Choice Challenge: Follow Directions
Updated: 1 day ago
Choice Challenge: Follow Directions #1
Follow directions is one of the most basic skills we ask of children, and one of the hardest for them to do with joy. Too often, "follow directions" sounds like "do what I say or else."
The Choice Challenge takes a different path: following directions becomes the way we all get to have more fun.
At the heart of this choice is a simple chant:
Adult: "If we follow..."
Children: "DIRECTIONS!"
Adult: "We can have more..."
Children: "FUN!"
Adult: "We can have more..."
Children: "FUN!"
Adult: "If we follow..."
Children: "DIRECTIONS!"
This call-and-response does more than fill the room with energy. Action links following directions to a desired outcome: more fun, more games, more creativity.
Instead of "do it because I said so," the message becomes, "We are a team, and when we follow directions together, we all win."
Turning chores into a treasure hunt
Children are not naturally excited about cleaning up, lining up, or putting things away. But they are naturally excited about games.
One example is turn everyday tasks into a "Treasure Hunt."
You might say: "We are going on a treasure hunt! Let us find the treasure around the room and put it back in its treasure chest!"
Suddenly, blocks, crayons, and books become "treasures." The shelves and bins become "treasure chests." You can add a simple song to build teamwork:
"Teamwork, Teamwork, everybody let’s help out! Teamwork, Teamwork, everybody let’s help out!"
When children help set up and organize the room from the beginning, they know where everything belongs. Cleanup stops being a punishment and becomes a cooperative game. They are not just following directions; they are participating in creating a space that works for everyone.
Why this matters for behavior
When a child cannot follow directions, this is usually not a defiance problem. This is a gap in their learning. Maybe they do not understand what "follow" means yet. Maybe the direction was too long. Maybe they are still in fight-or-flight from the last transition. The gap gets filled the same way every other gap does: with a better choice, modeled clearly, practiced until it sticks.
Following directions is a better choice because it keeps the group safe, makes transitions smoother, leaves more time for play and learning, and builds trust between children and adults. When children understand that their choices directly affect how much fun and connection they get to have, they begin to see following directions as a tool, not a threat.
Modeling the choice
On the first day of school, I do not lecture. I ask. "Is hitting okay?" And I let the kids tell me why. This is modeling. I am not telling them what a poor choice is. I am giving them the words to find it themselves. Hitting, depending on the answer, can be a poor or better choice. If we hit a ball, this is a great choice. Especially if it is a home run. But, if we hit a person, this is a poor choice. Even if it is in response to someone else hitting first.
If we want children to follow directions, we must follow them ourselves.
Give clear, simple instructions. Stay calm and consistent. Follow through on what we say will happen. When we keep our word and keep the tone even, children learn that directions are not random demands. They are a shared plan for success.
A simple takeaway
Next time you need children to line up, clean up, or transition, try this:
Use the chant: "If we follow... DIRECTIONS! We can have more... FUN!"
Turn the task into a small game or challenge.
Notice and name the better choice: "I see you following directions. This is a better choice. Now we have more time for fun."
Every time a child follows a direction without being reminded, a gap gets filled. Filling gaps or holes, as explained in the blog What is the Choice Challenge? is practice. Practice builds choice fitness.
Over time, follow directions becomes more than compliance. It becomes a joyful, shared habit that supports every other Choice Challenge skill.
Rather than give a definition for interpretation of what following directions is, examples of ideas that work to employ to yield results, are offered.
Most people understand the concept of follow directions as adults. For children the concept has mixed messages because although adults can reason why they are making a different choice children have not developed this concept yet or fully.
Leveraging fun, treasure, and participation as a team supports a deep desire for community and shared experiences as motivators to daily life for most people. Well, except for some introverts. Such as the author. Even an INFP on the Myer Briggs personality test result does not make all people disappear for introverts.
Social skills and cooperation is a life long skill.
Follow directions is a part of the journey. There is no rule that says how to learn this skill has to be militant.
Embedding fun as a core element can teach life long learners how to embrace the experience through practice. Adapting the lessons as one grows to more difficult moments, like assembling IKEA or Amazon furniture. Okay, maybe not a great example. But hope this made you laugh a little.
Choice Challenge Guide will be released in eBook and paperback. You will have the option to download for free by signing up or buy online. The choice is yours :)
About the author
Patience Filippo is a children's author, artist, educator, and veteran with decades of classroom experience. While teaching full time created the Choice Challenge: Poor to Better Decisions for Everyday Behavior to help children and grown-ups be better humans, one choice at a time. The Choice Challenge is the framework behind My Teacher Is Not an Octopus, a self-regulating behavior management book for early learners. Begin at birth. Grow into lifelong learning.
Motto: Empowering happiness through literacy.
Find Patience online https://linktr.ee/askmisspatience
