Writing Detailed Instructions

This activity can be done with children ages ten and up. It is a combination of a writing, listening, and following directions activity. The lesson that I have done has been with middle school.

The assignment was to write down the directions for tying your shoes. However, they could not use their shoes to help them. This requires the students to think of the step-by-step process without using a model.

After they are finished writing the instructions, they exchange papers with someone. They have to try to tie their shoestrings by following the other person’s instructions. You can turn this into a game by offering a prize to the person who wrote the best instructions.