Attention and listening skills are the foundation for communication and essential throughout a person’s life. Try the games below for some fun practice with attention and listening skills in the classroom, or adapt these games for use at home!
1. Simon Says
One person is Simon and gives commands such as, “Simon says touch your nose.” The other players must follow the command only if the command starts with “Simon says.” If listeners follow a command that does not start with “Simon says,” or fail to follow one that does start with “Simon says,” they’re out. The last person remaining wins and gets to be Simon in the next round.
2. Visual Memory Games
- Tray Game Version 1: Place several items on a tray and give the players five minutes to look at the tray and try to memorise what is on it. Then take the tray away and ask the players to name what was on the tray.
- Tray Game Version 2: Place several items on a tray and give the players five minutes to look at the tray and try to memorise what is on it. Then take the tray away and remove one or two items and ask the players to name what is missing.
- What’s Different?: The teacher briefly leaves the room and changes their appearance slightly (e.g. takes off glasses, rolls up their sleeves, etc). When the teacher returns the students need to figure out what has changed.
3. Auditory Memory Games
- I went to the supermarket and bought… Players take turns listing what they bought at the supermarket. Each player must list all previous items named before adding their own item. There are many versions of this game including:
- I went to the beach and brought my…
- I went to the zoo and saw a …
- I went on a picnic and brought…
- I packed for my holiday to (location) and brought…
- Listening Stories: Give each student a word to listen for while you read a story. Every time a student hears their word, have them raise their hand, stand up, or clap, etc.
4. Winking Witch
Everyone sits in a circle and closes their eyes while the teacher secretly chooses the witch. Once all eyes are open, the witch discretely makes eye contact with others in the group and winks or blinks. Once someone has been winked at, they must pretend to fall asleep. All awake players guess who the witch is while the witch continues to try to wink everyone to sleep before their identity is found out.
5. What’s in the Box?
Hide an object in a box and describe the hidden object to the group. The group needs to guess what is in the box.
6. Pass the Claps
Make a rhythm by clapping then tell the group you are passing it on to the next person. That person continues the rhythm by clapping your rhythm then adding their own before passing the rhythm to the next person.
7. Listen, Draw and Colour
Students draw a picture based on verbal directions (e.g. draw a small blue circle, place a large red circle under the blue circle, put an X in the middle of the red circle, etc).
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