Figuring out how to increase listening skills in young children can be a tricky task. Of course, we’d all love kids to just listen the first time we tell them something, but that usually isn’t how things work out. Instead, you will need to put in some work to increase listening skills for students first. Direct instruction, games, and different exercises are ways to do this. There’s no doubt that improving listening skills in the classroom will help everyone function better. So check out these ideas to get your students on the right track.
Better Skills In Children With Direct Instruction
The first step in the process of better listening skills is to get everyone on the same page with what listening skills means. Doing this will allow you and your students to have the same terms when speaking about it.
First, develop your listening skills meaning by defining the term. This can be as simple as using the different parts of our bodies to focus, hear, and understand what is being said. It is important that students understand that listening is about hearing AND understanding what the person said.
Next, move into the different parts of the body that are used for listening. Make sure to cover that listening is done with more than just your ears. You need to use your brain to think about what is being said. Your hands and feet also take a role while listening as they need to be quiet so everyone can hear what is being said. If your body is moving all over the place or making loud noises, this can cause an issue. Check out this post about Answering the Question How To Teach Listening Skills? for some ideas on visuals to help students along the way.
Wrap up your direct teaching with practice. Use some of the ideas below to practice their newly learned skills. This is a great time to use noticing language with children when you see they are doing a great job listening.
And if you are thinking “I don’t have the time to make a whole lesson plan on this topic,” – got you covered! Grab this low-prep lesson and activity set on whole body listening. Included is a one page lesson plan for listening skills as well as almost all the teacher materials (except scissors and adhesive), a list of extension activities, real-life scenarios, student worksheets, a listening skills flip book, and visuals to support learning concepts. Literally everything you need for a great social skills lesson on listening. Click here for this time saving resource.
Games To Increase Listening Skills
A great way to have fun while also learning is using games to increase listening skills. Some fun ways to do this are:
Telephone – tell one student in a group a secret phrase. Have that student pass that secret phrase along to the student sitting next to them (who is showing whole body listening). Do this until the secret goes around the entire group then have the last student share out the secret phrase. Pro-tip: start with a simple phrase (such as “the sky is blue”) and work up to a more complex phrase (such as “my favorite meal is spaghetti with meatballs and garlic bread”) as students get better at the activity.
Freeze Dance – put on some music and have students dance around. Then randomly stop the music and have students stop dancing the exact moment they hear the music stop. See how quickly they can stop moving when the music stops playing. Listening skills play an important role in knowing when to stop because if they don’t, they are out.
Red Light, Green Light – have 1 student standing on one side of the classroom (or a larger space like a field or gymnasium). One person is the “Stoplight” and stands at the finish line, facing away from the other players, who line up at the start line. When the Stoplight says “Green Light,” the players move toward the finish line. When the Stoplight says “Red Light,” they turn around, and the players must freeze. Anyone caught moving during “Red Light” goes back to the start. The game continues with alternating “Green Light” and “Red Light” until someone reaches the finish line. The first player to get there without moving on “Red Light” wins and becomes the new Stoplight. Students really have to use their expert listening skills to know when to go and stop.
Improve Active Listening Skills Exercise Ideas
There are many different ways to improve active listening skills exercises.
One of these is using scenarios. Scenarios are a great way to better listening skills. This is because you can tailor them to situations that could occur in your students’ real lives. This helps when generalizing the concept to their own life. Some examples are:
- Kendra wants to share out her idea but she waits with a quiet mouth until the teacher was done talking.
- Mario was focusing on the story his friend was telling.
- Josie had her eyes on the teacher while she was reading the book aloud.
(If you are needing some examples of good listening skills, check out this post on 7 Helpful Listening Skills Examples for the Classroom Teacher.)
Start off using basic ones that are easy for kids to identify. Then you can throw in some that aren’t showing good listening skills and see if they notice this. To take it one step further, in situations that don’t show the skill, have students change it in a way that it does. If you are teaching whole body listening, you could even have students say which body part was showing good listening skills.
Another way to improve listening skills for kids is with worksheets. Create some worksheets for students to practice their learning. Think matching situations to show good listening skills. Or sorting out the different body parts used in whole body listening. Another idea are worksheets that have students share their feelings when listening happens. Yet another idea is to make comic strips (with how much graphic novels are big right now, your students are going to love it). Simply give students a main character and basic idea. Then have them identify a part of their body they could use to show good listening skills. In the next box or two, have them draw the character using that skill. You could even have another box showing how they felt when they demonstrated active listening.
If you aren’t sure where to start with listening skills worksheets, check these out. You’ll find 16 picture scenario task cards and 15 other worksheets. Topics for the fifteen worksheets on listening skills include identifying listening, a list of listening skills tools to be successful, real-life listening skills examples and situations, how listening impacts feelings in self and others, and more. This listening skills worksheet resource is ideal for kindergarten and first graders who need to focus on their learning of listening skills in a social skills group. Grab this time-saving resource here.
Bonus Improving Listening Skills Tips
Read alouds are another great way to work on the skills of listening. Check out some favorites:
Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns to Listen by Howard Binkow – A rabbit named Howard is the main character in this book. He learns why it is important to listen and pay attention. Another great thing about this how to improve listening skills kids book is that there is a free download containing discussion ideas, video poster, song, and interactive questions.
Listening Ninja: A Children’s Book About Active Listening and Learning How to Listen by Mary Nhin – This is a great book for improving listening skills in children because kids love the ninja series where the characters are all ninjas (this helps with student buy-in to read the book). The story itself is also great in that it references the “listening ear”. It also tells the different areas that are needed (including an acronym to help students remember). Ninja stories are awesome at not only going over what the topic is but giving helpful, easy ways to put that topic into practice.
Whole Body Listening Larry At School! by Elizabeth A Sautter & Kristen Wilson – Whole body listening is the focus of this book. It has a focus on school so kids in the same classroom are the main focus. It breaks down the different aspects of whole body listening for one of the character’s who struggles. Then it gives some nice improving listening skills tips.
Try out one of a few of these different activities to increase listening skills in your students today.
Happy Teaching!
