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Feature, function and class activities your child can do at the table

Feature, function and class activities teach a child to find something from a description instead of its name. You say “You drink from a…” and your child points to the cup. You say “Find the fruit with tall spiky leaves” and your child picks the pineapple. No talking is needed. Below are nine free printable packs, the exact words to say, and how to tell when a clue is too easy or too hard.

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What feature, function and class means

Function is what you do with something: you sleep on a bed, you hit a nail with a hammer. Feature is what it looks like or has: the red fruit with seeds on the outside, the fruit with a hard brown shell. Class is the group it belongs to: fruit, clothing, toys, vehicles. In ABA this is often shortened to FFC, or LRFFC when the child answers by choosing, not by speaking.

It usually comes after your child can already pick familiar things by name from a small group. If “Give me the cup” still takes a lot of help, practice that first. Your child’s BCBA or therapist can tell you where your child is and which clues to start with.

Start with what we eat and what we drink

Choose What We Eat is the gentlest way in. You say “You eat…” once, then wait. The practice page shows five pictures and only one is food: a pencil, an apple, a kite, a ball and a shoe. Cut the cards apart and start with just two, the food and one other thing. When your child picks the food without help, put more cards back.

Choose What We Drink works the same way with “You drink…”. The answers in the adult guide are water, milk, grape juice and chocolate milk. If your family doesn’t have juice in the house, that is fine. Keep it about the pictures. Do not ask your child to taste or drink anything as part of the activity, and skip any food your child is allergic to.

A wrong pick is not a problem. During teaching, show the right picture, then give another turn with less help. During the check, write down the first response and move on.

How to run feature function class practice at home

Every pack follows the same short plan, so once you have done one, the rest feel familiar. Keep the adult guide page out of your child’s sight and show only one round at a time.

  • Aim for 3 to 5 minutes: one easy win, 3 to 6 practice turns, then something your child enjoys.
  • Say the whole clue once, then pause. Hide the printed instruction so your child listens instead of reading.
  • Teach with help first: point, or show the real object. Then help less on the next turn.
  • Run the check rounds separately from teaching. Record the first answer only: I for independent, H for correct with help, X for wrong or no answer.
  • If your child wants to stop, stop and note it. Do not force a score.

Function clues: “You sleep on a…”

Complete Function Clues gives you six sentences to read, each with a missing word: “You sleep on a…” (bed), “You wipe your mouth with a…” (napkin), “Over your shirt, you wear a…” (coat), “You hit a nail with a…” (hammer). Start with two picture choices and add more as it gets easy.

Be careful with your hands. It is natural to mime wiping your mouth while you say the napkin sentence, and that gives the answer away. Acting it out is fine while teaching. During the check, say the sentence and keep still.

Understand Clues: Community Helpers uses the same idea for people: “Find the one who fixes the sink” (plumber), “Find the one who cuts hair” (hairdresser). Start with two roles your child has actually seen, like the librarian or the person at the hairdresser.

Two clues at once: color plus use, color plus group

The harder packs ask your child to hold two pieces of information. Understand Color and Function Clues shows a scene with ten objects. When you ask “Which blue thing do you eat cereal from?”, there is also a yellow bowl and a blue watering can. Picking any bowl is not enough, and neither is picking any blue thing. Print these in color.

Understand Color and Category Clues asks “Which fruit is purple?” or “Which toy is green?”. A green dress is the right color but the wrong group, so it does not count. Understand Appearance and Location Clues adds where: “Which red vehicle is beside the garage?”. Understand Clues: Fruit puts ten fruits on one page and asks things like “Give me the green fruit that grows in bunches.”

Sorting by class, and checking it off the paper

Sort Categories without Examples is different. You cut out twelve cards, shuffle them, set out empty trays and say “Put them in groups.” One round mixes a guitar, drum, piano and trumpet with a car, bus, bicycle and train, and an apple, banana, pear and orange. No labels, no sample card, no colored bins. Your child has to see the groups on their own.

Then take it off the page. Ask “Which one do you drink from?” at the kitchen counter with a real cup, a spoon and a plate. Let someone else ask. Try another room. Mostly independent? Use a new example or a different adult next time. Some help needed? Keep the skill and make one thing easier. Repeated mistakes? Go back to fewer choices and teach again.

In the download

9 printable packs, each with instructions, practice rounds, a check and a log.

  • Choose What We Eat

    Your child hears “You eat…” and picks the one food from a row of everyday objects.

  • Choose What We Drink

    Your child hears “You drink…” and picks water, milk or juice from the choices.

  • Complete Function Clues

    Your child finishes sentences like “You sleep on a…” by choosing the right picture.

  • Understand Clues: Community Helpers

    Your child finds the worker from a job clue, like the one who fixes the sink.

  • Understand Clues: Fruit

    Your child picks one fruit out of ten from a feature, function or class clue.

  • Understand Color and Category Clues

    Your child finds the item that matches both a group and a color, like the purple fruit.

  • Understand Color and Function Clues

    Your child finds the object that matches a color and a use in a busy scene.

  • Understand Appearance and Location Clues

    Your child finds the object by how it looks and where it is, like the red car beside the garage.

  • Sort Categories without Examples

    Your child sorts shuffled cards into groups with no labels or sample cards to copy.

Fill in the short form at the top and the PDFs are yours.

For BCBAs, RBTs and therapists

For BCBAs, RBTs and speech therapists

These packs target listener responding by feature, function and class: the LRFFC domain of the VB-MAPP, which starts in Level 2 and continues in Level 3, and the receptive by feature, function and class items in ABLLS-R Receptive Language (area C). Choose What We Eat and Drink and Complete Function Clues sit at the early end. The color and function, color and category, and appearance and location packs are multiple-component clues for learners who already respond to single clues. Sort Categories without Examples is closer to a visual performance task (VP-MTS in the VB-MAPP, area B in the ABLLS-R) than to LRFFC, because there is no spoken clue.

Each pack has six practice rounds and six separate check rounds with first-response recording (I, H, X) and a reusable log, so a parent can bring data to your next session. The checks are informal and use familiar teaching material. They do not replace your assessment. The intraverbal side (“What do you eat?” answered in words) is not covered here.

Questions parents ask

What is LRFFC in ABA?
LRFFC stands for listener responding by feature, function and class. The child hears a description, like “Find the one you sleep on”, and picks the right item or picture. The child does not need to say anything.
At what age do children learn feature, function and class?
There is no fixed age. It depends on skills, not birthdays. A child who can already find familiar things by name from a small group is often ready for simple function clues like “You eat…”. Your child’s BCBA or therapist can tell you whether to start now.
What if my child picks the same spot every time?
Shuffle the cards between turns so the answer is not always in the same place. Go back to two choices. Also watch yourself: looking at the answer, or holding your hand near it, is an easy hint to give without meaning to.
What is the difference between listener FFC and intraverbal FFC?
In listener FFC your child points to the answer. In intraverbal FFC your child answers in words, for example “Apple” when you ask “What do you eat?”. These printables are all the pointing kind, so they work for children who speak little or not at all.
How do I teach “what do we eat” and “what do we drink”?
Start with Choose What We Eat. Say “You eat…” once, with two cards on the table: one food and one other thing. Help on the first turns, then help less. When that is easy, add cards, then do the same with Choose What We Drink. Practice with real snacks only if your family is comfortable with it.
Can these printables replace my child’s ABA program?
No. They are free practice for the time between sessions, on goals your child’s professional agrees with. The checks are informal and do not replace an assessment.

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