Games are a wonderful tool to help children learn deeper truths. Here are 7 Games (or fun activities) we have used for helping to cultivate the habit of listening:
Simon Says – this classic game can be made simple for younger children (Simon says touch your nose) and more complicated for older ones (a series of instructions to follow.)
Name that Sound – Using this basket of instruments play an instrument without the child seeing – either stand behind them, just outside the room, or blindfold them. Ask them to identify the instrument played. Add several instruments as they become familiar with the sounds and have them lay out the instruments in the order you played them. {for fun, let them do this to you too!}
What Time Is It Captain Midnight? – We stumbled upon this game while searching for unique Awana games to play as Paul and I are game directors and this game has been a huge hit with kids of all ages and our boys enjoy playing it at home with us. It is identical to What Time is it Mr. Wolf if you are familiar with that game. One person, Captain Midnight, stands on the other side of the room, with his back to the other players. The other players call out; “What time is it Captain Midnight?” Captain Midnight calls out a time between 1 and 11 and the players need to take that many steps. This repeats until Captain Midnight says it is midnight, at which point he chases the children back to the start line trying to tag them. Those that are tagged are out.
Marco Polo – One child is blindfolded and calls out “Marco” and the other players respond with “Polo”. The blindfolded child tries to tag the others by following their voice. {Usually a pool game, but the boys enjoy playing it in our living room}
Blindfolded Obstacle Course – Blindfold the children and give them verbal instructions to get through a series of obstacles set up in the room.
Find the Object – Set up a random assortment of items on a table in one room and take the children to another room. Give them details about which object you’d like them to go and find from the table, for example; “Please bring me the smallest yellow item on the table.” or “Please bring me the book that talks about a little girl and a bear eating blueberries.”
Get Across the Room – So similar to Marco Polo and the Obstacle Course, however slightly different. Put the blindfolded children on one side of the room and have a partner (parent or older sibling) for each child on the other side of the room. The partner directs their own {blindfolded} partner across the room to them, so they need to know and listen to the voice of the parent they are partnered up with.
Whac-A-Mole Arcade Game – a great game that is truly fun to play. At the beginning of each round each player is assigned a sound and a mole and when your mole pops up he makes his sound and you need to whack it. **Note, they don’t seem to be manufacturing the exact game we have, which is described above. This is another Whac a Mole version which we haven’t played, but I imagine is similar.
Any other games you can think of to help encourage the habit of listening?
See more on the habit of listening and other good habits to be teaching our children here.
