Introduction

As educators, we strive to teach our PreK students valuable life skills. One essential skill is learning to show interest in conversations, even when the topic may be uninteresting to us. By demonstrating interest, we encourage positive interactions and help our students understand the importance of considering other people’s feelings. In this blog post, we will explore an easy-to-implement, no-prep activity to help teach this skill, followed by discussion questions, related skills, and next steps to further enhance your students’ social-emotional learning journey.

No-Prep Activity: The Listening Game

This activity requires no preparation or materials and is perfect for PreK students. The Listening Game helps students practice showing interest in conversations by focusing on body language, facial expressions, and maintaining a positive tone.

1. Have your students sit in a circle.
2. Select one student to be the “speaker” and share a story or talk about a topic they find interesting.
3. While the speaker is talking, the other students should practice showing interest by maintaining eye contact, leaning in, nodding, and using positive facial expressions.
4. After the speaker has finished, the listeners should ask questions, make comments, or give compliments related to the topic.
5. Rotate the speaker role among the students, so everyone gets a chance to practice both speaking and listening skills.

This activity allows students to develop essential social-emotional skills by practicing empathy, active listening, and recognizing the importance of making others feel valued in conversations.

Discussion Questions

1. Why is it important to show interest in what someone is saying, even if we find it uninteresting?
2. How does showing interest in a conversation make the other person feel?
3. What are some ways we can show we are interested in a conversation without using words?
4. How can we make our voice sound enthusiastic and interested?
5. Can you think of a time when you pretended to be interested in a conversation? How did it make the other person feel?

Related Skills

Beyond showing interest in conversations, there are several other related skills that contribute to a well-rounded social-emotional learning experience for PreK students:

• Active Listening: Teaching students to listen carefully, ask relevant questions, and provide appropriate feedback.
• Empathy: Developing students’ ability to understand and share the feelings of others.
• Respect: Encouraging students to treat others with kindness and consideration.
• Self-Awareness: Helping students recognize their own emotions and how they affect their behavior in social situations.

Next Steps

Now that you have a better understanding of how to teach PreK students to show interest in conversations, it’s time to take the next step in their social-emotional learning journey. Sign up for free sample materials that cover this skill and many others, providing you with a comprehensive toolkit to foster a positive learning environment for your students.