Helping Children Follow One-Step and Multi-Step Directions
Following directions is an important language skill that helps children participate in everyday activities, learn new skills, and become more independent. Whether your child is getting ready for school, cleaning up toys, playing a game, or following instructions in the classroom, understanding and remembering directions plays an important role in their development.
Some children can easily follow simple instructions but find it more difficult to remember directions that involve multiple steps. Understanding why this happens and how to support your child at home can help build their listening comprehension, language skills, and confidence.
At Kurliand Speech Clinic, we provide speech therapy in Vaughan, Ontario, to support children with speech and language development, including understanding and following directions.
What Is the Difference Between One-Step and Multi-Step Directions?
Following directions involves more than simply listening. Children need to pay attention to what is being said, understand the words and concepts, remember the information, and carry out the requested actions.
One-step directions ask a child to complete one action. These instructions are generally simpler because the child only needs to understand and remember one main task.
Examples include:
“Give me the ball.”
“Close the door.”
“Put your shoes on.”
Multi-step directions require a child to remember and complete two or more actions. These instructions can be more challenging because the child must keep track of several pieces of information and, sometimes, remember the order in which to complete them.
Examples include:
Two steps: “Pick up the ball and put it in the box.”
Three steps: “Get your shoes, bring me your backpack, and sit by the door.”
Directions involving concepts: “Take the blue block, put it under the table, and then touch the car.”
As directions become longer and more complex, children may need to process more language and remember more information at once.
Why Can Following Multi-Step Directions Be Difficult?
Following directions involves several skills, including receptive language, attention, working memory, and understanding concepts such as before, after, beside, and under.
Receptive language refers to a child's ability to understand spoken language. A child needs to understand the words and concepts within an instruction before they can carry it out.
Working memory is the ability to hold information in mind while using it. Research suggests that working memory plays an important role in children's ability to follow instructions (Jaroslawska et al., 2015, 2016).
For example, imagine your child hears the following instruction:
“Pick up the blue block, put it under the cup, and then touch the car.”
To complete this task, your child needs to remember which block to pick up, understand where to put it, remember the next action, and carry out the steps in the correct order.
A child may understand each individual word but still have difficulty remembering the entire instruction. This is particularly likely when directions contain several steps, unfamiliar vocabulary, or spatial concepts.
Difficulty following directions does not necessarily mean that a child was not listening. The instruction may simply contain more information than the child can comfortably process and remember at that moment.
If your child regularly struggles to follow age-appropriate instructions at home or school, a speech-language pathologist (SLP) can help determine whether receptive language or other communication skills may be contributing to the difficulty.
How Can You Help Your Child Remember Directions?
There are several ways to help children understand, remember, and follow instructions. Research suggests that connecting spoken instructions with physical actions can support children's memory for directions (Jaroslawska et al., 2016).
Here are some strategies you can try at home.
1. Encourage Your Child to Practise the Actions
Whenever possible, give your child opportunities to physically complete the actions you describe. Instead of expecting them to remember a long instruction before starting, let them connect the words with the actions as they go.
For example, you could say, “Pick up your teddy bear and put it on the bed,” while your child completes each step.
This approach helps connect language with meaningful actions and provides an opportunity to practise understanding directions in everyday situations.
2. Demonstrate the Instructions First
Some children benefit from watching someone demonstrate an activity before trying it themselves.
For example, when tidying up, you could show your child how to put the blocks in a container and place the container on a shelf. You can then encourage your child to complete the same sequence.
Visual demonstrations and gestures can provide additional support when spoken instructions alone are difficult to follow.
3. Break Longer Instructions Into Smaller Steps
If your child finds multi-step directions challenging, try giving one instruction at a time.
Instead of saying, “Get your shoes, put on your coat, pack your backpack, and wait by the door,” you could begin with “Get your shoes.” Once your child completes the action, provide the next instruction.
As your child becomes more comfortable, gradually combine steps to help them build their ability to remember longer directions.
4. Use Visual Supports
Pictures, gestures, and visual schedules can help children understand what they need to do and remember the order of activities.
For example, a morning routine chart might show pictures of a child getting dressed, eating breakfast, brushing their teeth, and putting on their shoes.
Visual supports can be particularly helpful when children have difficulty remembering several spoken instructions at once.
5. Use Sequencing Words
Words such as first, next, then, and last help children understand the order of actions.
For example, you might say, “First, put your toys away. Next, wash your hands. Then, come to the table.”
Practising sequencing words during familiar routines can also support children's understanding of language and their ability to describe the order of events.
It is important to remember that children develop at different rates and may respond differently to each strategy. Try different approaches to discover which ones best support your child's learning.
How to Practise Following Directions at Home
You do not need special toys or worksheets to practise following directions. Everyday routines provide many opportunities to build your child's language skills.
Start with instructions your child can complete successfully. If one-step directions are easy, gradually introduce two-step and three-step directions. If your child finds a particular instruction difficult, simplify it and try again.
Here are some examples you can practise during daily activities.
One-step directions
“Get your shoes.”
“Give me the spoon.”
“Put the book on the table.”
Two-step directions
“Get your shoes and put them on.”
“Pick up the blocks and put them in the box.”
“Get your shoes and bring me your backpack.”
Three-step directions
“Get your shoes, bring me your backpack, and sit by the door.”
“Pick up the book, put it on the shelf, and close the drawer.”
Directions involving spatial concepts
“Put the teddy bear under the table.”
“Place the cup beside the plate.”
“Put the blue block inside the box and the red block on top.”
Directions involving sequencing words
“First, put on your coat. Then, get your backpack.”
“Before you sit down, put your shoes beside the door.”
“After you finish your snack, put your plate in the sink.”
These activities help children practise listening comprehension, sequencing, vocabulary, and understanding concepts such as in, on, under, and beside.
Tips for Making Practice Successful
Keep it fun: Turn directions into games, such as a simple treasure hunt or a clean-up challenge.
Use familiar routines: Practise during activities your child already knows, such as getting dressed or preparing for bed.
Allow enough time: Give your child time to process the instruction before repeating or changing it.
Adjust the difficulty: Increase the number of steps gradually as your child becomes more comfortable.
Offer encouragement: Acknowledge your child's effort and celebrate progress.
Reduce distractions when needed: A quieter environment may make it easier for your child to focus on spoken instructions.
The goal is not simply to see how many steps your child can remember. It is to help them understand language and use these skills confidently in everyday situations.
When Should You Consider Speech Therapy?
Children may need different levels of support when learning to follow directions. However, if your child frequently has difficulty understanding instructions, following classroom routines, learning new concepts, or completing everyday tasks, it may be helpful to speak with a speech-language pathologist.
A speech-language pathologist can assess your child's receptive language skills and identify areas where additional support may be beneficial. Depending on your child's needs, therapy may target understanding vocabulary, following directions of increasing complexity, learning spatial concepts, and understanding sequencing language.
At Kurliand Speech Clinic in Vaughan, Ontario, we support children in developing their speech and language skills through individualized assessment and therapy. We offer in-clinic and in-home speech therapy in Vaughan and surrounding communities, helping families work on meaningful communication goals in everyday settings.
If you have concerns about your child's ability to understand and follow directions, we would be happy to discuss how speech-language therapy may help.
References
Jaroslawska, A. J., Gathercole, S. E., Logie, M. R., & Holmes, J. (2016). Following
instructions in a virtual school: Does working memory play a role? Memory & Cognition,
44(4), 580–589. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-015-0579-2
Jaroslawska, A. J., Gathercole, S. E., Allen, R. J., & Holmes, J. (2016). Following instructions
from working memory: Why does action at encoding and recall help? Memory & Cognition, 44(8), 1183–1191. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-016-0636-5
Waterman, A. H., Atkinson, A. L., Aslam, S. S., Holmes, J., Jaroslawska, A., & Allen, R. J.
(2017). Do actions speak louder than words? Examining children’s ability to follow instructions. Memory & Cognition, 45(6), 877–890. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-
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