How to Teach Sequencing to Young Children

Sequencing is an important concept for young children to master as they develop their language skills. These simple steps will help you teach sequencing to young children through fun activities and games.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Storybooks
• Poster board
• Magazines
• Scissors
• Glue

1. Read a simple story to your child and ask her to retell it to you. Prompt her for logical sequencing by asking, "What happened next?" Help her to wrap it up by asking, "How did it end?"

2. Cut out a simple comic strip (such as "Peanuts") and separate each of the frames. Mix them up and ask your child to put them in order.

3. Take three poster boards and tape them together, creating one long piece of paper with three distinct sections. Explain to your child that the day follows a sequence: first comes morning, then afternoon, then evening. Ask him to describe some of the things that he does at each time of day. Offer suggestions if needed.
   
   Then ask him to find pictures in magazines that illustrate different times of day. Help him cut them out and glue them on the appropriate poster for a time-of-day collage.

4. Play a multistep direction game. Give your child three directions to follow. Use the words "first," "then" and "last." For example, "First, hop on your left foot. Then do a somersault. Last, spin around two times." Increase the difficulty as appropriate.