Using category names and explaining the differences between things in the same
category/finding the odd one out
Why is this important?
As language skills develop, children learn to be able to identify and explain
increasingly more subtle differences between things.
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What to do
• Gather together some pictures/objects from a variety of categories (e.g.
clothes, food, toys, furniture, transport, animals).
• Choose three pictures/objects from the same category (e.g. three animals). Two
of the animals must have something in common and one must be different
(e.g. horse, cow, fish).
• Put out these three pictures. Ask which group all the pictures belong to. If this
is difficult, offer a choice ‘Are these clothes or animals?’
• Ask which two pictures go together best (e.g. horse and cow).
• Ask why: there could be several reasons
(e.g. four legs, farm animals, live in fields).
• Ask what’s different about the other animal (e.g. fish).