Teaching Children to Listen: A practical approach to developing children's listening skills

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Everyone starts in a box, and the adult says a number of steps they can take out of the box, for example, ‘2’. They stride twice out of the box. Then say another number, and they take that number of steps extra. Listen to audiobook CDs or stories on Youtube, without looking at the screen. Ask your child about the story after she has heard it. These can all be practised and improved through various fun activities and exercises, as you'll see in a minute. Importance of listening skills Repeat the game, getting them to move in different ways – for example, hopping, skipping, crawling, jumping sideways, etc.

Four Instructions Challenges– Ask your students to listen to the audio instructions carefully and move the counters into the correct positions on the grid!Make sure you mean it – Never give an instruction that you don’t expect your child to complete. Use time-out or guided compliance (gently guide the child through the task) as needed. At bedtime, make up a nonsense story together by taking turns adding one line and seeing where the story goes. Fully integrated attention, 5 years onwards: children can now carry out a task, focus their attention in various sized groups, ignore distractions and maintain their attention for a reasonable length of time. A great listening activity for preschoolers is to tell them an action rhymewhere they follow the instructions such as the one below.

If children can suggest their own characters and movements then that is great. I have only skimmed the surface here of all the possible Mr Men and Little Miss characters that you could try. Help your kids make an appropriate choice by taking this leap of faith. Your preemptive “Thank you for hanging up your towel after your shower,” will encourage your kids toward good behavior much more than, “I better not see your towel on the floor again!”

Stay calm and in control

Increasing numbers of children find it a challenge to stay focused on a task and follow even simple instructions in the classroom. Start by simply showing children the difference between hearing something and listening to it. Tell them the same story but in two different scenarios. First, let them walk around the room, play with their toys, or look out the window to explore the outdoors. Then sit them down and make sure they look at you to truly listen to the story. They'll instantly see the difference between the two. Have two adults with instruments at different parts of the circle. Then the children have to point with two hands A true classic for a good reason. 'Simon Says' is a super game that'll sharpen children's listening skills while they have a lot of fun. You can change the name 'Simon' to anything more suited to your little ones. And if you'd like to put a spin on it, use various names with the rule that children only need to follow instructions when the chosen one says them to. It's also a great way to reinforce left and right, colours, shapes, numbers, and more! Oh yeah! I was planning on taking out the trash right after I finish my lunch. ” This gives you the chance to put a positive parenting empowerment spin on the whole conversation! “That’s awesome–I really appreciate your help, buddy.” Final Thoughts

They may struggle to identify different elements of sounds such as loudness or tone which makes the difference between an angry voice and a happy voice. Standing in front of your child, perform certain actions by saying either “do this” or “do that.” For example, you could tap your head, clap your hands or do a jump. Choose a less popular children's rhyme or song that the wee ones are likely to not know yet. Print the lyrics, but leave some of the words off. Children need to fill these gaps as they listen to the pieces. Use audio resources as part of your children’s regular activities. Audio stories, songs and listening games such as environmental sounds will all help your children to develop listening skills.This affects their concentration span and their overall performance, especially their ability to read, which involves hearing, distinguishing and blending sounds. Seventy-two‘What am I describing?’ cards– An enjoyable speaking and listening game that can be played in pairs, small groups or as a whole class. Use our cards for your games, or use the blank template to make your own! We often phrase instructions as questions when we work with children, e.g. “Can you point to the picture for me?” This creates two problems. First, children have to listen to more words. Second, it implies that the child can say “no”, which is obviously not the case. This is also confusing for children with social communication difficulties who may interpret the question as an enquiry about their ability to carry out a task. Avoid “before” and “after”