Prep: 1-2 Minutes / Activity Time: 10-15 Minutes

Stimulate your child’s vocabulary and conversation skills by playing this guessing game. Your child will need to pay close attention to your words and use the information from her knowledge of the world to guess what you are describing. Turn the fun around and let your child describe the picture to you! Can you guess?

  • magazines
  • personal photos
  • scissors
  • glue
  • index cards
  • crayons or markers
  • box or basket

Step 1: Encourage your child to look through magazines and cut out pictures that she likes.

Step 2: Use the pictures to create a set of picture cards. Glue each picture to a separate index card. Put the cards in a box or basket.

Step 3: Start the game by choosing a picture card without showing it to your child. Say the following rhyme:

“Listen, listen and think very hard! Can you guess the picture that is on this card?”

Step 4: Use one or two descriptive statements of what the picture looks like, what it does or what we use it for. Give additional clues as needed.

“It has numbers to press and we hold it up to our ear….. What can it be?” (telephone)

“It is round and we can kick it around on the grass . . . What can it be? (ball)

“I use it to drink my coffee. . . What can it be? (mug or cup)

“It is a place we go to eat food . . . Where can it be? (restaurant)

Step 5: Continue with other pictures as long as your child is interested.

Place two to three pictures on the table or floor in front of your child. Say the rhyme and describe one of the pictures as your child looks at the cards.

“Listen, listen and think very hard! Can you guess the picture that is on this card?

It can live in the ocean or in a bowl in a house….. What can it be?” (fish)

Give additional clues if needed.

“When we went to the restaurant it was in a big tank….What can it be? Yes it’s the fish!”

Provide the answer if needed, using descriptive language. (“Fish live in the ocean. And sometimes people bring fish to put in fish tanks in their home. Remember, we saw fish in the big fish tank at the restaurant.”)

Let your child choose a card without showing you and describe a few things about the object to you. Pretend you don’t know what it is, so that your child will need to think about more ways to describe what she sees in the picture. Have fun!

Create photo cards of places you have been (favorite store or restaurant, zoo, beach, airport). Say the rhyme and give clues that describe what you can see at that location.

 

“Listen, listen and think very hard! Can you guess the picture that is on this card?

At this place you can see many vehicles that have wheels for the ground, and wings for the sky…

Where can this be?” (airport)