LIFE SKILLS EDUCATION TOOLKIT FOR ORPHANS AND VULNERABLE CHILDREN IN INDIA 7•
ACTIVITY THREE
More Listening Skills
Group check in- Ask the children to sit in a circle and whisper a simple statement into the ear of the person on
their right. This message is passed on until it reaches back to the person who started it. The first
and last person speaks out the sentence. It is usually distorted beyond recognition. This is a fun
exercise and a good introduction to this activity. Try to figure out where the message got really
distorted. For a few minutes the group should discuss the word that got distorted and the point at
which the message got muddled. - Inform the group that we are going to learn more about how we listen. Ask for three volunteers to
go out of the room. The group decides on a picture to be drawn: for example, a house with a tree
or a temple. Make a sample picture. The picture has to be drawn with geometrical shapes. - Invite the three volunteers back and give each a flipchart and a marker pen. They should be
placed in such a way that they cannot see what the other is drawing. - The facilitator does not mention what the drawing means, but gives verbal instructions to the
three volunteers. For example, they are told that first a square has to be drawn, etc. - Compare the volunteers’ drawings with each other and with the original drawing.
Experience from the field
With the 9-11 age children, the same sentence came back to the person who started it! It had to be done
again. Messages should be in the local language, clear and long enough for the children to say and pass
on. (Positive Living Project, Namakkal)
All age groups enjoyed this activity! (PCI, Delhi)Review
Discuss why it was difficult for everyone to get the same message. In the first exercise of passing
the message, different people were involved in passing it, which caused the distortion. But in the
second exercise, all three got the same message/instructions and yet there was a difference in
understanding. Ask children what they learned and review the activity.- Why did it happen? What made the volunteers respond in different ways?
Linking Learning With Life
Ask the children to think of any event in their lives where the message has become distorted as it
passes from one person to another. Also ask if they have had experiences regarding different
people understanding the same message differently. Ask them how they handled such situations.
Did it create a conflict? Why is it important to know this if you are in a risky situation? Where does
the message get distorted as it passes from person to person, and how can such situations put a
child at risk? What happens when the same message is given (as in the case of the volunteers);
does it also get altered? Ask the children to come up with more examples if they can. Or the
facilitator can help the children with some more examples.