Attentiveness Activities- Building Character in your Children

10 Activities about ATTENTIVENESS:


1. “Stop, Look and Listen” This is the correct response for children when their parents call. Do some practice situations of when you would call to your children. Pretend they are playing at a friends house, or you are in a store, or they are outside on the playset. Have them practice the correct response to you calling their name. Have siblings or dad evaluate how well they stop, look and listen. (To show they are listening they say, “Yes mom?”)

2. “Samuel” Read the story of Samuel as a boy being called by Eli. (1 Samuel 3) Have your children act out a play of the story. For the rest of the day, have them answer “Here I am” when you call their name.

3) “Memory” Put 10 items from around the house on a tray and cover it with a towel. Tell the kids they are going to try to remember everything on the tray. Remove the towel for 30 seconds. Have them write (or you write for them) all that they can remember. Then give them a 10 second “peek”. How many did they get? Try this with more objects. Try removing an object and see if they can tell which is gone.

4) “Body Language” Talk about body language with your children. What do people look like who are in a hurry? Who are scared? Who are sad? Who are lost? Who are happy? Next time you are out in a crowd, sit and observe people. See if they can identify someone who’s late, someone who’s happy…etc. Have them observe the kids in their Sunday school class.

5) “In the eye” Explain that it is important to look people in the eye when you are talking to them or they are talking with you. (so they can hear you, so they know you are listening, so you show respect…) Have your child talk with an adult to practice looking them in the eye when talking to them or listening to them (send a message to a neighbor, visit relatives, have them place an order at a restaurant)

6) “Why listen?” Have your kids make a list of all the reasons why it’s important to pay attention (avoid danger, learn, be polite, avoid confusion…) Have your kids act out a play where a child doesn’t listen.

7) “Excuse me” Discuss the right and wrong ways to get an adults attention. Have them act out some of both. Make a list with them of appropriate times to say “Excuse me”. Practice a no interrupting policy at dinner…parents too!!

8) “J.O.Y. Days” Ask your children what they think God wants us to pay attention to. God wants us to put him first (Deut 6:5) then others (Mark 12:31). JOY stands for Jesus first, Yourself last and Others in between. A JOY day is when you do something for everyone else in your house that puts them before you. For example, playing your brothers favorite game with him, even if it’s not your favorite. Parents too.

9) “No ears or no eyes” Have your kids imagine what it would be like not to be able to hear or to see. If they are interested, you could read about Helen Keller. Explain that communication was so important that she found a way. Put ear plugs in your kid’s ears for a mealtime. With close supervision, blindfold them and have them try to do a simple task like brush their teeth.

10) “Act of Kindness” Get out a calendar and pick a person of the week for the next 4 weeks. It could be an elderly neighbor, single mom, relative, friend…anyone. Then brainstorm a list of kind things your family could do for them. Try to do a few of them within the week. This teaches your kids to pay attention to the needs of those around them.