects in Neds Head, such as “old gym sock” and “wiggly worm” will have your students giggling and interacting with one another in no time!
Headbands
This is another game that requires students to ask one another questions! The aim of the game is to guess the picture they are wearing on their headband! This game is very fun and can include multiple players (more opportunities to work on those skills)! A question card is provided to help students come up with questions if this is an area of difficulty.
Hi Ho Cherry O
This game is pretty popular among my students and always gets them talking when the dog or bird steals some cherries! Multiple players can be involved in this game! Have students verbalize what they landed on and who’s turn it is to increase communication!
Candy Land
Such a classic and fun game! Students seem to love anything that has to do with candy, even if it doesn’t involve eating it! Encourage students to identify who’s turn it is, verbalize the color or space they landed on, discuss their favorite candies and so forth! Multiple players can play this game and there are so many opportunities for communication! Whoever makes it to “Candy Land” first wins! There are a few versions of this game available as well, but the original is linked here!
Yeti In My Spaghetti
This game is very easy to play and can involve multiple players! Students will surely be communicating as they carefully pull out the pieces of spaghetti, trying to prevent the Yeti from falling into the bowl!
Go Fish
Here is another classic! This game is very easy to play, can involve multiple players, and can be used with so many different decks of cards! Students ask one another questions to try to get pairs! Here is a fun ocean version but there are SO many versions available!
In Summary
For students that really struggle with communication skills, it may be beneficial to come up with some conversation starters or phrases and sentences they can use during the games such as, “Your turn”, “Good try”, “What did you get?”, “Great job”, etc. Printing out these and having them available for students to reference may be helpful!
We sometimes have those students that get very upset when they don’t win the communication game or if things don’t go their way. If you have students that struggle with playing games, consider some social stories. I have some social stories on taking turns, asking friends to play, it’s not okay to tantrum and waiting patiently. These social stories are great to read before beginning. I like to read the story and then have the students answer a few questions about what we read, just to make sure they are ready to begin playing fairly!
I hope you find these games as fun and easy to use during free time in the classroom as I do. Students may require some initial modeling and encouragement to communicate during activities but will be having fun, laughing, and talking together in no time!
Like what you read? Don’t forget it, PIN IT!
