21 Listening Games For Kids (That You've Got To Try)

Of all the skills to learn in life, one of the most important is learning to listen.

This underpins all areas of the curriculum.

However, it is easier said than done. We have all seen children that roll around on the floor whenever it is time to listen to an adult. So how do we teach listening effectively, particularly active listening?

The answer is exciting and fun listening games, ones that get children on the side, and get them enthused and engaged.

In ten years of teaching children between the ages of 3 to 5, I have tried out hundreds of listening games.

The best 21 have made it to this article.

These are the fun listening activities that children love, and that they ask for again and again. They are great for children between the ages of 3 to 7.

So, sit tight, and here are the best 21 listening games!

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1. Wonky Donkey

A less well-known one (but a real gem!) to start with.

The children sit in a circle. Pick one child to stand in the middle of the circle. They are the ‘wonky donkey’ and they put their hands over their eyes.

Have a fake ‘tail’ for the donkey. I use a simple small black sheet.

The donkey holds this tail in one hand, and it is draped over their shoulder so that it goes down their back.

Then silently pick one child. They are going to stand up, creep over and shake the tail whilst saying ‘Wonky Donkey’. Then they sit back down.

The wonky donkey will then wake up. They are allowed to open their eyes and have three guesses to say who it was that said ‘wonky donkey’.

This is a voice recognition game. If you know what your friends sound like, then you will be able to guess.

Also, it is thinking about where the sound has come from, which helps in developing good listening skills.

To make this fun game harder you can do some of the following:

Move around the circle before saying ‘wonky donkey’ and then creep back to your place
Use a silly voice (like a monster)
Whisper

2. Noisy Neighbor

This is an old chestnut from the archives and one classic game that children really love.

Have a feely bag or a box, and some objects that have been selected because they make a noise. They are what the noisy neighbor is going to use in his house to irritate the neighbors!

A top tip is to show the children what the objects are first, and also make the noise for them. This gives them a fighting chance of guessing what they are later.

Some good objects are things like a crisp packet, a plastic bag, a brush, a dog toy, bells – and anything else like that.

There is a chant that goes like this:

Noisy Neighbor!

Stop that noise!

Then put your hand into the bag and make the noise of one of the objects.

The children try to guess what it is. It’s as simple as that but really helps to improve listening skills.

Probably start with only about 3 or 4 objects, but as they get better at the game you can expand the number you use.

Top Tip – The harder version of the game is not to show them the objects first, but just let them guess. This is significantly trickier though, just to warn you.

3. Odd One Out

This active listening game is not as easy as it looks. Kids will have to listen carefully to pick which is the odd one out. There are also quite a few different ways to play it.

One version is a simple listening game. You tell a story, but it has one element in it that makes no sense.

For example, ‘For dinner, I ate chicken, a sausage, a leopard, carrots and potatoes.’ What sounds a bit ridiculous in that sentence?

You could also have some objects to really bring it to life.

For example, ‘Let’s see what’s in the car park. We have a tractor, truck, car, toothbrush, motorbike.’

The harder version of the game is where you have objects that share a more complex association.

It could be rhyming objects, for example. You might have a cat, hat, bat and dog. Which is the odd one out?

It could also be words that start with the same sound (alliteration), are the same color, or some other feature like that. If you’re looking for more alliteration games then check out these ten terrific ones.

4. What’s In The Box Phonecall

This is a simple listening game that is really jazzed up by using some kind of pretend phone call.

Have a box or bag with some mystery objects inside. You also have a pretend phone of some sort (which is optional but really does bring it to life).

The idea is that you are going to describe what is in the box and the children are going to guess. But to make it much more exciting, someone (or something) is going to phone you up.

It could be the Big Bad Wolf. It could be a witch or an alien. Maybe a character from a story you were doing at the time would be a good choice.

Anyway, the character phones up and describes an object. Make it as exciting as you can! What a shock the character has phoned! What’s that?! You have left objects in your magic bag!? For us!?

An example of the description could be ‘It’s an animal. It has four legs. It is grey with a trunk. It has large ears.’ (It’s an elephant)

Objects could be animals, food, toys, or random objects from around the room.

Top Tip – Another variation is that instead of a phone call, get a puppet to describe what is in the box.

5. Rabbit Game

This is a highly addictive game that many children will love.

You will need at least one instrument, and three different instruments if you are going to do the harder version of the game.

Put out lots of rubber spots in a random array all over the floor. The spots should all be at least two meters apart, and you need at least as many spots as children. The spots are the rabbit holes.

The children are now the rabbits. They are going to hop around the ‘field’ (which is the playing area).

Have an instrument such as a drum. This is the ‘fox’. When the children hear the fox, they will need to get to a rabbit quickly and stand on it. Then they are safe.

Repeat the game, getting them to move in different ways – for example, hopping, skipping, crawling, jumping sideways, etc.

There are a few ways you can expand the game. These include:

Adding more instruments and animals. When you shake the tambourine, that is the friendly snake. The children will just carry on. A maraca is a monkey. He’s your friend, so when you hear that you’re going to wave. The drum is still the fox, and that still means hide.

Another way of playing is the competitive version. In this, the fox comes back each time and takes away a few holes. Then when they hear the drum next time some children will be ‘out’. They go and sit somewhere in a socially distanced way.

In the end, one child (or a group of children) will be the champion/s.

6. Captain’s Coming

This is a fun role-playing game, that combines physical activity with imagination.

The children are all sailors on the boat. There are different commands that you demonstrate to them, and actions they will do when they hear each one. These are:

Captain’s coming – Stand on the spot and salute

Row the boat – Sit down and row

Scrub the deck – Down on your knees and scrub

Swim to shore – Swim!

Into the hammock – Lie down

Lift the cannonballs – Lift them up one by one and put them in the cannon

Just mix up the commands and let them go for it.

7. Where’s That Sound?

You need at least a couple of instruments for this one, that will be played by either one adult or possibly even two.

Have a circle of socially-distanced children. Get them all to close their eyes.

You are going to have an instrument. For example, a tambourine, walk quietly around the circle and then stop and shake it. The idea is the children are going to point to where the sound is coming from.

Then move to another point in the circle, and repeat.

You can make this game much harder in a few different ways. Some of these include:

Play the instrument really quietly
Have two adults with instruments at different parts of the circle. Then the children have to point with two hands
Play two instruments both really quietly
Play two instruments that are the same (e.g. two tambourines). This makes it quite a bit trickier
Use three instruments! Children point with two hands and maybe one foot
Guess what the instruments are also

8. Noisy Box!

This is a really fun one for young children in particular.

You have some kind of box for this one and a few things inside that make a noise. The adult is going to handle these. The children sit in a circle.

The objects could be a representation of something that makes a noise in reality – they don’t have to actually make it. So, for example, you could have a toy chicken in the box, because chickens make noises in real life.

The idea of this is that the adult looks in the box first, and picks an object (but doesn’t show it). They make the noise of the object. Then everyone tries to copy!

You can go ‘round the circle’. In this, the adult makes the noise to the first person in the circle. They copy and pass it on to the next person, and keep going like this all the way round. Then everyone tries to guess what it is.

Some great objects to use might be:

Toy animals – this is probably the easiest way to do it and a good way to start
Things that make electric sounds like a phone, or alarm clock
DIY tools, like a hammer or drill
Noisy objects, like a plastic bag, or tin foil. (This is a much harder version of the game)

9. Red Light Green Light

Red Light Green Light is a great game to help kids develop listening skills.

The basic idea is that one child is the traffic light. They stand quite a way from the other children. The rest all start in a line, usually next to a wall or fence.

The traffic light turns its back on the other children, and shouts, ‘Green light!’ This is the cue for the other children to start sneaking towards them.

Whenever they feel like it, the traffic light will spin around and say ‘Red light!’ If they see anyone move, then they tell them to go back to the start.

The winner is the person that tags the traffic light.

10. Mother May I?

This one works well if the adult is the ‘mother’ in the game, but with a bit of practice, children are able to do it OK as well (hopefully!).

The ‘mother’ starts by herself, and the other children start away from her, normally near a wall or fence.

The idea is that one at a time a child will ask if they can move in a certain way. For example, they might say ‘Can I go four steps forward?’

It is up to the ‘mother’ to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

If the mother says ‘no’, then she can tell them where to go. For example, ‘go five steps back.’

Common requests are things like ‘steps’, ‘jumps’, or ‘hops’.

The winner is the first person to ‘tag’ the mother. The ‘mother’ is very much in control of who wins in this game, so it’s good to share it around (obviously) if that’s you.

11. Musical Statues

This is one is a classic party game that is also brilliant for sharpening listening skills.

Put some music on!

Children are going to be moving and dancing to the music

When the music stops – they freeze! If you see them move then they have to sit down.

You can do it so you get a winner at the end, or just the more non-competitive version where you have a few goes and then everyone stands back up.

12. Musical Bumps

This fun listening game is a similar idea to Musical Statues.

Put some music on and the children all dance. When it stops, they sit down straight away. The slowest person is eliminated (if you are doing the competitive version.) For non-competitive, just have another go.

A classic party game that is good for simple listening skills. A perfect combo.

13. Traffic Lights

This is a great listening game that involves all sorts of gross motor skills.

The children are the cars in this game. The adult is going to be the traffic light.

The instructions the traffic light will give, and the actions the children do, are the following:

Green – Go! Jog around the space

Red – Stop

Amber – Walk on the spot, waiting

Start off like this. You can either say the instructions verbally, or a slightly harder version is you have three markers – one green, one red, and one amber. You hold these up now and again.

This encourages the children to always be alert and on the lookout for the next signal.

You can extend this game with the following ideas:

Car-park – They lie down

Motorway (or freeway) – Run really fast

Honk the horn – Beep! Beep!

Roundabout – Go around in a circle

14. Bean Game

This is another quite well-known listening game.

The children are going to move around like different beans. The instructions the adult will give in this game, and the corresponding actions are these:

Runner bean – the children run around

Sprouting bean – walk on tip-toes, with arms high in the air

Jelly bean – wobble like jelly

Baked bean – sit down

Beans on toast – lie down

Chilli bean – shiver!

Broad bean – Put your arms out as wide as possible

French bean – Say ‘Bonjour!

I would say to start simple with this – maybe show them about three or four different types of beans to begin with, and expand as they get used to them.

You can extend the game by getting a child to become the person giving instructions.

15. Simon Says

Another old chestnut from the repertoire here – Simon Says.

This probably needs no real introduction, but just for the record…

The adult gives an instruction by first saying ‘Simon says…’ So it could be ‘Simon says, “Put your hands on your head”.’ The children do it. ‘Simon says, “Jump three times”.’

If you miss out on the ‘Simon says’ and just say the instruction, then the idea is that the children do not do it. For example, if you say ‘Hop on the spot,’ they shouldn’t do it. This classic game will no doubt have the kids paying attention to your verbal instructions.

16. Mr. Men Or Little Miss Game

This is a very simple concept and one that is open to lots of creativity and suggestions from children.

The idea is, you are all going to move around the space like different Mr. Men or Little Miss characters.

Some good suggestions might be:

Mr Grumpy – Stamp round with angry faces

Mr Tall – Walk as high as possible with arms up

Mr Topsy-Turvy – Walk, jump or crawl backwards

Little Miss Tiny – Move around in a curled-up ball

Little Miss Sunshine – Skip joyfully around

If children can suggest their own characters and movements then that is great. I have only skimmed the surface here of all the possible Mr Men and Little Miss characters that you could try.

This game could also be adapted to a more general idea of different characters from stories. They could move like the Gruffalo, or the Big Bad Wolf for example.

17. ‘And Then’ Story

Let’s kick off with a fantastic storytelling activity.

This is realistically for children from about the age of 4 upwards (it will be trickier before this age).

The idea is that a pair of children sit facing each other.

One child is going to go first. They quite simply start a story. It can be on any theme they like – for example, ‘One day a frog went into the forest.’

The next child is going to start their sentence ‘And then…’ and in such a way they will carry on the story. (For example, ‘And then a witch flew down.’)

Keep going like this: one sentence at a time, with the next child carrying it on by saying ‘and then.’

Top Tips – Model it first, either with another willing adult or at least a child with good communication skills. To make it easier, start them off with the opening line and they go from there.

18. Swap Places

This an outdoor game that requires some chalk marking on the floor that looks like this: some square boxes are drawn all over the place in a random assortment. You need at least as many boxes as you have children, and a few extra is probably a good idea.

A nice easy game to kick us off.

Every child starts by standing in one box each. The adult then shouts out who should swap boxes. Say things like ‘Swap if you are a girl.’ ‘Swap if you have black hair.’ ‘Swap if you support (X football team).’

Each time, a number of children will be swapping around their places.

You can make this one trickier in a few ways which include:

Create a combination of two or more features. For example, ‘Swap places if you are a boy and you like apples.’
Include phonics, such as the sounds that children’s names start with (e.g. ‘Swap places if your name begins with ‘m’.)
The children take turns creating their own criteria for swapping

19. Shark Attack

Markings Required – Same as the last game. Some square boxes drawn in a random assortment.

The adult holds some kind of instrument for this one. Something like a drum would be perfect.

The children are going to move in different ways all around the space this time, trying to stay a reasonable distance away from others if they can. They are in shark-infested waters so watch out!

At any given moment you are going to hit the instrument. This is the sound of the shark!

When they hear it they are going to run and find a box. When you are in the box you are safe. This is the lifeboat.

It’s as simple as that.

Ways to really bring it to life include:

Move in lots of different ways around the space – hop, jump, skip, slither, etc.
Children select how the group will move
Maybe swim like different fish

20. Asteroid

Another one with chalk marking that looks the same as the last two listening games.

This is a bit like ‘What’s The Time Mr Wolf?’

Everyone starts in a box, and the adult says a number of steps they can take out of the box, for example, ‘2’. They stride twice out of the box. Then say another number, and they take that number of steps extra.

Keep going like this, until you shout ‘Asteroid!’

At that moment they need to run back to the same box they were in. This is the underground cave, safe from any asteroids. They have five seconds – do a countdown ‘5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0.’ If they get back in time, they are safe.

You could potentially do a competitive version, where if they didn’t get back in time they had to go and sit somewhere in a socially distanced line at the side of the game.

21. Number Swap

Markings required – Boxes or circles in a random assortment, each with one number written in the middle of it. There need to be at least two of each number, though there could be more than that (e.g. four boxes with number ‘6’ in would be fine). You also require a lot more boxes than there are children.

This is a great game for recognising numbers, and can also be adapted for other things like sounds or tricky words.

One child stands in one box each to start with. Simply shout a number – e.g. ‘7’. Everyone who is standing in a circle or square with a 7 written in it is going to run and find a new box. The big rule is that you can’t run to another box with a 7 in it – you’ve got to find a new number.

Keep going with different numbers!

There are many ways of adapting this game which include:

i) Making number bonds. For example, 10. Say things like ‘What do you add to 3 to make 10?’ Everyone in the ‘7’ box runs to another.

ii) Put sounds, tricky words, or CVCs in the box

iii) Try one more or one less of a number – e.g. ‘What is one less than 3?’ Everyone in a ‘2’ will swap places