Qualitative concepts can be difficult for some children to grasp. Some students may need direct instruction and repeated practice to understand and use these concepts accurately in everyday life. So, how do you teach qualitative concepts in speech therapy? Let’s dive in! If you’re supporting students who have difficulties with these concepts, here’s a practical guide to teaching qualitative concepts step by step.
What Are Qualitative Concepts?
Qualitative concepts are words that describe the characteristics or qualities of objects, such as size, shape, color, or texture. They are also called descriptive concepts or attributes. They are often taught in pairs of opposites.
Common qualitative concepts include the following:
- big and small
- full and empty
- hot and cold
- same and different
Why Are Qualitative Concepts Important?
Qualitative concepts are foundational for many other language skills such as:
- Following directions (e.g., “grab the small book”)
- Answering WH questions
- Describing pictures, scenes, and objects using details and attributes
- Understanding classroom and academic language
When Are Qualitative Concepts Typically Learned?
Children begin understanding and using qualitative concepts early in childhood, though not all children master them at the same time. Here are some developmental milestones for common qualitative concepts. Please note that these age ranges are meant as a general guide.
- 2-3 years: big/small, hot/cold
- 3-4 years: full/empty, same/different
How To Teach Qualitative Concepts in Speech Therapy
Overview
To teach qualitative concepts effectively, we move through these three steps:
- Teach the concept
- Practice comprehension of the concept (receptive language)
- Practice using the concept (expressive language)
Step 1: Teach Qualitative Concepts with Concrete Objects
Choose the concept
Start by choosing a concept the child has not yet mastered. You can refer to the age ranges above for general developmental guidance, while prioritizing the child’s individual needs.
Focus on one qualitative concept pair at a time such as big/small or hot/cold.
Choose the activity
Use physical objects, such as toys, to help the child develop a more concrete understanding of the concept. As always, it’s better to teach through play! My favorite toys to teach qualitative concepts are blocks, play food, and toy animals. I’ll share more about my go-to activities later on.
Teach the concept
Make sure you have the child’s attention first and model the concept in a variety of ways. Repeat the target concept frequently as you introduce it, so the child hears it multiple times.
For example, to teach “big/small” with play food, you could use items that naturally come in different sizes, such as big and small plates, bowls, cups, or pots, and model “big” and “small” during play. You might say:
- “Let’s put the egg on the big plate.”
- “I need a small spoon.”
You can be as creative as you want with this! Just ensure to model the target concept several times in different ways to help reinforce the qualitative concept.
Use Visuals
Visual supports can also be very helpful to reinforce meaning and demonstrate the contrast between two concepts the child may confuse.
Step 2: Practice Comprehension of Qualitative Concepts (Receptive Language)
Once the student has been introduced to the concept pair, it’s time to check their understanding by incorporating comprehension tasks into play-based activities.
Choose the activity
Use a variety of activities to help strengthen comprehension and ensure the student truly understands what the concept means.
You can use:
- Toys
- Books
- Crafts
- Worksheets
- Board games
- Picture scenes
- Movement activities
Check understanding of the concept
During your chosen activity, ask questions that allow the child to demonstrate understanding by pointing, showing, or responding verbally. For example, if you’re building a block tower with the child, you might ask:
- “Can you grab two blocks that are the same?”
- “Which two blocks are the same?”
The child can show their understanding of “same” by grabbing or pointing to two blocks that are the same size and color. Make sure you only have a few block options so it’s not visually overwhelming for the child. For example, you can have two small red blocks and one big yellow block in front of the child when you ask the question, so they are only choosing from three items. You can increase it to 4 or 5 items gradually to increase the level of difficulty and ensure the child is truly demonstrating comprehension of the target concept.
Once the child consistently shows understanding across several activities and sessions, move on to expressive practice (using the concept).
Step 3: Practice Using Qualitative Concepts (Expressive Language)
Once the child has demonstrated that they understand a qualitative concept, it’s time for them to practice using it accurately.
Choose the activity
You can use the same types of activities as in receptive practice but reverse the task. Instead of giving directions with the qualitative concept, ask questions that require the child to use the concept in their response.
Check accurate use of the concept
During your chosen activity, ask questions that require the child to use the target qualitative concept. Using the block tower example from earlier, you might grab two blocks and ask:
- “Are these two blocks the same or different?”
If the child needs support, model a simple response first. For example, “These are the same because they’re both red”, or “These are different because one is big and one is small” and then give them a chance to try again.
As with the earlier steps, you want to make sure the child is able to use the concepts accurately across a variety of activities and for a few consecutive sessions.
Activities to Teach and Practice Qualitative Concepts
Here are some of my favorite activities to teach and practice a variety of qualitative concepts in speech therapy sessions.
Blocks
The block set is one of my favorite toys for teaching a lot of basic concepts, and qualitative concepts are no different! You can teach and practice color and size concepts, as well as same/different naturally while building a tower with the child. For example:
- Teaching: “Look, I’m putting two different blocks on the tower.”
- Receptive practice: “Can you put a small block on the tower?”
- Expressive practice: “Is this block big or small?”
Play food
The play kitchen and play food are also great for teaching common qualitative concepts like hot/cold, and full/empty. For example:
- Teaching: “The bowl is full.” / “The oven is hot!”
- Receptive practice: “Which plate is full of food?” / “Which cup is empty?”
- Expressive practice: “Is the ice cream hot or cold?”
Teaching Resources and Activity Packs
Sometimes it’s helpful to have a set of no-prep materials that you can pull out and use during sessions, especially on busy days. That’s why I created my own Qualitative Concepts Activity Packet which guides you through teaching concepts like hot/cold and same/different with colorful visuals, engaging receptive language activities and fun expressive language games.
This activity set is fun, comprehensive, and easy to use, saving you time so you can focus more on working with your students and less on planning activities.
Books
Books are a great way to teach and practice a variety of descriptive concepts! You can use picture books and pick one thing to describe per page as you read a story to get lots of practice in. For example:
- Teaching: “Look! This dog is big, and this dog is small.”
- Receptive practice: “Which of these baskets is empty?”
- Expressive practice: “Are these apples the same color or a different color?”
Adapting Activities for Older Kids and Virtual Sessions
If you’re working with older students or providing teletherapy (or both!), you may need to make a few adjustments to your activity selection.
Older students
When working with older students who have not yet acquired some qualitative concepts, you might want to use picture scenes, board games, and worksheets rather than toys to match the activity to the child’s age and interests.
For example, a really fun activity older students usually like is a guessing game where you pick an item (from the room or from a picture scene) and give descriptors and the child has to guess what the item is. For example, you would pick an item and say, “it’s big, cold, and round”, and the student tries to guess the item. Then, you would switch roles where the student now uses qualitative concepts to describe the item they picked. This encourages more detailed language, stronger vocabulary use, and higher-level thinking, while still keeping the activity fun and interactive.
Teletherapy
For teletherapy, you can use virtual games, picture scenes, or digital worksheets to keep sessions fun and engaging!
For example, with the guessing game described above, you could do this by sharing your screen with a small set of pictures and choosing one item for the student to guess. Encourage the student to ask questions using qualitative concepts (for example, “Is it big?”, “Is it small?”, “Is it empty?”) until they can identify the correct item.
You can also use digital games. The activities below show how you can teach and practice qualitative concepts with simple and engaging games in virtual speech therapy sessions. In the same/different board game, and hot/cold roll-and-say activity, students practice using qualitative words in interactive virtual games. If you want these no-prep virtual activities and more, check out the Qualitative Concepts Activity Packet, which includes a fully digital version for teletherapy!
Qualitative Concepts Carryover and Home Practice
Practicing across different activities is great, and practicing across different settings with different people is even better for carryover! Encourage families and teachers to practice during daily routines whenever possible:
- During meals: “Is this hot or cold?”
- During cleanup: “The bag is full.”
- While reading: “Which cat is small?”
You can use information handouts and simple worksheets to encourage consistent practice at home and in the classroom to support generalization. The goal is for students to apply qualitative concepts across different contexts outside the therapy room.
Practice Tips for Teaching Qualitative Concepts Effectively
- Repeat often: Repetition is important to ensure strong understanding of qualitative concepts.
- Make it fun: Students are more engaged and motivated when they’re having fun!
- Use visuals: Visuals can be helpful to support understanding of qualitative concepts.
What’s Next After Qualitative Concepts?
Qualitative concepts are building blocks for other language skills. Once your student has mastered various qualitative concepts, you can build on these skills by targeting (if appropriate):
- Following directions
- Answering WH questions
- Describing pictures, scenes, and objects using details and attributes
A Step-by-Step Resource for Teaching Qualitative Concepts
We’ve discussed how to teach qualitative concepts in speech therapy step by step. Whether you’re a speech therapist, parent, or educator, teaching qualitative concepts can be simple and easy! To make this even easier, I’ve created a Qualitative Concepts Activity Packet loaded with worksheets, activities, games, handouts, and visuals to teach and practice big/small, full/empty, hot/cold, same/different concepts in a fun and engaging way! Check out the activity packet below to save planning time and use it in your next session or at home with your child.
Qualitative concepts can take time for students to master, but providing lots of practice opportunities can make a big difference. With consistent modeling and receptive and expressive practice, students can build confidence and use these skills more independently.
For more tips and deals delivered right to your inbox, sign up for my email list!
More How To Teach Guides for Basic Concepts:
How To Teach Quantitative Concepts
Related Posts
