As the world around us is buzzing with electronic devices, everyone, including kids, are surrounded by Ipads, mobile phones, and TV, minimising the time for communication activities for kids. But when your kids enter the real world, they realise that communicating effectively is one of the most critical skillsets they need to succeed in life.

Importance of Communication Skills for Kids

Communication skills play a vital role in children's development in the following ways:-

• Helps in confidence-building
• Enables to express themselves clearly
• Improves interaction with other people, thus making social life better
• Enhances academics & vocabulary
• Keeps behavioural disorders like social anxiety and depression at bay.
• Facilitates learning and exchange of information

Top 10 Communication Skills Activities for Children

Following are the 10 interesting communication games and activities which you can use as tools to develop communications skills and confidence in your kids:-

• Chinese Whisper
  This game works on listening skills which is an essential part of communication. "Chinese whisper" requires all the kids to sit in a circle. Now one kid will whisper a message into the player's ear seated on the right side. This player then whispers it to another one. The cycle continues until everyone's turn. Then the massage is said aloud, which is likely to be very funny as it will be significantly different from the original one.
   
• Direct Me to the Shop
  Ask your kids to write directions to their favourite toy/ice cream/book shop nearby. Start your journey with your kids based on these directions. They will know if they gave the correct directions when you reach the destination. Later, you can help them correct their mistakes (if any). "Direct me to the shop" works on the problem-solving and written communication skills of your kids.
   
• Describe & Show
  This is one of the most simple, at the same time, most exciting communication skills activities for kids. Ask them to pick their favourite topic or thing or place like a story, toy, or garden. Now let them show an item related to the topic and describe it in 5 sentences. "Describe & show" help improve your kids' verbal communication and vocabulary.
   
• 20 Questions
  "20 questions" is an excellent communication skills activity for children as it teaches them to ask questions and brainstorm together. In this game, kids make a circle and stand in the centre of that circle one by one. The kid in the centre will have a prominent place or a personality in mind. The other kids in the circle need to guess it by asking a maximum of 20 questions.
   
• Guess the Thing
  Blindfold a child from a group of kids. Now ask other kids to choose an object in the room. Other kids need to describe the features and characteristics of the item to the kid with a blindfold. They should explain in such a way that the name of the object can be identified without seeing it. Parents count "Guess the thing" amongst the most effective communication games for kids.
   
• Who's the Leader?
  "Who’s the leader” is a unique communication skills activity which trains kids to recognise body language. One kid amongst several kids will act as a leader of the group. That little master needs to perform leadership actions like stomping feet and ordering with hands. Other kids will imitate the action, and the one who does the best gets to be the group's next leader.
   
• Follow the Instructions
  Make multiple lists of instructions and hand them over to a group of kids. Let the instructions be mixed up. For instance, the first instruction is “read all instructions” and the last one to “ignore all instructions”. “Follow the instructions” will teach kids to read all instructions before they embark on any assignment.
   
• Back to Back
  Make 2 kids sit back to back. Now provide a picture or a drawing or an item to one kid. He or she then will describe whatever is in their hand to other kids. The other kid needs to guess it. The guesswork in “Back to back” encourages kids to think out of the box. Also, the description part is proven to be one of the most productive activities to develop communication skills.
   
• What’s on My Mind?
  In this game, also we make a circle of our little players. And the kid standing in the middle of the circle will think of any food/place/occupation/plant/thing/person. The other kids in the circle will take the hints and ask questions from the kid in the centre to guess what he or she is thinking. You can hear a lot of noise and giggles of kids during “What’s on my mind”.
   
• Trolley Champion
  You will love this one the most amongst all communication games and activities as you can play “Trolley champion” with your children while shopping in a supermarket. Pick an item and ask your child to tell 3 things or characteristics of that item. For instance, if you pick watermelon, your kid could say to you that:-
  1. It’s a fruit
  2. It’s green from outside
  3. It’s red from the inside.

The Bottom Line!

Communication skills are the means to express. If your kids struggle in expression, they will likely struggle in their academics and career as well. Thus as a parent, it’s imperative to invest time and effort in the personal growth of your kids. The results always show up!

These communication skills activities for children are specially designed for parents like you. So go ahead and spend fun time with your kids while fine-tuning their communication skills.