The Listening Walk

Learning to listen is an important part of communication.  People who are better listeners perform better
socially, emotionally and intellectually.

Sitting still and waiting your turn while others are talking can be frustrating for an adult.  It is even more so for a child.  Here is a fun activity to help develop an enjoyment of listening.  It is centered around the book "The Listening Walk" by Paul Showers. 

The book will be read at the END of the activity.

    ~Discuss what is the difference between speaking and listening ~Ask the children to be quiet and listen to the sounds they hear.  

                      ~Tell them, you are going to ask them what they heard.  

                                         ~Have the children share the sounds they heard.

Sing "Sounds All Around" and discuss the different types of sound

     Instruments        Voice                      Animals                   Nature

Cut out pictures of things you may hear.  

                         

                          Paste the pictures onto a sheet of paper & put it on a clipboard.

Make it so exciting : "Children, we are taking our clipboards and a marker and our Ears and going for a Listening Walk. We will only listen.  When we hear something that we have a picture of on our clipboard, we will mark it with our  marker."

Take your walk around the halls, outside and around the building and then come back in.

Have the children share what sounds they heard.

Read the book and compare what sounds were heard in the book with the sounds your children heard.

This activity can be done on different occassions and you can look for just specific sounds.  All this will help to develop discerning ears and a curiousity for what is around.

Please share your "Listening Walk" stories with me.

  Maryann Harman on Facebook

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