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Active Listening Games for Preschoolers

Teach your preschoolers how to listen through active listening games. Listening games help children learn how to pay attention and respond to what they hear through action or words. Prepare a variety of listening skills that will teach preschoolers how to shut out the rest of the world and listen. Encourage maximum effort by awarding stickers for each correct answer or to game winners.

Story Contests
- Read your preschoolers a small story and give each child a sheet of paper. Have them draw a scene from the story. Allow each child to stand up and share his picture. Alternatively, read nursery rhymes instead of stories. Divide the children into groups of three or four. Read a story or rhyme to each group and have the group draw a picture. Ask questions about the story or rhyme and award small prizes for each correct answer.
Song Games
- Sing songs like ̶0;Hokey Pokey̶1; and ̶0;Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.̶1; The preschoolers must do the correct moves as they sing the songs. For example, they must point at their head, shoulders, knees and toes while singing the song. This teaches the children to listening carefully to the song. Change up the song by singing ̶0;eyes, bellies, thumbs and nose̶1; to see if the preschoolers are paying attention. Award prizes for a job well done. Play a trivia game by singing a line from one of the songs and having a preschooler finish the next line. If she guesses correctly, award her a prize.
Start and Stop Games
- Tell the preschoolers to spread out around the room. When you clap, tell them to walk in place. When you ring a bell, they must stop. Any player caught not doing the right moves is out of the game. The last player standing wins the game. Try to throw them off by ringing the bell twice in a row instead of alternating between ringing the bell and clapping your hands. Other start and stop games include games such as, ̶0;Simon Says̶1; and ̶0;Mother May I.̶1;
Other Games
- Other games include giving the preschoolers a set of directions. For example, tell them to ̶0;touch your toes,̶1; ̶0;spin around̶1; and ̶0;jump.̶1; See if they can listen to each direction and do each one without being told again. Award a prize to any child who can do this. Make the activity easier by giving the preschoolers just one or two directions and make it more difficult by giving them a set of three to five directions. For another game, say a list of colors. Select one preschooler to repeat the colors. If they are correct, award them a small prize.

Kids Games