Barrier Games

Barrier games are therapy activities that can be used to target receptive and expressive language and referential communication skills. Targeting referential communication is an evidence-based practice that has been shown to improve receptive and expressive communication in children with speech and language impairments. These skills are needed when giving and following instructions, asking questions, making explanations, participating in activities, and completing tasks.

Barrier game activities are played by having communicators sit across from each other with a physical barrier between them. They communicate information back and forth between each other to reach a common goal. This activity is designed to target both receptive and expressive communication skills using cooperation and teamwork.

Barrier games can also target language goals of :

• Listening skills and auditory memory

• Understanding and following sequential and multi-step directions

• Spatial concepts and prepositions

• Temporal concepts

• Vocabulary

• Qualitative concepts (size, shape, color, etc.)

• Formulating sentences and questions with increasing length and complexity

• Giving directions

• Social skills: for example, turn-taking, giving and receiving directions, conversation repair and asking questions

Barrier games can be played one-on-one with the clinician and client, with two students who play opposite of each other or with a group of students that play opposite of another group.

How to Set up the Activity and Play:

Outline the activity, establish the learning objectives, and set out the materials. 

Familiarize the student with the materials and needed vocabulary. If they are unfamiliar with any, either teach the particular vocabulary or remove it.

Explain to the students that they are going to take turns giving and receiving directions. Model some examples. If a clinician is playing with a student, it is helpful if the adult takes the first turn giving directions so they can model.

Emphasize that instructions need to be clear for the other person to understand them and that the listener can ask questions to clarify something if they need to.  

Place the barrier between the two communicators and their sets of materials.

Reiterate the aim of the activity if needed.

At the end of the activity, the barrier is removed. It is at this point that the students have the opportunity to review and reflect on the outcome of the communication exchange. The participants talk about and compare the similarities and differences of what is revealed. This step is an important opportunity for language learning. *sometimes this can be done between turns as needed depending on the students' levels.

Hierarchical Cues to use:

The clinician can encourage the student to give as much information as they can by asking questions to prompt the student to add more detail in their instructions. 

Include pauses between instructions to give students enough time to process the instruction and respond.

Expand on what the student says, emphasizing grammatically correct sentences. For example, the client might say: “turtle on bottom” and the clinician could respond with: “The green turtle goes at the bottom of the pond”.

Repeat instructions for the student as needed and highlight key information.

Gradually increase the length and complexity of the instructions when the child has had some successes and is ready.

Data Collection

Barrier games can also be used to informally assess receptive and expressive language, evaluate progress and practice carryover of skills. Data and progress monitoring can be taken using the clinician’s preferred method of taking data and tracking progress.

References

Bunce, B. H. (1989). Using a barrier game format to improve children's referential communication skills. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 54(1), 33–43. https://doi.org/10.1044/jshd.5401.33