Giving and Following Instructions

Pauline lets her little brother John-John help out with her lemonade stand. She teaches him how to attract customers, how to count money, what each of the coins are worth, and much more!

When you teach a friend or sibling something new, it's important to give good instructions. The opposite is also true! When you want to learn something new, it's important to follow instructions well. This means listening closely, reading carefully, and asking questions.

The 10 Step Game!

It may seem easy to follow instructions — but is it always that simple? Let's see just how well you can follow the instructions below. This game is super fun with a group, so grab your friends, classmates, or siblings to join in.

Each player should:

• Grab a crayon and a print or braille copy of the 10 instructions (no peeking!!).
• Sit facing in the same direction as everyone else — classroom style.
• Once everyone is settled, read the instructions silently to yourselves, all the way through, before starting any of the activities listed. Who can finish first???

Instructions

• 1. Read all of these steps before doing anything.
• 2. Use the crayon to make a large X in the top right-hand corner of the paper.
• 3. Rip off a small piece of the lower left-hand corner of this paper.
• 4. Put your head down on your desk and count to ten out loud.
• 5. Stand up and wave to the person closest to you.
• 6. While still standing, say your name out loud.
• 7. Sit back down.
• 8. Tap your desk ten times.
• 9. Choose one of these words and say it out loud three times: "Moo!" "Oink!" "Meow!"
• 10. Now that you have finished reading everything carefully, don't do any of the activities above! Just fold your hands on your desk and wait quietly while your friends finish.

The Right Way to Make Slime

Take the slime recipe with unnumbered steps (in print or braille), and cut each step of the instructions into a separate strip of paper. Mix up the strips randomly and have a friend or classmate arrange them in what they think is the correct order. Then, make the recipe following their steps exactly. Were you successful? Want to try again? If you want to know the correct order, take a look at the version of the recipe with numbered steps.

Slime Recipe (Non-Toxic — and Even Edible!)

Instructions

• In a saucepan, mix together 1 cup cornstarch and 3/4 cup of water.
• Add food coloring.
• Heat the mixture over low heat until it is warm.
• Stir in the flour, a little at a time, until all of it has been added.
• Stir in 3/4 cup of water.
• Remove the mixture from the heat.
• Let mixture cool.

This activity was created by Tony Grima for Great Expectations.