Children with language delays often have difficulty answering questions.  When teaching a child to answer questions, it is helpful to teach one question form at a time.  This page is all about teaching “when”questions in speech therapy.

Help teach a child to answer “when” questions using these three games of varying difficulty level.  Start with “when” questions that focus on things that happen during the day or at night.  Then, move to “when” questions about things that happen in the winter vs. the summer.  Finally, try a mixed collection of “when” questions that are more difficult and cover a variety of time concepts.  Included instructions guide you through teaching this skill.

When questions about day or night are often the easiest for children to understand because there is such a difference between those two times.  Start by asking the child to answer night vs. day “when” questions to help them understand that when they hear the word “when”, they should be thinking of a time concept.

Night and Day When Questions for Kids: 

Each of these questions could be answered by either say “at night” or “during the day”:

• When do you take a bath?
• When do you ride your bike?
• When do you eat breakfast?
• When do you read a bedtime story?
• When do you turn on the lights?
• When do you play outside?
• When do you go to bed?
• When do you go swimming?

To introduce another time concept, we can talk about the seasons.  In most parts of the world, there is a noticeable difference between Winter and Summer.  Time concepts that are opposites like this are easier for children to understand.  For this game, you can ask the child questions about whether things happen in the Summer or Winter.  Feel free to modify these for your climate.

Summer or Winter When Questions for Kids: 

Each of these questions could be answered by either say “in the Summer” or “in the Winter”:

• When do you go swimming?
• When do you build a snowman?
• When do you make hot chocolate?
• When do the flowers grow?
• When do you ride your bike?
• When do you play outside?
• When do you wear gloves?
• When do you wear a coat?

Once the child starts to understand that “when” questions are answered with time concepts, you can move on to teaching the child to answer “when” questions that are situational.  The answers to these questions vary greatly.

Situational When Questions for Kids: 

• When do you wash your hands?
• When do you eat?
• When do you sleep?
• When do you build a snowman?
• When do you clap for someone?
• When do you use a golf ball?
• When do you see the doctor?
• When do you use goggles?