What are inference skills?
Inference means using clues in the story to understand what the writer means, even if it is not said directly. For example, if the story says, “Tom put on his coat and picked up his umbrella,” we can infer that it might be raining, even though the story doesn’t say “It was raining.”
Children use inference skills to:
- Understand how a character is feeling
- Guess why something is happening
- Work out what might happen next
- Understand deeper meanings in a story
How You Can Help Your Child at Home
Ask Questions as They Read
To support your child with inference questions, talk about what you have been reading together and ask lots of questions that begin with ‘why’, ‘where’, ‘who’, ‘how’, ‘what’, ‘do you think…?’
Encourage your child to explain why they think something and to use words or phrases from the story to help them explain.
Inference Reading Questions:
What makes you think ___________? Explain why you think that.
What do you think will happen to the main character now?
What makes you think this?
Which character would you most like to meet? Explain why.
Can we work out how ___________ feels about ___________?
What does this word tell us about _______________ ?
Inference activities
Practise drawing conclusions
Come up with a conclusion or idea together and then talk about what clues helped you figure it out. For example:
“It looks like Sam was playing outside today.” How do we know? Maybe his shoes are muddy, there’s a football by the front door, and his water bottle is left out.
“Mum looks really tired this evening.” What signs tell us that? She might be rubbing her eyes, lying on the sofa, and yawning during dinner.
Yes or no Guessing Game
Choose something for your child to guess – for example, an animal, a book character, or a person.
Your child can ask up to 20 questions to work it out. You can only answer with “yes” or “no.”
As your child gets more confident, encourage them to ask broader questions, not just guesses.
For example, instead of “Is it a dog?” try “does it have four legs?”
After your child guesses correctly, ask them “what clues helped you work it out?”