Teach me the rules

6+ years · Language · 12 minutes

What you need

• A game your child knows and you claim not to

How to do it

Pick a game your child knows well and ask them to teach it to you as if you had never heard of it.

Play dumb honestly rather than comically: when a step is missing, do the wrong thing and wait. 'You did not tell me what happens if I land there.'

Then play using only the rules as explained. Gaps show up fast and they will want to fix them.

Why it works

Explaining a procedure requires sequencing, completeness and modelling what the listener does not yet know — the hardest parts of expository language. A confused listener supplies feedback no adult correction can match.