This experiment explores the benefit of having two ears for locating the source of a sound. Mark the floor in a straight line in 5-foot increments. Have a blindfolded listener stand on the first mark of the series while another child says the listener's name while standing on various other marks. The listener must guess on which mark the speaking child is standing. Repeat the experiment with the listener covering one ear and then using two ears. The outcome shows that using two ears to locate sound distance is far easier than using one.
"Marco Polo" is a classic playground or swimming pool game that is also an exercise in listening and sound localization. One child is "it" and must close his eyes or be blindfolded and locate other players by using a call and response. "It" calls out "Marco" and all of the other players call out "Polo." The child who is "it" must focus on and locate the source of a response, find that source and tag the other player. The child who is tagged then becomes "it."
"The Telephone Game" is another fun activity to teach the importance of critical listening. Children sit in a circle and one student is given a short sentence to pass along the line. The first player whispers the sentence into the ear of the child next to him or her and the second child must whisper the sentence into the ear of the next child, and so on, until the phrase makes its way all the way around the circle. When the last student hears the phrase, he or she relates the sentence. The result is almost always a sentence that bears little resemblance to the original, showing the importance of active listening.
This experiment is a favorite of children because it allows them to make lots of noise. Have one child be the listener and stand with their back to the rest of the class. One by one, the rest of the children make a specific noise -- jingling change, writing on the board, closing a book, clapping hands, snapping fingers, etc. -- and the listening student tries to identify the noise that they have heard.