Active Listening Games for Teenagers

Active listeners show speakers they are paying attention through body language and verbal feedback. When teaching teens how to be good active listeners, you can prepare a few games for them to play. Games can improve their listening skills, which are necessary for success in life. Engage teenagers in entertaining games that encourage active listening while they have fun at the same time.

Have each teen select a partner and give each person a notepad. Each teen has five minutes to interview his partner. After five minutes, have them switch and interview the other partner. The teens must stand up in front of everyone and reveal what they have learned about their partners. Award a prize for the best interview. Keep switching partners so the teens get a chance to learn something about everyone and be active listeners to each player.

Teens must communicate and listen to one another while playing sports. Divide the teens into two teams and play a game of volleyball or baseball. For funny games, play beach ball volleyball or wacky baseball. Use a beach ball instead of a volleyball. Wrap a bat with a large beach towel and duct tape. Use a soccer ball instead of a baseball. Tell the teens they must communicate and listen to one another in order to win the game. Have extra teens from each team stand at the bases during the baseball game telling the players if they should run to the next base or not.

Read a news story or article out of the paper to the teens. Read the article again making changes as you read it. The first teen to raise his hand and tell you when you make a change to the story wins a small prize. Make this a team game by dividing the teens into two teams. Have the teams write down the changes as you read the story. The team that identifies the most changes wins the game. You can also allow each teen a chance to read the story and make changes.

Create a telephone game by having the teens sit in a circle. Whisper a sentence into the ear of one teen, such as “Active listening games help teens build an important life skill.” Each teen must whisper the sentence into the ear of the player next to them. However, they can only whisper it one time. The object of the game is to try to get the correct sentence all the way around the circle. For a challenge, divide the players into two teams. Whisper the same sentence into the ear of one player from each team. The first team to get the correct sentence all the way around the circle wins the game.