Recommended Age: 3 years and onwards
Level of Parent Involvement: Medium, this activity requires the adult to facilitate the activity
Prerequisites
- The child must have some control of their coordination of movement, the purpose of building silence requires the ultimate control and coordination of movement by being completely still and quiet
- The more experience the child has in making silence builds their self-control
Materials
- Pin or paperclip, thumb tack (something that will make a slight sound when dropped on the floor)
Preparation
- None
Steps
- Invite the child letting them know you are going to play a game (this exercise may also be done in a small group with siblings or in a large group setting)
- Show the child/children the paper clip
- Explain to the child/children that you are going to drop the paperclip somewhere in the room whilst the children close their eyes, while their eyes are still closed they must point to where they think the sound came from
- Drop the paperclip so the children can hear what it sounds like before starting
- Ask the children to close their eyes and walk to a spot in the room
- Drop the paperclip
- Move away from where you have dropped the paperclip, invite the children to point to where they think they heard the pin drop with eyes closed
- Ask the children to open their eyes
- Invite children to get comfortable and close eyes again
- Repeat a few times, moving around the room, dropping the paperclip in different spots
- Finish off by taking deep breaths in and out, inviting the children to do so, keep the moment of silence and stillness for as long as the children can manage (extend each time game is played)
- Transition the child/children to their next activity
Variations
- None
