Active Listening Games

Active Listening is important, because it shows others that we’re focusing on what they’re saying when they’re talking to us. There are different ways we can show someone we’re being Active Listeners, such as looking at them, staying quiet to listen, and nodding our heads, and we can choose which Active Listening strategies we want to use. Today, we’re going to do an Active Listening Game to practice our Active Listening skills.

1. The teacher reads a list of words to students and asks students to clap every time students hear a specific word (for example) “cat.”
2. Read each group of words separately and pause for a few seconds in between. For example, say:

• cuts coat horse cut dog cow cat
• horse coat cat cow cut dog cat
• coat cute horse cat cute cow dog

3. Play one more round with a longer list of words. For example, say:

• cat shoes pants coat cute dress cut
• coat cut pants shoes dress cat shoes
• cute coat cat pants cat cat coat

• What makes it easier or harder to be an active listener?
• What strategies did you use to actively listen? What strategies do you want to try?
• Why is it important to be an active listener?
• What does it look like when someone is not being an Active Listener?
• How else could we play this game?

For primary school students:

• Younger students may need more support understanding what it means to be an active listener. Before playing, consider facilitating a version of the Kernel “Looks Like, Sounds Like, Feels Like” to help students understand how to actively listen to others.
• When students are familiar with the game, let them make groups and ask them create their own word lists with special words that require the group to do a special action (clapping, jumping, doing a silly dance, etc.).

For students in grades 5-6:

• To make the game more difficult, increase the number of words and actions.
• Play other variations. Try one of the following variations to practice active listening:
  • Active Listening with a Partner: Have students find a partner. Students take turn responding to a question for 30 seconds while the other person listens without interrupting. Increase the time to one minute to increase the challenge.
  • Story Builders: Students will work together to create a story. Share the first line of the story (e.g., I was at my friend’s house when something really surprising happened…). Alternatively, ask a volunteer to start. After that, go around the group/circle asking each person to contribute one sentence to flesh out the story. Remind students that they must use their Active Listening skills to create a story together that makes sense.