RL.E.76 SELECTS HARD AND SΟFΤ

Children love to feel things, so learning about hard and soft can be great fun – a change from activities which rely mostly on looking.

Many children gravitate towards the soft object when asked to make a selection – perhaps because it is more interesting to touch, and perhaps we tend to comment more in everyday life when things feel soft. You can add interest to the concept of ‘hard’ with a touch of drama – knocking on hard surfaces with your knuckles, trying to push a finger in, banging your hand and saying ‘ouch’, and so on.

How to Assess

Materials: 4 pairs of objects, each pair containing one hard item and one soft item. If possible, choose objects for each pair that are roughly the same colour and size.

Method: Place one set of objects in front of the child, and let her feel them. Say ‘Which one is hard?’ … ‘Which one is soft?’ Repeat with other pairs, varying the order in which you ask for hard and soft, and the position in which you place the objects on the table (don’t always put the soft one on the left).

Score plus if your child selects the hard item in 3 out of 4 tries and the soft item in 3 out of 4 tries.

How to Teach

Use the same approach as that described for RL.E.54 and 55, preceding every direction by feeling the objects.

Note that your child may wish to feel the objects again before she follows your direction, so it may look as though she is going towards the wrong one. You will need to wait until she clearly indicates her choice. One way around this is to use the direction ‘Put the soft (or hard) one in’, using a box, bowl or bucket. Your child can then feel the objects as much as she likes and you can step in – with praise or assistance – when she puts one of the objects in the container.

Use a wide variety of materials when teaching this skill. There are different kinds and degrees of softness, and even hard things can be rough and smooth, heavy and light. Showing your child lots of examples will help her to focus on the crucial differences.

Playtime and Round-the-house Activities

Draw your child’s attention to hardness and softness wherever they occur. This would be a good time to bring some of your child’s baby toys back into circulation – her old soft balls and blocks will contrast well with her newer hard ones. Show her how dough changes from soft to hard when it is cooked in the oven – keep some dough uncooked to highlight the difference.

Remembering and Extending

Continue to practise hard and soft as you go on to teach other attribute words in this sequence.