Listening Games to Use With Teenagers

Verbal Scavenger Hunt

• This game is best played with several participants in a large building or outdoors. Arrange a scavenger hunt were the teenagers are given spoken directions on how to get to the next point or station. Instructions can include "Go down the hallway, turn left at the end and enter the third door at the right." When arriving at the stations, the players will be charged with performing additional actions based on listening skills before being send to the next station with new verbal instructions. Assignments can include repeating a short poem they just have been read to, or determining the title of a famous book after hearing an extract.

Picture This

• Give the teenager a piece of paper and some coloring pens. Choose an object, a painting or a photograph without showing it to her. Describe the object or picture in detail and ask the teenager to listen carefully to you and draw on the paper according to your descriptions. You can also add some math exercises by choosing an abstract painting by, among others, Piet Mondrian, followed by instructions based on length, angles and shapes. When finished, compare the original with the teenager's drawing and discuss how closely she listened and followed the instructions.

Sound Scapes

• Take the teenager to a specific environment that can include a restaurant, an airport or a construction site. Ask him to listen carefully to the sounds that define the place. Allow tape recordings of the noises made in the environment before charging the teenager to recreate the sound scape at home or in class by using musical instruments, tools, toys or household equipment. The game will not only encourage the teenager to listen intently to the sounds that surround him, but also give an impression on how composers, sound technicians and playwrights work.

Online Games

• Resource websites for English as a second language offer listening games suitable for teenagers. Players have to listen to instructions and descriptions before answering questions or matching pictures. Some games require the players to distinguish between various animal sounds, while other resources encourage site visitors to build elaborate soundscapes of well-known environments, including beach holidays or train stations. Sound puzzles will play a tune before asking the players to recreate the song by adding pieces that make different sounds in the right order.