This exercise solely depends on the verbal interaction among the kids. Narrate a gist of a story to the kids before the game. Cut out some pictures of the same story from a book or sketch them on your own. Scatter all the pieces of pictures in front of the kids and ask them to arrange it in the sequence of the story that they have just heard by communicating among each other and narrate the story.
Communication is one of the essential components of the foundation of one’s personality. We need it all the time and we use it everywhere, so it also becomes an important part of our social skills set. For kids and teenagers, some of the most effective ways to learn and master this skill is through the medium of games, activities, and interesting exercises.
Through these activities, kids are able to improve their verbal as well as written communication, along with having fun and enjoyment. Interestingly, the games and activities that promote teamwork will automatically improve communication as well. Hence it is advisable that the activities should be performed in a group rather than by oneself as this promotes fast learning.
The following are certain communication skills activities that will benefit kids and teenagers, and anyone who uses them, by helping them sharpen their communication skills.
Communication Skills for Children
in Half a Minute
Make chits of words that are common among the kids and place them in a fishbowl. Next, ask each student to come up and pick out a chit from the bowl and speak for 30 seconds on the word. The sentences should be small and simple in structure in order to avoid any grammatical errors. This exercise is quite similar to an extempore, which helps in developing confidence and face the audience, along with developing communication skills.
Identify the Object
These skills are more effective when performed in a group, so for this you need to have a group of at least five to seven players. Blindfold one of them and make him/her stand in the corner of the room. Keep an object that requires an elaborate description to understand and identify. Next, ask the rest of the students to start describing the features of the object one by one to the kid with the blindfold. He may also ask questions for further clues and identify the object in the set time.
Listen and Draw
This activity requires two students. Make them stand in a straight line, one behind the other at a distance. Give a blank drawing sheet to the one standing in the front and a sheet with an image drawn using geometrical shapes like a bird, an ice-cream cone, a house, etc. to the kid behind him. Next, ask the kid standing at the back to give instructions to the kid in the front without revealing the identity of the object so that he can draw the image just via the instructions provided.
Communication Skills for Teenagers
Role-Play
Role-play exercises help in developing confidence and refining communication skills, thus making an individual more extroverted. This is one of the best exercises for teens who need to have good command over their oral communication skills. The trainer needs to give a situation to a group of four to five people. The situations can be teleconferencing, dealing with a difficult client, etc. where the actors need to interact and apply verbal communication techniques to communicate effectively.
Diary Writing
Written skills are also important in the communication process. To improve this aspect of communication, diary writing can be taken up. It is considered one of the most effective activities that help in improving written skills. Anyone can take up diary writing as there are no rules to write in, kids can just jot down what they feel about the day or any other aspect of their life. In fact, diary writing should be inculcated in their daily routine.
Communication Skills for Workplace
Chinese Whisper
The game starts with the first person whispering a sentence into the ears of the person sitting on his right, who then whispers it into the ears of the person on his right and so on and so forth. The cycle continues till the last person in the circle has been told the sentence, who then has to say the sentence out loud. Once this is done, the original sentence is said out loud by the first person.
Usually, there are several discrepancies between what the original sentence was, and what the final sentence came to be. This activity demonstrates the deconstruction of information caused by ineffective communication.
Communication Without Looking
Body language and eye contact are two very important aspects of effective communication. The activity requires two participants who sit back-to back and converse on a given topic. After the conversation ends, a feedback from the audience is collected to see how this conversation, devoid of any eye contact, was different from a normal conversation. The main aim behind this activity is to explain the importance of eye contact and body language for effective communication.
These activities aim to explain the importance of communication skills and all aspects of the same. Since they have been used in the form of activities, they can be used as simple, enjoyable games that anyone would love to play―and learn through the process.
