Turn-Taking

• Children with pragmatic difficulties often have weak conversation skills, with problems taking turns, staying on topic, and starting and ending a conversation. In the telephone game, toy phones engage children in short, structured conversations. Throwing or passing a ball back and forth provides kids with tactile and visual cues needed to effectively take turns and maintain conversational flow.
  
  

Role-Playing

• Role-playing allows children to take on different roles and practice conversation skills across a variety of situations. For example, kids can take turns playing the waiter and the customer at a restaurant or play teacher and student, with the "teacher" describing how to perform specific tasks. Children also can use dolls and puppets to reduce anxiety when role-playing new or unfamiliar situations.
  
  

Barriers

• Barrier games help children improve their ability to use language appropriately to meet listeners' needs. While sitting across from each other, separated by a physical barrier, children give and receive directions. To promote understanding, they must modify their language when listeners need clarification. The Guess Who board game requires children to ask their partners questions to determine a target character's identity. Creating picture scenes, another barrier game, gives each child an identical background. One child draws or attaches objects to the background and must then provide clear directions to help the other child recreate the scene.
  
  

Storytelling

• Children with pragmatic difficulties often have disorganized language, with their stories having little or no structure. Storytelling activities improve listening and language organization skills. When given an opportunity to retell a story, children develop sequencing and paraphrasing skills. Book illustrations can help children recall the story's events and interpret the characters' nonverbal communication, including facial expressions and body language.