Activities to Help Attention and Listening

With the history of “glue ear” (otitis media) and ear infections, it is no surprise to me that listening is one of LM’s biggest challenges. She was deprived in this important area of sensory stimulation very early in her life, which may explain her current auditory difficulties. So this is one of my most important focus areas.

The ability to pay attention and to listen is a vital skill for encouraging good communication skills. It is more than simply “hearing sounds” as the child needs to learn to filter sounds, to sort out which sounds are important, what they mean, to remember and to act on the new information. It is necessary for having two-way conversations. Here are some easy listening activities I have found, which are appropriate for young children:

“LM, LM, what do you hear?”

This is a simple activity we have been doing on the way to LM’s school, which is a good 15 minute walk. I ask LM to listen carefully to the sounds around and tell me what she can hear (e.g. card driving on the road, a plane flying, wind blowing, birds singing, etc.)

Copying Sounds

I have filled a variety of containers with rice, pasta, beads, etc. I put them on the table in front of LM and sit opposite her. I then ask her to turn away and listen. I pick a container and shake it while she is not looking. I then ask her to turn back and find the container I have just used and make the same sound. I recently started to make it more complicated by making a sequence of sounds and asking LM to make the sounds in the same order.

Songs and Stories

Quite often when I am reading a book for LM, her attention starts drifting off. When that happens, I give her a rattle and ask her to shake it every time a particular character or action is mentioned (e.g. “wolf” in “Three Little Pigs”). To make it more difficult, you can ask to do different sounds for different characters.

Drumming

I play a pattern of beats on the table with chop sticks and get LM to repeat it. I vary the strength and the rhythm of the sounds. To make it more difficult, you could use a variety of surfaces to bang on (e.g. different saucepan lids), a variety of sound-makers (shakers, rattles).

I will probably be updating this post if I find more activities of this sort.

Bye for now!