Communication-Building Activity for Parents and Children

Developing good communication skills at an early age helps kids build healthy relationships with other children and adults, and feel more confident in themselves. Unfortunately, communication between parents and children is often strained, unclear and, sadly, sometimes almost nonexistent. It is easy for parents and children to fall into a rut of hearing each other speak without really listening to what the other is saying. This leaves both parties feeling frustrated and misunderstood, and blocks the lines of communication between them.

As a youth worker with over 15 years of experience, I've often used communication building exercises to teach children how to speak and listen more effectively to each other. Surprisingly, I've also found that the same exercises work well for parents and kids who were having problems communicating. If you find your relationship with your child falling into this trap, try this quick communication building activity for parents and kids to help you redirect your attention on each other.

The objective: The objective of the communication building activity is to create the structure based solely on the instructions the partner provides.

The purpose: The purpose of this quick exercise is to help parents and kids practice and develop their communication skills with each other by giving and receiving instructions.

Necessary supplies: The materials needed for this communication building activity for kids and parents can be virtually any stackable items you have available around the house. Items that will work best are Lego blocks, Popsicle sticks, wooden blocks, clay, or paper.

Rules for the listening building activity:
1. Parent and child must sit back to back and not look at each other.

2. Each person must have an identical supply of materials.

3. Using only the provided materials, the parent must build a small structure. There should be a 5 to 10 minute time limit.

4. When the time is up, the parent must explain to the child how to build the exact structure he or she just made. Step-by-step instructions should be given, but the parent may not help the child in any other way. Both parent and child must rely completely on their communication skills - one focused on properly explaining the instruction and the other focused on listening and following the directions given. There should be a 10 to 15 minute time limit for this step.

5. Once finished, the parent and child should face each other and compare finished products to see how effective their communication skills were.

6. The parent and child should once again sit back to back and complete the entire activity again with the roles reversed. The child will give the directions and the parent must listen and follow the instructions.

After both parent and child have had a turn at practicing both communicator roles, talk openly with your child about how the exercise went. Were you both able to use your words in a way that made your message clear to the other person? Did you listen to each other? How can you both use the same skills required for this communication building activity to more effectively communicate on a daily basis?

More from this author:
Kids and Respect
Five Tips for Talking to Kids about Bullying
How to Handle Your Child's Public Meltdowns

Resources:
"Communication Tips for Parents and Kids" by Kid Source
"Guidelines for Parent/Child Communication" by Child Development Institute