Ask 100 schoolteachers what the number one skill their students need to work on is, and the likely answer: listening. A close second: following directions.
There are many theories as to why today’s students seem to have a harder time listening and following directions. Some blame too much screen time and not enough interaction with other humans. Some cite the break down of the modern family, hectic schedules and the disappearance of the family dinner.
Whatever the cause of the seemingly cotton-filled ears of students populating modern classrooms, there is a solution. Listening skills can be taught and practiced.
Engage the Brain curated some listening activities that parents can do with their kids. (Attribution is below each activity.) The activities are divided into two age groups: Elementary and Middle, though many high school students could benefit from some of these activities, too.
A key to engaging a child your in these activities is to have fun. Set these activities up as games. Challenge your child to improve his listening skills. Like any new skill, listening takes consistent practice over a period of time. Set a goal of practicing listening skills several times a week.
Without further ado… Here are the listening activities:
Materials: index card, colorful circle stickers, a pen
Give your child the following instructions:
1 Take the green sticker and put it in the top left corner.
2 Take the orange sticker and put it in the bottom right corner.
3 Take the pink sticker and put it in the center of the card.
4 Get your pencil out and put a smiley face in the pink sticker. The smiley face should have two eyes and a mouth.
Materials: paper, pen
Draw a 3 by 3 grid on a piece of paper. Place lower and upper case letters in the boxes. Create a set of set directions for you child to follow:
1. I am not a capital letter.
2. I am not the letter X or the letter V.
3. I am not a vowel.
4. I am in any row but the last row.
5. I come after the letter N in the alphabet.
Materials: paper divided into boxes with various shapes drawn in each box. You can make the activity more challenging by adding more rows and more shapes.
Follow the directions and color.
1. Color the first diamond yellow.
2. Color the square red and green.
3. Color the first shape purple.
4. Draw a big blue dot in the middle of the third shape.
Materials: white drawing paper, pencil or pen
Give these directions orally to your child. Tell your child that you will only be reading each step of the directions twice, so they need to pay close attention.
Step 1: Turn your paper horizontally. That means “landscape” or long ways.
Step 2: Draw a two-inch five-point star in the left hand corner. The top point and the left point should touch the edge of the paper.
Step 3: Now, move your pencil to the middle of the paper. Draw a one-inch square. Shade or color in the square.
Step 4 : On the bottom right hand corner of the paper, draw a two inch circle. Leave about a one-inch margin, which means to come over one inch on the edge of each side of the paper. Inside the circle, draw a happy face.
Step 5: For the last object, you are going to draw a two-inch equal lateral triangle. It goes in the top right hand corner. Leave a one-inch margin on both edges of the paper.
How does the picture look?
Materials: Origami paper, directions
Origami is a challenging activity when you can see the directions. Challenge your child to make a pelican from only your oral directions.
Origami Pelican
| 1. Start with your paper white side up. Fold in half, along the line shown, then open out again. | 2. Fold the outside corners into the center line and crease well. |
Materials: white drawing paper, pen or pen
Draw a picture using common shapes on a piece of paper; don’t let your child see your drawing. (Example below) Give your child a piece of paper and give her directions so she can try to replicate your picture on her paper. After you are done, compare the pictures.
Now switch! Let her draw a picture and give you the directions to try and recreate the picture on her paper.
How to draw funny cartoons
No doubt you have experienced a bout of selective listening with your child. It tends to kick in when a child is asked to start his homework, clean her room, or complete some other unnecessary task that distracts from fun and entertainment. (Editor’s note: Dad’s can suffer from this affliction too.)
The listening activities listed above are suggestions and starting points. With a little creativity these activities can be used many times with just slight tweaks. And the challenge level can be adjusted easily up or down too. With consistent practice in a fun atmosphere, a child can improve his listening skills. It will benefit him in school, life and career.
