This is the basic game for the development of attention. This game is the first step towards developing attention. It is the foundation on which all of the other games are built.
How to play:
The child is asked if he/she agrees to freeze for 5 seconds on the command, “freeze” and to unfreeze on the command, “unfreeze.” They should understand that there should be no movement of any kind, not even a blink of an eyelid. The “freeze” can’t be an order by a parent or teacher to freeze; it can only be useful if the child agrees to it. If they do agree, the child is developing:
1. Self control
2. Making and keeping an agreement
3. Completing a task.
After you have done the “freeze” a few times for 5 seconds, and the freeze has been perfect, you may increase the time (if the child is willing) to 10 seconds, 15 seconds 20 seconds or more. It’s better to do it for a short time perfectly, than to do it longer with even one eye blink. These 3 things will enrich and enhance them for the rest of their lives.
After the child is good at freezing, have him/her freeze while someone else is trying to make him/her laugh without touching him or her. This develops inner strength and strong attention.
When you see a squirrel run and then freeze, what is he doing when he freezes? Why does he not keep running? See if the kids can figure this out for themselves. Answer: The squirrel freezes to listen to the sound of where the danger is. He then runs in the opposite direction. When a squirrel (or we) freeze, our listening and all our senses are heightened. This game is best played outside. If it’s played indoors, the children can walk fast instead.
a.) Each child is asked to imagine that they are a Christmas tree, growing in the forest. The woodcutters are coming to chop trees. Since they can’t run or hide, their only protection is to wish or pray that they don’t get “cut down.”
b.) The “woodcutter” is a person who has 7 balls of rolled up socks that they are going to throw at the ceiling right above the children’s head, one at a time.
c.) The children each pick a spot on the floor that they can’t move from, because they are a “tree”. They must stand straight and still with their eyes open. They can NOT move away from the falling ball of socks. They may NOT take the smallest step or move their body even 1 inch to avoid being hit by the ball of socks. If they do they are “out”. The only protection they have is to use their mental power to create an invisible shield around themselves that will make the falling balls of socks not hit them.
d.) The “woodcutter” throws the seven balls of socks, one at a time to the ceiling above the children’s heads. The woodcutter should not try to hit any particular child, and also not try to save any particular child. The “woodcutter” just impartially throws the socks at the ceiling above the children’s heads. The winner becomes the new “woodcutter”.
The object of the game is for the child to carry a full paper cup of water from one side of the room to the other without spilling any. Use a stopwatch to time him/her.
a.)
Do this many times to try to do it as fast as possible.
b.) Do it with the cup balanced on your head
c.) Do it with the cup balanced on your forehead
d.) Do it holding your arm straight out
e.) Do it holding your elbow to your side
f.) Competition takes our attention away from what we are doing. For this
reason, if more than one child plays, they should not compete with each other.
Each child is just paying close attention and going as fast as they can at that
moment.
Children bring an object they can identify by touch into the room. With the lights off, they place the object somewhere in the room. The object of the game is to leave the object and feel their way ALL around the room and then find the object again, all by the sense of touch.
One child hides in the dark room and the other child tries to find them by listening for any sound they make (such as breathing) and then feeling their way around and then “tagging” them. Have a time limit so after 3 minutes if the child hiding wasn’t “tagged”, then she/he is free. Then switch.
In the dark or blindfolded, have the child identify objects by touch. Examples: fruits, vegetables, pens pencil, rulers. Any object is O.K.
In the dark or blindfolded, make a 360 circle and come back to facing the exact same spot. Then do 180 degrees (facing the opposite way) and then 90 degrees (halfway to opposite).
The child makes as perfect a circle as possible, very slowly and carefully by:
a.) Moving only 1 finger, without moving any other part of his/her body.
b.) Moving only from the wrist
without moving any other part of his/her body.
c.) Moving the forearm only from the
elbow without moving any other part of his/her body.
d.) Moving the entire straight arm,
only from the shoulder, without moving any other part of his/her body.
e.) Do: a.) – d.) with the other arm.
f.) Stand on one leg and make a
perfect circle by moving the other foot only from the ankle.
g.) Stand on one leg and make a
perfect circle by moving the other leg only from the knee.
h.) Stand on one leg and make a
perfect circle by moving the other leg only from the ankle.
i.) Do: f.) – h.) with the other
leg.
Do the above circles at the same time using these combinations
a.) Circles with a finger using both hands with the circles going in the same
direction.
b.) Circles with a finger using both
hands with the circles going in opposite directions.
c.) Circles with both hands with the
circles going in the same direction.
d.) Circles with both hands with the
circles going in opposite directions.
e.) Circles with both forearms going
in the same direction.
f.) Circles with both forearms going
in the opposite direction.
g.) Circles with both arms going in
the same direction.
h.) Circles with both arms going in
the same direction.
i.) Circles with one arm and one foot
going in the same direction.
j.) Circles with one arm and one foot
going in opposite directions.
k.) The following combinations
are to be done with the Left and Right sides of the body at the same time first,
in the same direction and then in opposite directions.
l.) finger -
finger
m.) wrist-
wrist
n.) arm -
arm
o.) finger -
wrist
p.) finger
–arm
q.) wrist -
arm
r.) finger -
foot
s.) wrist -
foot
t.) arm -
foot
u.) finger -
foot
v.) wrist -
foot
w.) arm -
foot
x.) finger -
knee
y.) wrist -
knee
z.) arm -
knee
aa.) finger -
leg
bb.) wrist -
leg
cc.) arm -
leg
Walk in slow motion as if you were walking on the moon where you would be very light.
Walk around very fast as if you were in an old time movie.
This game requires at least 5 people: 4 people to make sounds and one person is “it”. They take turns. The 4 sounds use these sounds or make up your own 4 different sounds.
Sound group 1:
something hit such as a drum, cymbal, maracas, claves a box, table etc.
Sound group 2: Sounds of air such as a flute, recorder,
clarinet or whistling.
Sound group 3: A clicking sound made with the teeth or
fingernails or tapping plastic pens.
Sound group 4. Crumpling and tearing paper
The child who is “it” is blindfolded and follows the instructions read by the parent. The parent will tell the other children to start the sounds, and then ask the child who is “it” the following questions.
a. Point to
the sound that is closest to you
b. Point to the sound that is farthest from you
c. Point to the sound somewhere in front of you.
d. Point to the sound in back of you
e. Point to the sound somewhere on your right side
f. Point to the sound on your left side
g. point to the ___________ sound. (One of the sounds
another kid is making.) Just by following the sound.
The person who is “it” is
blindfolded.
ONE of the other children in the room says “hello”.
The person who is “it” identifies the person by the sound of his/her voice.
If they are correct, the person they identified is “it”.
Do it in combinations of 2
voices. For example first Billy says “hello” and Jane says it one second
later.
The correct answer would be Billy Jane.
For example first Billy and Jane
say “hello” at exactly the same moment.
The correct answer would be Billy Jane
The person who is “it” is
blindfolded or in the dark.
One of the sound groups makes a sound and the person who is “it” points to the
sound.
Notice 10 things you have never noticed before . (Take a maximum of 5 seconds to do each thing in these games. No more than 50 seconds total.)
a.) Notice
something big
b.) Notice something blue
c.) Notice something green
d.) Notice something orange
e.) Notice something straight
f.) Notice something square
g.) Notice something small
h.) Notice something red
i.) Notice something yellow
j.) Notice something purple
k.) Notice something round
l.) Notice just the smallest thing you can see and put all
your attention on it. Don’t pay attention to anything else. Make your
attention as small as possible.
j.) Pay attention to everything at once. Include what you
see, what you hear, what you touch, what you smell and what you taste all at one
time. Don’t focus on any one thing. Just let everything come into your
attention by itself. Make your attention as big possible. Imagine that your
attention is the “space” that the whole universe exists in.
Play a recording of music with a
good beat that you can count 1, 2, 3 ,4 to.
Start counting out loud. Don’t change the count at all, no matter what you do.
a.) Hop only
on the count of 1 and freeze for the other beats 4 times
b.) Hop only on the count of 2 and freeze for the other
beats 4 times
c.) Hop only on the count of 3 and freeze for the other
beats 4 times
d.) Hop only on the count of 4 and freeze for the other
beats 4 times
e.) Hop only on the count of 1 and freeze for the other beats
2 times
f.) Hop only on the count of 2 and freeze for the other
beats 2 times
g.) Hop only on the count of 3 and freeze for the other
beats 2 times
h.) Hop only on the count of 4 and freeze for the other
beats 2 times
i.) Hop only on the count of 1 and freeze for the other beats
1 time
j.) Hop only on the count of 2 and freeze for the other beats
1 time
k.) Hop only on the count of 3 and freeze for the other
beats 1 time
l.) Hop only on the count of 4 and freeze for the other
beats 1 time
Do all of the above a.) - i.) one after the other without stopping. After you have completed them, then stop.