The Best Listening Games for Kindergarten and Preschool

As a teacher with almost 20 years of experience in the classroom, one of the most important skills I focus on developing in my young learners is listening. Whether I’m working with younger children just learning to follow directions or older children practicing careful attention in group games, listening games are always a fun way to build focus, cooperation, and comprehension. Today I’m sharing my top ten fun ways to build good listening skills. You’ll love this roundup of the best listening games for kindergarten and preschool students!

Listening games in kindergarten and prek

Developing good listening skills is an important life skill that supports language development, social skills, and even impulse control. The best way to strengthen these abilities is through interactive listening games and fun activities that make children want to sing, dance, play, learn, and listen carefully!

Let’s explore some no-prep great games and simple listening games that are perfect for young children, younger kids, and even family members to enjoy together.

Why Listening Games Matter in Early Learning

Before diving into specific activities, let’s talk about why early listening skills are so critical. Good listeners are often better communicators, problem-solvers, and learners. When children practice active listening skills, they learn to process verbal instructions, notice different sounds, and think before responding.

These abilities strengthen attention skills, fine motor skills, and auditory skills, all while helping kids connect with people’s ideas and respond respectfully. Plus, playing a fun game together builds teamwork and confidence in a group of children.

Classic Game #1: Mrs. Statum (Insert YOUR name here!) Says

Let’s start with the classic game we all know and love — Simon Says! This is a simple game that never goes out of style. It’s a great listening activity that teaches young learners to follow directions and pay careful attention to verbal instructions. Even though it’s one that has been around forever, you may not have played it lately, so this is just a little reminder.

Here’s how to play:

The first person (Mrs. Statum) gives a command starting with “Mrs. Statum says…” such as “Mrs. Statum says touch your toes.”
The next person or the rest of the group follows only if the phrase begins with “Mrs. Statum says.”
If Mrs. Statum doesn’t begin with “Mrs. Statum says,” and someone still follows the command, they’re out.

This simple listening game helps children develop impulse control because they must think before acting. For smaller groups, you can rotate who plays Simon or the teacher so that everyone gets a turn to be the student lead. It’s a great way to reinforce good listening skills while having lots of fun.

Classic Game #2: Red Light, Green Light

Another timeless childhood game is Red Light, Green Light — sometimes called the traditional red light game. I can remember playing this when I was a little girl and it was one of my favorites. It’s a simple listening game that combines physical activity and whole body movement. (Note: I have never seen the show on Netflix called Squid Games but some of your students may have and apparently it was quite violent and this game was used somehow. If you’re worried about that association, you could simply call it the “Stop and Go” game or something similar.

How to play:

Designate one end of the playing area as the finish line.
The first child stands as the caller, holding up different colors or saying “Green means go” and “Red means stop.”
When the caller says “Yellow light,” players must move in slow motion!
The first player to reach the end of the space wins.

This really is a great game that builds effective listening and body control. You can adapt it for a large group or small groups, and even introduce variations with a traffic light theme or different animal movements.

For example:

“Red means freeze like a statue.”
“Green means move like a bunny.”
“Yellow light means tiptoe like a cat.”

It’s a fun way to blend physical activity with attention skills and language development. I love that your entire class can enjoy it or you can play it with just a couple of kids.

Game #3: Freeze Dance Game

When the music stops, do your students freeze? The Freeze Dance Game is a classroom favorite that combines fun activities with auditory skills.

Play some lively music, and when the music stops, everyone must freeze in place. If anyone moves, they’re out—or you can just have them strike a silly pose and keep dancing for a more inclusive option.

This fun activity is perfect for younger children learning impulse control. It’s also a great way to support fine motor skills and whole body coordination. You can use different sounds or genres to help children distinguish tempos and rhythms—wonderful for early listening skills!

You can find freeze dance games and video lessons to go along with this on YouTube. I’ve typed in all kinds of things such as, “Freeze Dance Fall Game” or whatever topic you are covering might work!

Game #4: Sound Scavenger Hunt

Take your learning outdoors with an outdoor sound hunt or an indoor sound scavenger hunt! This great listening activity helps children focus on different sounds around them.

Here’s how:

Gather a group of children and give them printable worksheets or picture cards with items like “bird chirping,” “door closing,” or “footsteps.” (You can make these yourself quickly using index cards.)
Ask them to listen quietly and mark off sounds they hear.
The first person to find all sounds (or the last person still searching) can share what they noticed.

This activity builds auditory skills and attention skills, helping young children tune in to new items in their environment. It’s an excellent activity for science or nature themes, and you can even tie it into language development by discussing new words or animal names they encounter.

My mom even has an app on her phone to identify different birds’ chirping. It’s called Merlin Bird ID by Cornell Lab and really neat!

Game #5: Odd One Out (Sound Edition)

In this interactive listening game, you play a simple game of identifying which sound doesn’t belong. Play a string of words or animal sounds, and have children guess the odd one out.

Example:

“Cow, pig, duck, meow.”
The correct answer is “meow,” because it’s a different animal sound and not an animal!

This great game encourages effective listening and sharpens auditory skills. It’s a fun way to connect listening with language skills and skill development. You can also use video lessons or audio stories from your local library for more sound options.

I love this one because you really don’t have to prep ahead unless you want to and you could include words to go along with any topic you are covering.

For example, you could say:

“/b/ /m/ /t/ /o/

The correct answer would be the short (or long) o sound because it’s spelled with a vowel. This is such a good game to use during your phonics and phonemic awareness lessons!

Game #6: Secret Message (Whisper Game)

The Secret Message or “Telephone” is another classic game that works well for smaller groups or even the entire class. The first child whispers a short string of words (like “I hear a frog croak”) to the next person, who whispers it to the next, and so on.

The last person says the message aloud to see how much it changed! This fun game teaches careful attention and good listening skills while also building language development. It’s a great listening activity that’s full of laughter and surprises.

Top tip: Start with shorter messages for younger kids and increase complexity for older children. We recently played this with the prek kids at my hybrid school. They had a really difficult time repeating a 5 word sentence. However, the sentence included some difficult words. You know your kids the best and will be able to come up with appropriate sentences. Start small and work your way up as their listening skills improve!

Game #7: Musical Chairs

No list of listening games for kindergarten would be complete without Musical Chairs! It’s a great game for a large group that builds both listening and social skills. I can remember playing this when I was a child. Just remember that some kids can get a little competitive with this one so make sure to go over the rules carefully.

How to play:

Arrange chairs in a circle—one less than the number of players.
When the music plays, everyone walks around the chairs.
When the music stops, everyone must find a chair.
The last person standing is out (or joins you as a helper for younger children).

This classic game helps children react quickly to different sounds and teaches impulse control in a fun way. Plus, it’s great for rainy days when you want a physical activity that also supports attention skills.

Game #8: Sound Matching Game

This simple listening game uses containers filled with small objects—like rice, buttons, or paper clips. You can use boxes from your pantry, shoeboxes, jars, or anything else you have laying around that will work. Shake two containers and ask students to listen closely. Can they guess what is inside? When given the object names or after guessing them, can they find the correct answer and match the sounds that go together?

This fun activity sharpens auditory skills and fine motor skills as children handle the containers. You can even label them with colors like red light, yellow light, and green means go to build on earlier traffic light vocabulary.

It’s a great way to connect sound discrimination with language development and skill development. Think about starting your morning meeting with this a couple of days a week. You can change out the object inside with something laying around your classroom like marbles, pushpins, brads, or other small objects.

Game #9: Audio Stories

Listening to audio stories (think bedtime stories) can also be considered interactive listening games. I love to play audio for my students as they flip along in a book.

Let me share a story about how old I am. I asked my student teacher to play the tape to go along with one of my favorite thanksgiving books. I noticed the room got really quiet so after a while, I asked her if everything was okay. She apologized and told me she could not figure out how to work the cassette tape and had never used one before. It still makes me laugh to this day because when I was a little girl, operating cassette tapes was an important skill to have!

Encourage family members to play audio stories at home and ask young children to listen for new words, animal names, or different sounds.

At home, family members can pause and ask:

“What happened first?”
“Who was talking?”
“What sound did you hear?”

This is an excellent activity for strengthening language skills, effective listening, and attention skills. Pair this with printable worksheets for sequencing or skill development to extend the learning. (I also think it’s important for my students to hear other voices than just mine, especially because I have a very strong southern twang!

Game #10: Listen and Rhyme

I mentioned this game in another blog post all about rhyming. Some teachers do this naturally, but in case you haven’t lately, here is a reminder. When you are reading a book with rhymes, pause and let the kids guess the second rhyming word. They love to do this and can usually guess correctly. This helps them develop listening and rhyming skills. Of course, they are working on comprehension and will need to choose a word that makes sense in the sentence.

Encouraging Great Listeners Every Day with the best listening games for kindergarten & prek

Listening doesn’t stop when the fun game ends. The best time to build great listening skills is throughout the day—during storytime, circle time, or even music stops moments. Encourage young learners to pause, make eye contact, and respond thoughtfully to others.

Remind children that being a good listener is not only about hearing but also understanding. Over time, these essential life skills will help them succeed in school and beyond.

Best Listening games for kindergarten & Prek Final Thoughts

Listening games for kindergarten are an engaging and fun way to nurture good listening skills, attention skills, and language development in young learners. Whether you’re playing Simon Says, Red Light, Green Light, or enjoying a sound scavenger hunt, these games turn practice into lots of fun.

From simple listening games to more interactive listening games, each great listening activity helps children build confidence, focus, and curiosity. And best of all—they’ll be learning while they sing, dance, play, and learn together.

This blog post may have gotten your wheels turning about some of the childhood games you remember. If so, let us know in the comments! We’d love to hear about what listening games for kindergarten and prek work for you!

Looking for more games to play with your students? These movement games are absolutely perfect for getting your kids up and moving while working on essential skills.

Head here to see my absolute favorite games we are playing right now! The kids LOVE the practice cards and then the cup stacking challenges. (I like to have kids use those independently or with a friend while I’m meeting with my small group.)

Happy Teaching and Parenting this week, friends!