The Importance of Active Listening in the Kids Communication Game – A Key to Success

Playing active listening games can be a great way to teach children this vital skill. These games allow students to practice listening skills, respond quickly, and enhance social-emotional learning.

A feeling-listening response focuses on the emotions that your child may be experiencing. It includes summarizing what your child said and asking how they feel.

Make a Plan

Several things can get in the way of active listening. These can include the following:

Your daughter comes home from school crying. She tells you that her friend took her favorite toy and that she is afraid he will break it. She needs someone to listen and help her through the situation. Instead of assuming that she is overreacting, you stop what you are doing and take her seriously. You reassure her that she can tell you anything and give her your full attention.

You can teach students to develop their active listening skills with fun, hands-on games. Try playing these with your small group during your next circle time session:

Make a Vision

Creating a safe space for your children to talk to you is essential. This will help encourage their communication skills and ensure they feel like you are always there for them.

Active listening is a difficult skill to develop. This is because the mind can be distracted by other thoughts and feelings. This is why teaching kids how to focus on the speaker is crucial.

One way to do this is by playing active listening games or some kids communication games. These fun activities can be played in small groups and are a great way to practice listening skills.

For example, a popular activity is Simon Says. This game requires the players to listen and respond quickly. They must run when the leader says “green light” and stop when they hear “red light.”

Another good active listening game is Musical Active Listening. This is an excellent activity for students of all ages. Have students gather in a circle and whisper a sentence into the ears of the first student. Then the second student will repeat the sentence, and everyone must guess if it is accurate.

Create a Safe Space

A crucial part of active listening is creating a safe space. This means removing distractions, making eye contact, and using appropriate facial expressions to convey empathy and attentiveness. It also means being prepared to let your children express strong emotions, and you will not try to reassure them or solve their problems.

In addition, it’s essential to paraphrase what you hear back to your child but avoid repeating back verbatim. This helps to ensure that you understand what they said and allows them to correct you if you need clarification or remember something.

Many parents may react to what their children share by trying to discipline, offer reassurance, provide solutions or answers, and criticize them. While these responses can sometimes be helpful, they are not an effective way to help your children share their feelings and explore the underlying issues that may be playing out. These reactions can shut down the conversation and make it harder for your children to open up in the future.

Be Empathetic

Often when children want to talk about something challenging, they need to be heard. Their emotions are running high, and they need someone to validate their feelings without judging them. There is a better time to try and offer solutions or tell your child what to do.

You can practice active listening skills with your students using a variety of games and activities. One classic is the Telephone Game, which can be done individually or in small groups. The first student creates a message, which is then whispered to the next person in the circle or line until it reaches the end of the group. The last student must then accurately repeat the original message.

Another good empathy exercise involves telling kids that you have had similar experiences. You can also play a game like the Box of Secrets, where each child cuts a hole in a box large enough for their hand and then describes their feelings when they puts their hands inside the box. Others may take turns guessing what is inside the box based on the description.

Listen to Your Child

You can respond when your children want to talk in many different ways. You might need to discipline, set limits or offer reassurance; at other times, you may need to share your own experiences and feelings, help them problem-solve, or listen to their concerns and opinions. However, if your children are expressing solid emotions or are upset in some way, the most important thing to do first is actively listen to them.

It’s tempting to reassure your children that everything will be fine, that the issue is not that big of a deal, or that they are right. This mistake stops you from listening fully to them and shows that their feelings do not matter.

A classic active listening activity is the telephone game. Students form a circle and take turns creating a message that will be whispered to the other students. Each student must retell the message exactly, including all of the details that were told. The first person to retell the message correctly wins.