How Can You Enhance Your Child's Listening Skills? 5 Fun Activities to Try!

It's no secret that children get easily distracted oftentimes, and obviously so; they're just kids.

But with the abundance of screens around, it might seem even less likely now for them to engage in activities that build important skills like the ability to listen well or engage in social interactions.

The truth, however, is that it can actually be pretty easy to get them hooked on simple games and activities, even if it’s for a few minutes every day.

And if you’re out of ideas, this little list might help you -

1. Simon Says

“Stop reading!”. Well, you technically can’t stop reading until Simon asks you to.

“Simon says” is a classic game for getting kids to pay attention and listen to instructions.

You give out instructions like “Simon says turn to your left.” for the child to follow. When the instruction doesn’t begin with “Simon says”, the child must not do it.

This game is great because children will have to pay close attention to figure out: one, whether or not they should follow the order; and two, what they need to do.

It’s simple, yet extremely effective.

2. Find The Odd One Out

In this category game, you basically give kids a list of words related to a specific theme and sneak in one extra word that doesn’t match the others. All they have to do is identify which one it is.

Since you’re verbally giving the kids the list, they’ll have to closely listen to find the odd one out.

Example: table, chair, air, sofa, bed

3. Story Trivia

Storytelling never grows old. And what makes it even better? Storytime trivia!

After story-time, just ask your child a variety of questions that will push them to think critically about the content - we promise you it's guaranteed to improve their comprehension and analytical skills.

You probably feel more confident asking questions only when you’re narrating the stories yourself or if you’re discussing a book you’ve read before, right? Turns out that doesn't have to be the case.

For instance, if your child listens to Vobble's audio stories, the "Engage" section on the apps gives you prompts that you can use to discuss the stories together and ask questions. These prompts are based on your child's listening activity and can be great conversation-starters to engage with your kid.

4. Draw What You Hear

It's as simple as it sounds. You do the talking, they'll do the drawing.

It's amazing what kids can do with a blank sheet. Give them a plain white paper and they'll make a whole artwork out of it within minutes. Most kids never seem to tire of doodling, colouring and playing around with their art supplies.

Just give them instructions on what to draw and see what they create purely based on what they hear from you.

Their finished drawing will give you a better sense of how well they listened to you and interpreted your instructions.

5. Read My Mind

Think of a word, like "Dinosaur" for instance, and challenge your kid to guess it based on your description of the word.

You could go, "They're not around anymore." Or just say, "They can be gigantic, bigger than that tree out there."

It's not only a fantastic game to bond with your child, but also keeps their minds sharp and improves their listening and critical thinking skills.

At the end of the day, there's no one who understands your child better than you do. You would know everything from their quirky habits and routines to their unique brand of gibberish and non-verbal cues.

Simply put, just get creative and bring in activities that really speak to your child's interests and preferences. The trick is to keep each of these listening activities lively and intriguing.