Following Instructions Resources

These resources, some created by Smarter Parenting, and others from other organizations, will help you to practice and implement this skill with your child.

The key to successfully implementing this skill and having it followed consistently is to (role-play) the situations multiple times. The benefits of practicing or role-playing a situation are:

• It builds confidence.
• Children develop listening and reacting skills.
• Provides children with creative problem solving skills.
• Prepares them for situations that may difficult to address in the moment.
• Establishes set rules and expectations from parents clearly for children to understand.
• Helps children know what to do in stressful situations.

Make Playdough

How to use this activity

A simple way to make play-dough with your child. It requires two ingredients and at the end you and your child will have a sweet smelling play-dough to enjoy together. Watch the video for more information.

Stamps

How to use this activity

Use this for younger children who struggle remembering the steps. Practice the steps and for every step completed you can give them a stamp. Feel free to use other items as a reward for remembering the steps. We recommend using stamps as they are easy to do. Increase the difficulty as your child remembers each of the steps.

Bead Necklace

How to use this activity

Providing something for your child as a reminder of completing the task helps them also prepare for future instances where they will need to use the skill again. It helps them remember the skill, especially during the course of a day when things can be busy. You can use bead necklaces or a variation based on your child and their interests.

Homemade Water Rocket

How to use this activity

Be sure to supervise your child during the course of this activity. It does require a few materials to create but it is great fun to create and watch. You can also use this activity to talk about emotion control and emotions build up over time.