Ideas for Practicing Pronouns “He/She” in Daily Routines and Play

For some children, the personal pronouns "he" and "she" can be difficult to master. Here are some strategies and activities to try at home to help your child practice the pronouns.

Strategies:

• Model the language that you want your child to use.
• Teach your child, “When it’s a boy, we say HE. When it’s a girl we say SHE.”
• Place emphasis on the words “he” and “she” to draw your child’s attention to them.
• When practicing “he/she” with boy and girl dolls, animals, etc. first make sure that your child identifies which one is a boy and which one is a girl.

Activities to try at home:

1.)    Pretend to have a picnic with girl and boy dolls. Take turns passing out pretend food.  As you pass out each food, model appropriate use of pronouns “he/she” and have your child repeat. For example, say “He eats apple” or “She eats banana.”

2.)    While reading books, comment about the pictures of boys and girls. Model accurate use of pronouns, for instance, point to a picture of a girl and say, “She is smiling.” Have your child repeat your comments.  Also, ask your child about the pictures. For instance, ask, “What is he wearing?”  Have your child respond using the pronouns.

3.)    Set up boy and girl dolls and blow bubbles to them.  Have your child choose who to blow bubbles to.  Ask your child, “Who wants bubbles?” Your child responds either “He does” or “She does.” You can offer your child a choice between the two options.  For instance, ask your child, “She wants bubbles or he wants bubbles?”

4.)    Color pictures of boys and girls.  As you color each, make comments about what you are coloring using pronouns “he” and “she.” For instance, say “He has blue pants,” or “She has a red hat.”