Teaching young children how to listen
BY KAREN DEERWESTER
Do you want your child to be a better listener? Try adding listening games to your family routines and child's playtime. You'll help your child acquire critical auditory skills needed for literacy as well as a better appreciation of the world around them.
Listening starts with a whisper. "Shhhhhhhhhhh, what do you hear?" "Listen."
Listen to the rain, to the birds, to the leaves chattering from the trees. Listen to the silly words in a Dr.  Seuss book. Listen for the letters in your name. Do you hear Grandma's car in the driveway? Take a "listening minute" now and then through the day. Or, take a "sound walk" through the neighborhood and discover things you never noticed before.
Here are some other fun listening games and activities to try with your child:
Simon Says
Play "Simon Says" in the car or waiting in store lines. Your child follows your directions as long as you say "Simon Says". When else does everyone laugh when caught not-listening!
Going on Vacation
Parents are intimidated by this game but three-year-olds can remember a sequence of ten items without a problem - and they'll remember it a week later, too. The game is played by listing things to take on vacation and repeating in sequence everyone else's items. "I'm going on vacation and I'm taking
my blue mittens." Next person says, "I'm going on vacation and I'm taking my toothbrush - and Karen's blue mittens.
Copycat
Your child may love to drive you crazy with this one. Before you can speak, you have to repeat the last thing someone else said. Tuesday might be "copycat" night at the dinner table.
Rhyming Words
Sing songs like "Down by the Bay" - "did you ever see a moose kissing a goose" or "a bear combing his hair"? Make up original songs using family names or new words to favorite tunes.
Word for a Day
Pick a word for the day - a color word, a number, or "mommy". Your child collects a sea shell or a sticker every time she hears someone else say the word.
Sound Safari
Sound safari is a scavenger hunt for sounds. Write a checklist or paste pictures of familiar sounds from your neighborhood - birds, car horns, baby crying, crickets, dog barking, siren, etc. Go for a walk crossing off the sounds as you hear them. How many days does it take to find them all?
Copy the Beat
Sitting in a restaurant waiting for food? Tap out a beat for one another to copy.
Name that Food (Sound, Tune, or Instrument)
Can you name a food from the sound it makes? Plan tonight's menu around interesting sounds - something crunchy, slurpy, or maybe fizzy! Change the game by hiding noisy objects under the table and guessing the sound. Or play the first few notes of a song or an instrument.
Silly Sentence
Can you say a sentence using the same beginning letter for every word? Busy Bobby broke the baby's bottle. Or more simply, describe someone using the first letter of their name - kooky Karen likes talking to happy Heather.
Music, storytelling and poetry all add more interesting opportunities for listening and sharing through the power of sounds and words. Begin with a simple sound-awareness. Before you know it, your child will have the ability to listen to others, to listen to nature and even to listen to the sounds within. Listening changes the world. Can you hear it?
Karen Deerwester is the author of "The Entitlement-Free Child" and "The Potty Training Answer Book"
and the owner of Family Time Coaching and Consulting. She offers
one-on-one parent coaching, as well as classes and seminars. She is
also Mommy & Me director at B'Nai Torah Congregation in Boca Raton,
where she works with mothers, infants and toddlers through age 2. Get
more information about B'Nai Torah's early childhood education program here. Visit the Family Time website and follow Karen on Twitter @FamilyTimeInc.
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