Singing for Listening

Listening well is important for so many reasons. This is one of my personal favourites for helping children of all ages to open their ears.

Singing a song or saying a rhyme in different voices gives the ear motivation to listen better. Small children will giggle in delight at a funny voice and older children will focus more and give more time to what you are saying. Extra practice in song and rhyme will exercise the ear for more important words.

Choose any nursery rhyme that you know, and preferably the children know too. Sing it in the conventional way, with any actions that go with it. Get the children involved and encourage when they join in. Then, change your voice a little, or a lot, and watch the reaction.

One of my favourite is Incy Wincy Spider as there are a number of variations which work well. For example, you can make your voice go higher as he climbs the spout, and then make it go lower again for when he is washed out, and then up again for when he tries again. Or you can sing about the Great Big Spider in a loud, strong voice, and then a Teeny Tiny Spider in a teeny tiny voice, changing the words where appropriate.

Other ideas for different voices are:
Whispering
Humming
Donald Duck
Big bad wolf
Wide mouth
Wobbly

Don’t feel you have to sing if you don’t like to. Every song is a poem too.

Learning to Listen

Listening is as important as reading, talking or writing. Everyone can hear, but to be a skilled listener you have to practice. Education requires good communication skills from an early age. See here and here for some facts. Children who listen well often do better in school, and of course being a good listener means being a good friend.

Learning to listen well takes only a few minutes of focussed practice. Try some of these:

1. Stand still. Stop talking. Close your eyes for 10 seconds. What can you hear?
This is a great one to do if you go to a park or a beach but is just as interesting in the street or shopping center (you can always find a corner to do this for a few seconds). A busy street might have too many sounds, especially for small children.

2. Put some music on. Move your body to match the sounds you hear.
Some children just have to move and this actually helps them focus. Once they have practiced listening a little with movement, they will be able to sit still better at school.

3. Collect different substances such as rice, oats, beans, beads etc. Put each in a paper bag. Hold closed and shake. Listen to the differences in sound.
This can provide lots of opportunity for conversation about different materials and how sound is made.

I’m planning to post a listening activity every week, so come back and visit if you find this useful. Please comment with suggestions or thoughts.