Best for this moment
when your toddler needs focused engagement, especially when you need an indoor option.
Silly Instruction Game
At a glance: Give increasingly silly instructions — put the sock on your ear, put the spoon on your head — making listening irresistibly fun. A 10-minute, medium-energy indoor activity for ages 19m–3y. No prep needed.
Listening to instructions is boring when the instructions are boring. This game makes following directions hilarious by asking your child to do silly things: put the teddy in the fridge, wear the bowl as a hat, put the sock on your hand. Children who tune out 'put your shoes on' will gleefully comply with 'put your shoes on your hands!' — and the listening skill transfers to the real instructions because the neural pathway has been practised and rewarded.
Parent tip
Start before you overthink it. No-prep activities work best when you begin while the moment is still recoverable.
What success looks like
A good outcome is a few minutes of engaged play, some back-and-forth with you, and a small sign of progress in cognitive skills.
More help for this situation
Transitions and separation
Transitions
Support the switch from one thing to the next with steadier routines and simple bridges.
Read the transitions guideInstructions
- Start with a normal instruction: 'Can you put the spoon on the table?' When they do it: 'Brilliant listening!'
- Now make it silly: 'Can you put the spoon... on your HEAD?' Watch them giggle.
- Escalate the silliness: 'Put the sock on your ear!' 'Put the cup on teddy's foot!' 'Sit on the cushion backwards!'
- Mix in normal instructions between the silly ones — this keeps them listening carefully to distinguish.
- Add two-step silliness: 'First, put the hat on the dog. THEN, jump three times!' Two-step instructions build working memory.
- Swap roles: 'Your turn! Tell ME something silly to do!' Children love giving orders to grown-ups.
- Follow their instructions with exaggerated compliance and confusion: 'Put the banana WHERE?!'
- End with: 'You listened to every single instruction today — even the silly ones! Your listening is brilliant.'
Why it helps
Research in educational psychology shows that children are more likely to practise skills that are intrinsically rewarding. By making instruction-following hilarious, you create positive emotional associations with the act of listening, which carries over to everyday instructions. The two-step instructions build auditory working memory — the ability to hold information in mind while acting on it — which is a key executive function skill identified by the EYFS as foundational for learning.
Variations
- Add 'only do the silly ones' as a filter — you give a mix of normal and silly instructions, and the child must only do the silly ones. This adds a cognitive layer.
- Use pictures: draw quick instruction cards (sock on head, spoon in shoe) and let your child pick one for you to follow.
- Play with a sibling: take turns giving each other silly instructions. The laughter makes everyone want to participate.
Safety tips
- Keep silly instructions physically safe — nothing involving heights, water, or going near hazards.
- Avoid instructions that involve food in unsafe ways (putting food in ears/nose) — keep silliness visual and spatial.
- If playing with multiple children, ensure instructions do not involve throwing objects at each other.
When to pause and seek extra support
Stop if your child becomes distressed, unsafe, or consistently frustrated by the activity. If play, behaviour, or development worries keep showing up across settings, check in with a qualified professional.
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