Parent guide
How to improve your child's communication skills at home
Good communication isn't only about speaking well. It is listening, asking questions, explaining clearly and taking turns. The best practice is everyday family time, turned into a game. Here are twelve activities that take ten minutes or less and need nothing more than paper and a pencil.
By the LearnNova team · Updated 20 October 2026
What "communication skills" means for a child
- Listening: paying attention and understanding what someone said
- Speaking clearly: putting thoughts in order so others can follow
- Asking questions: to find out more, or when something isn't clear
- Turn-taking: knowing when to talk and when to wait
- Body language: eye contact, facial expression and posture
The activities below each work on one or two of these. Pick two or three to try this week.
12 activities to try at home
1. Story chain
Ages 5+ · Builds: Speaking in order, listening
How to play: One person starts a story with a sentence: "Once upon a time, a cat found a red umbrella." Each person adds the next sentence. The only rule: your sentence must connect to the one before it.
Tip: Older children can be asked to end the story in exactly three more sentences.
2. Describe and draw
Ages 5+ · Builds: Clear instructions, describing
How to play: Your child looks at a simple picture you can't see and describes it while you draw it: "Draw a big circle in the middle. Put two small triangles on top." Compare the drawings at the end, then swap.
Tip: The funny mismatches show your child exactly where their instructions weren't clear.
3. Show and tell
Ages 5 to 8 · Builds: Speaking to an audience
How to play: Your child picks an object and tells the family three things about it: what it is, where it came from, and why they like it. The audience asks one question each.
Tip: Rotate the audience: siblings one day, a grandparent on a video call the next.
4. Picture talk
Ages 5 to 10 · Builds: Vocabulary, describing
How to play: Open a picture book, newspaper photo or family album. Ask your child to say what they see, what they think is happening, and what might happen next.
Tip: Ask "How do you think she feels?" to get them talking about emotions too.
5. Guess my feeling
Ages 5 to 8 · Builds: Body language, emotional words
How to play: Take turns acting out a feeling with your face and body, no words: excited, bored, worried, proud. The other person guesses and says when they last felt that way.
Tip: Add new feeling words over time, like "frustrated" or "nervous", so your child can name what they feel.
6. The question jar
Ages All ages · Builds: Conversation, turn-taking
How to play: Write easy questions on slips of paper and put them in a jar: "If you could have any pet, what would it be?", "What made you laugh today?" At dinner, each person pulls one, answers, then asks someone else a follow-up question.
Tip: Let your child write some of the questions. Children love asking the grown-ups.
7. 20 questions
Ages 7+ · Builds: Asking good questions, listening
How to play: One person thinks of an animal, object or person. Others ask up to 20 yes-or-no questions to guess it.
Tip: Afterwards, talk about which questions helped most. That is a lesson in asking smart questions.
8. Pass it on
Ages 6+ · Builds: Careful listening, summarising
How to play: Tell your child a short message or a 3-sentence piece of news. They retell it, in their own words, to another family member, who checks with you if it came through correctly.
Tip: With older children, read a short news item aloud and ask for the main point in one sentence.
9. Explain like a teacher
Ages 8+ · Builds: Explaining clearly
How to play: Your child teaches you something they learnt in school this week, or how to play their favourite game. Act as a curious student and ask questions when something isn't clear.
Tip: This also shows you how well they actually understood the lesson.
10. Family interview
Ages 8+ · Builds: Asking questions, listening, retelling
How to play: Your child interviews a grandparent or relative about their childhood with 5 questions they prepare. Afterwards, they tell the rest of the family the most interesting thing they learnt.
Tip: Record it on a phone. It becomes a lovely family keepsake.
11. Just a minute
Ages 10+ · Builds: Thinking on your feet, fluency
How to play: Give a simple topic ("rain", "my school bus", "mangoes") and your child speaks on it for one minute without long pauses or repeating the same point.
Tip: Start with 30 seconds for younger or nervous children and build up.
12. Friendly debate
Ages 10+ · Builds: Giving reasons, disagreeing politely
How to play: Pick a light topic, like "Summer is better than winter". Your child argues one side with two reasons, you argue the other, then you swap sides.
Tip: Practise polite phrases like "I see your point, but…" and "I disagree because…".
Free printable: 4-week activity sheet
A one-page sheet listing all twelve activities, with boxes to tick each week you try them. Stick it on the fridge and let your child do the ticking. No sign-up needed.
Download the activity sheet (PDF)
Making the activities work
- Keep it short and fun. Ten minutes of play beats half an hour that feels like homework. Stop while your child still wants more.
- Join in properly. Children copy what they see. When you take your turn, model the skill: speak clearly, listen without interrupting, ask a follow-up question.
- Use your home language too. Many of these games work just as well in Hindi, Kannada, Tamil or any language your family speaks. Communication skills carry over between languages.
- Correct lightly. If your child says something wrongly, repeat it back the right way and carry on, rather than stopping the game.
Signs of progress to look for
- longer answers, in full sentences, instead of one word
- telling a story or event in the right order
- asking you questions back during a conversation
- waiting for their turn more often
- explaining something so you understand it the first time
- speaking to relatives or visitors without you prompting them
If your child knows what to say but freezes in front of others, our guides on building speaking confidence and stage fear may help.
When to speak to a professional
Children develop at different speeds. It is worth talking to your paediatrician or a speech and language therapist if your child is much harder to understand than other children their age, has trouble following simple instructions, or if their speech or language has gone backwards. Asking early is always fine.
How LearnNova can help
LearnNova runs live 1:1 online classes on Google Meet for children aged 5 to 15. Our trainers are experienced in training kids to be confident, fluent speakers, and classes cover listening, explaining, storytelling and conversation. You get a progress report every week and every month. You can book a free demo class (about 60 to 70 minutes, no payment needed), or read about our communication skills classes.