A simple Christmas bell listening game

A simple Christmas bell listening game

This activity is perfect to lower the noise level in your daycare. Children have to be extra quiet to listen to the bell sounds.

You will need:

• Christmas gift boxes with different designs
• Tiny Christmas bells

That’s it!

The number of boxes will vary per the age of the children in your group. The younger the children are, the fewer boxes you will need (2 or 3 boxes will suffice).

Set a different number of bells in each box. I chose to use 5 boxes and add 1 to 5 bells to each one.  

Put the lids on the boxes and set them on a table in front of your group.  

Invite children to gently shake one box at a time and listen to the sound produced by the bells. The object of the game is for them to set the boxes in ascending order, from the box containing the fewest bells to the box containing the most bells.

When they are satisfied and all are in agreement for the order of the boxes, remove the lids to see if they succeeded.

This challenge is much more difficult than it seems!

To make it easier for your group, instead of adding one more bell to each box, you could, for example, add a single bell to one box, 10 bells to a second box, and 25 bells to a third box. Obviously, the sound produced by the bells will vary and make it easier for children to determine the correct order.

When you remove the lids, be sure to count the bells that are in each box with your group.

Children will want to repeat this activity countless times. Simply play around with the number of boxes and bells or just set the decorated lids on different boxes for each round.

Patricia-Ann Morrison