Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
No fees, cancel anytime.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
then open in external browser
and click "Open in External Browser" 
Usually kids aren't familiar with the full scope of language (metaphors, allusions, and so-on), meaning when an adult tells one to "keep an eye on the ball", he might as well try to put his eye on the ball.
To illustrate that, Bored Panda has collected some of the most hilarious images of kids taking instructions too literally. From training dogs by showing them YouTube videos, to dressing up for a literary adventure, these little fellows were just trying their best to follow instructions.
Have you witnessed something similar yourself? Upload your pics below and don't forget to vote for your favorites!
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
"Keep Your Eye On The Ball Son"
RELATED:
#2
2nd Graders Homework. My Friend's Awesome 6 Year Old Son Is Autistic And Takes Instructions Literally
#3
This Isn't Exactly What We Meant When We Told Him That He Could Look Up Puppy Training Tips On Youtube
#4
We Told Our 3yr Old That New Years Is Special Because You Get To Toast To A New Year. A Few Hours Later She Said "Are We Gonna Make Toast Now?!" And Thus A New Years Day Tradition Was Born
#5
My Kid Said I Gave Her Too Many Grapes. I Said Just Eat Half Of Them
#6
Toddler Was Asked To Feed The Cat
#7
Bring A Fish To School Day
Mike Olson 8 years ago
How did the child take this "too literally"? Unless the instructions were to bring a living fish in, this seems like instructions were followed?
#8
Future Lawyer? Was Told He Couldn't Go Outside
Baenjolras 8 years ago
I assume it was put up like 'Don't place a foot outside' or something similar
#9
Not Exactly What I Had In Mind When I Told My Son It Was Too Nice Out To Play Games Inside
#10
Took My Son To A Modern Art Museum And Told Him That He Needs To Really Think About The Art And What They Are Trying To Say. I Am Not Sure, But I Think I Have A Smartass On My Hands
#11
This Is Why My Kid Is Going Places
#12
Directions Were To 'Draw Hands On The Clocks'
#13
I Was Fixing A Computer, And My 4 Year Old Son Asked Why, So I Said It Was To Make It Work Faster. A While Later, My Son Said He Had Already Solved The Problem. Then I Come Across This
#14
My Friend's Daughter Taking The Instructions Literally
#15
My Dad Told My Son To Get Ready For A Bedtime Story Adventure, So He Grabbed His Warm Hat And A Flashlight
#16
I Asked My Son To Use Chopsticks At A Japanese Restaurant. This Is How He Used Them For The Soup
#17
My Wife Asked My Son To Put A Jar Of Water In Our Dog's Bowl. Saw This A Few Hours Later. Mission Accomplished
#18
My Son, The Realist, Brought This Home With Some Of His Kindergarten Schoolwork
#19
I Told My First Grade Class They Were Writing Their Letters To Santa... I Should Have Been More Specific
#20
I Told My 5-Year-Old He Could Watch TV As Soon As He Ate Half Of His Hot Dog
#21
I Told My 2 Year Old To Put Her Shoes By The Front Door. She Takes Me Very Literally Sometimes
#22
One Of Them Finally Cracked The Code
#23
I Told My Daughter She Couldn't Take Clothes Off The Hangers And Try Them On So I Got This
#24
I Asked The Kids Not To Eat All Of The Strawberries... Hey, At Least They Listen!
Glenys Stone 8 years ago
I get this at home all the time, I call the onesie thief! And their not kids, but grown adults!!!
Debbie Palmer 8 years ago
My daughter did this with the mushrooms. She would eat all of them and I told her not to eat them all. Nest time I go to fridge to use the mushrooms, there would be one. She was about 6 years old then.
Samantha P 8 years ago
I do this all the time!! Don't judge!!! They said not to eat it all so I didnt'
#25
When Your Sister Uses Deodorant For The First Time And Gets The Ruler Out Cos "It's To Be 15cm Away"
Amanda Cariker 8 years ago
My exhusband would do things like this, i could never cook with him. I eyeball things too much
#26
Technically Correct, The Best Kind Of Correct (5-Year Old Style)
#27
I Mean, I'm Not Going To Be Mad. That Is Where I Told My Son Pooh Goes
#28
Told Our Kid To Go Put The Pizza Costume Back Where It Belongs.... Well He Wasn't Wrong
#29
I Told My Son That I Don't Want To See The Cooler In This Room Again. I'm Not Even Mad
#31
On My Birthday, 10-Year-Old Sister Asked Me What Kind Of Stuff I Liked. I Told Her Mustaches, Guitars And Sloths. She Went Into Her Room And Came Back An Hour Later With This
#32
I Asked My Three Year Old Daughter To Put Her Toys Away. This Is Where She Put Her Guitar...
Jessica Jane 8 years ago
Hey, she has a point! If Mommy/Daddy don't have to put their guitar in its case, why should she? ;)
#33
Told The 2Yo I Had To Finish Some Mixes Tonight - She Left This On My Desk For Me
#34
I Told My 5 Year Old Son That, If He Could Blow It Up, He Could Jump It
#35
My Friend Told His Kid To Put His Clothes Away And Came Back To Find This Instead
#36
My Sister-In-Law Asked The 4Yo To Put The Cookies On The Dining Room Table
#37
In His Defense, I Did Say To Put These In The Bathroom. There Is Nothing Like Having A Literal 2nd Grader Living In Your House
#38
Told The Kids Repeatedly Not To Wear Their Socks In The Garden And Finally They Are Listening To Me... These Are My Socks
#39
My 8-Year-Old Son Takes His Homework Directions Literally
#40
Can't Deny That
#41
This Smart Kid
#42
Directions Said 3 Inches Apart. That's Precisely How Far Apart They Will Be
#43
I Asked My 6 Year Old To Put The Extra Roll Of Toilet Paper Under The Sink
#44
So I Told My 8 Year Old To Only Eat Half Of The Banana. This Was Her Interpretation
DarknessIsMyOutfit 8 years ago
She knows what you meant. She's an adorable little smarty pants
#45
Maybe I Shouldn't Have Told My Daughter You Can Make "Art" Out Of Anything
#46
Asked My 11 Yr Old To Spread Out The Silverware After Cleaning
#47
My Sister Taught Math To 4th Graders In China. Honest Mistake
#48
New Post Sign In Sign Up Next Post My Daughter Takes Things Literally
#49
I Asked The Kids To Organize The Shoes. They Did What I Said
#50
My Little Sister Was Making Bookmarks And Asked If I Wanted One. I Asked Her To Make Me One That Looked Like A Companion Cube. She Did Me One Better And Made It An Actual Cube
#51
I Asked My Son To Make Me Mozzarella Sticks And This Is What He Gave Me
#52
I Said Out Loud That I Was Going To Get A Bag Of Chips. My 5-Year-Old Son Excitedly Jumped Up, Told Me He Was On The Case, And Ran Fast To The Kitchen. He Was Super Proud Of Himself When He Returned And Handed Me This
#53
My Little Brother Was Told To Eat Half Of His Nuggets And This Is What He Did
Mrs.Blecksmith 8 years ago
What the hell is with this "half of" thing? It's starting to be creepy 😂
#54
While I Appreciate My Daughter's Attempt, This Is Not What I Meant When I Asked For Her Help With Cleaning The House
#55
I Told My Son Not To Throw Food On The Floor. This Is His Response
#56
My Daughter Asked Her Brother If He Wanted A Brownie. This Is What She And Her Friends Brought Him
#57
Had A Tea Party With My Two Year Old And I Asked For Apple Juice
#58
Told Her To Put The Hanger In Her Room This Morning. Guess I Should Be More Specific Next Time
#59
Because I'm Smart
Leoninus Fate 8 years ago
The teacher needs a few English lessons, that is just worded really really weird, also the teacher means the 8 in the number 68 means it is even, but still I had to read that about 5 times to understand it O.o
#60
I Told My 2-Year-Old To Get Toilet Paper To Wipe Her Nose. She Grabbed Half A Square. I Told Her To Get A Big Piece. She Came Back With This
#61
When I Asked My On The Spectrum, Very Literal, 7 Year Old Son To Bring Me The DVD 24. I Thought I Clarified That I Meant The Show...
#62
Asked My Niece To Put These In The Bathroom. Guess I Should've Been More Specific
#64
Some Kids Take Things A Little Too Literally
#65
Hard Water
#66
Asked The 5Yo To Put The Dog Lead In The Front Door Of The Car. Sort Of Right
#67
This Is What Happened When I Asked The 1Yo To Get In Front Of The Tree So I Could Take A Picture. Should've Been More Specific I Guess
#68
I Should've Been More Specific When I Asked My Son To Put Water In His Dinner Bowl When He Was Done Eating
#69
Asked My 8yo To Put His Shoes Outside The Door. Always The Loophole With This One
#70
Me To My 3 Year Old Son: "when You Use Tissue Throw It In The Toilet"
Final score:
23points
#71
Asked My Two-year-old To Clean The Table While I Did The Dishes... Found Her Like This.
Final score:
23points
#72
When Mason Came To Me And Said He'd Bit His Tongue, I Probably Shouldn't Have Said "Oh No, We May Need To Chop It Off!"
#73
Asked The Kids To Move The Dissected Train Track/Mess Out Of The Living Room. Not Really What I Meant...
#74
I Told My One Year Old Son He Could Sit With Me And Put His Water In The Same Spot As Daddy's Drink. Technically, He's Not Wrong
#75
Told My Son To Clean His Room
#76
My Son Was Asked To Get Some Recycling For Junk Modelling And This Is What He Did
#77
Told The Kids To Shovel The Driveway...
#78
Asked My Daughter To Take Her Backpack Upstairs
#79
Really?! I Told Them To Gather The Trash And The Laundry. Guess I Should Be More Specific As To What To Do Next
#80
I Asked My 11 Year Old To Put Two Trays Of Ice Cubes In The Cooler Meaning Empty Them In. She Took Me Literally
#81
Asked My 11 Yr Old Son To Warm Up Soup In Microwave
#82
I Guess He Literally Did What I Asked And Put The Markers On Top Of The Door
#83
Asked My Son To Put His Dirty Dishes In The Dishwasher - This Is What I Get
#84
I Asked My 2 Year Old To Put His Dish In The Dishwasher....This Is What I Found. I Can't Fault Him
#85
4yo Daughter Is Taking The Directions Very Literally
#86
Told The Kids If The Rabbits Played Up They Were Going In The Pot. This Is Not What I Had In Mind!!
Tiny Dynamine 8 years ago
That's an evil thing to say, not least because rabbits don't follow human social rules.
#87
My Teenage Daughter's School Asked Her To Do Half A Page Of Writing. She Went To Send This In
#88
Not Quite What I Meant When I Was Telling My 4 Year Old About My Lab Being A Gundog But Love The Interpretation
#89
I Told One Of My Kids At Work That He Had To Write His Spelling Words In Pen, And This Is What He Thought I Meant
'Tammy Chapman' 8 years ago
he understood writing them in pencil but didn't understand writing them in pen?
#90
He Was Pulling Silly Faces, So I Asked Him To Be Serious And Take A Nice Photo
Final score:
8points
#91
I See I Should've Been More Specific When I Told E He Could Grab A Few More Rocks For His Collection
#92
Asked My 3 Year Old To Put The Pears In The Fruit Bowl
Final score:
7points
#93
Asked My Son To Put A Letter In The Mailbox And Put The Flag Up
Final score:
5points
Ian Taggart 6 years ago
Oh no. If it's going up, does that mean it touched the ground? Not that it matters.
#94
I Told Ethan To Put His Shorts On. I Guess I Should've Been More Specific
#95
My Son Was Annoyed With Math By This Point. He's Not A Common- Core Fan.
Final score:
4points
Markus McCloud 8 years ago
This is why Common Core is b******t. I had to help my little sis with her math homework. I thought it was easy at first, until she said I had to do it a different way ("No no no! My teachers told me to do it like this!"). With these new standards, I was COMPLETELY lost, and that's saying something. Why? I'm the best mathematician in my family!
#96
Copy The Sentence
#97
Asked My Teen To Put The Pizza Box In The Bin
Final score:
2points
#98
Made My Nephew A Maze
Final score:
1point
#99
Pose For The Picture
Final score:
0points
#100
Went To Get Dressed And Told My Daughter "don't Eat All The Cookies (oreos)" Came Back To These
Final score:
0points
#101
When I Was 1st Grader, Teacher Tell Me To Read Chapter 1. So I Read "chapter 1", Then Close The Book
Final score:
-2points
Add New Image
What do you think ?
Hans 8 years ago
While most of the entries are hillarious, they still made me think. Who imprecise do we as adults typically communicate, assuming that listeners while come up for the imprecision with their knowledge of context, habits, and social norms?
sunnyrei82 8 years ago
I'm not a mother or teacher, so... question: When your kids/students come up with things like these, do you "correct" them, or do you keep up with it and let them find out by themselves?
Nyello 8 years ago
My husband and I both teach. He is in high school and I work down in elementary or primary school. For elementary I would approach it as: while you are kind of correct this is actually what I meant. I wouldn't tell them they are wrong because in all honesty they aren't. This is how they learn how certain sayings mean different things. :) Seeing the looking of new understanding on their face is pretty rewarding.
Load More Replies...
Tony Lagarto 8 years ago
"#83 I Guess He Literally Did What I Asked And Put The Markers On Top Of The Door" I don't even know what it means to "put the markers on top of the door". #85 Told The Kids If The Rabbits Played Up They Were Going In The Pot. This Is Not What I Had In Mind!! And what does "if the rabbits played up" mean?
Hans 8 years ago
While most of the entries are hillarious, they still made me think. Who imprecise do we as adults typically communicate, assuming that listeners while come up for the imprecision with their knowledge of context, habits, and social norms?
sunnyrei82 8 years ago
I'm not a mother or teacher, so... question: When your kids/students come up with things like these, do you "correct" them, or do you keep up with it and let them find out by themselves?
Nyello 8 years ago
My husband and I both teach. He is in high school and I work down in elementary or primary school. For elementary I would approach it as: while you are kind of correct this is actually what I meant. I wouldn't tell them they are wrong because in all honesty they aren't. This is how they learn how certain sayings mean different things. :) Seeing the looking of new understanding on their face is pretty rewarding.
Load More Replies... Tony Lagarto 8 years ago
"#83 I Guess He Literally Did What I Asked And Put The Markers On Top Of The Door" I don't even know what it means to "put the markers on top of the door". #85 Told The Kids If The Rabbits Played Up They Were Going In The Pot. This Is Not What I Had In Mind!! And what does "if the rabbits played up" mean?
You May Like 50 Incidents Where People Did Precisely What They Were Told, And The Results Were Hilarious (New Pics) 50 Times Parents Sent The Most Unhinged Text Messages To Their Kids "Don't Test Me, I'm Already Broken": 30 Hilarious Memes From This Online Group For Programmers
Donata Ruzgaitė
Mantas Kačerauskas
Rugilė Žemaitytė
Related on Bored Panda
