5 Listening Activities for Circle Time

Circle time is a great opportunity to try some listening activities with your little ones. These listening activities written and recorded by Musically Minded offer a wide variety of learning opportunities for your little ones.

Listening activities are a great way to build skills like following directions, auditory discrimination, and focused attention. These skills will help your child master language and reading later on in their education. Try a few of these listening activities below in your circle time (or at home)!

#1 Ocean Listening

Children are fascinated by the ocean and the exciting life happening just below it’s surface. Use that interest to keep them engaged in a listening activity! Let’s see how many of the these ocean creatures your class can identify just by hearing the sounds they make.

How to teach this song:

1. Print out images of each animal heard in the song (you can find premade visuals for each animal in the activity guide you will get when you download Ocean Listening from our store!). Show them to your class and identify each one.
2. Afterward, begin the song and have your students sway to the music like they’re on a boat at sea.
3. When each animal makes its sound, have your students try to guess which animal they hear.

#2 Building a House

Do you have a class full of budding engineers who love building with blocks or toy tools? If that’s the case, teach them a bit about tools and jobs in their neighborhood with this interactive listening activity. Do we need an egg or a hammer to build a house?

How to teach this song:

1. Ask your students what kind of tools they would need to build a house and how to use them.
2. Begin the song and have the students listen for the different actions that go along with each tool.
3. Variation: pause the song before each tool and give your students two options to build the house with, one being something silly and the other being the tool used in the song. Try doing this with the visuals included in the full activity guide you can find in our store!

#3 Someone’s in the Jungle

Who knows what kinds of creatures could be lurking in the jungle. Try this listening activity with your class and see what animals you find!

How to teach this song:

1. Print out the visuals showing each animal used in the song. You can find the visuals in our activity guide on Musically Minded! Then show them to your class and identify each animal together.
2. Begin the song and clap or tap along with some small rhythm instruments during the chorus.
3. When you hear an animal, ask your students to point out which one they think it is.

#4 Sound in the House

Did you hear something? Could it have been a little mouse? Play this listening activity with your class and try to name the different sounds you hear inside the house.

How to teach this song:

1. Ask your students about the kinds of sounds they hear in their house.
2. Print out the visuals included in the full activity guide you receive when you download Sound in the House, and show them to your class, making sure they can identify each one.
3. When your class is ready, begin the song and have your students point out the visuals that match the sounds they are hearing.

#5 Train Shapes

All aboard the shape train! In this activity, your class will trace different shapes like they are driving a train along its tracks. This listening activity is a great way to prepare your class to learn writing and math skills. Can you keep the train on its tracks?

How to teach this song:

1. Print out the shapes included in the full activity guide when you download Train Shapes. Print out either one small set for each student, or one large set for teacher use.
2. Once these have been prepared, begin the song and have your students use either a small toy train or their finger to trace along the outside of each shapes as you hear them in the song.

We hope you and your class have a blast during circle time using these interactive listening activities. Download the songs and full activity guides here on musicallyminded.net and let us know how you use them in your class!