Hasbro Gaming Hearing Things Game

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Probably start with only about 3 or 4 objects, but as they get better at the game you can expand the number you use. Put some music on and the children all dance. When it stops, they sit down straight away. The slowest person is eliminated (if you are doing the competitive version.) For non-competitive, just have another go.

The other players in the team then take it in turns reading aloud the phrases printed on the cards. Once a phrase has been correctly guessed, the player reads the next card and so on, until the 60 seconds are up. The other team then does exactly the same and this continues until a winner is declared (the amount of points needed to win is determined by the players). Most of these are games where I personally struggled or excelled as a result of being deaf. Therefore I’m hoping these games might simulate what it’s like to be deaf or hard of hearing and give people some insight into what we deal with day in and day out. Telephone The next child is going to start their sentence ‘And then…’ and in such a way they will carry on the story. (For example, ‘And then a witch flew down.’) This game is my gold mine. I rely a lot on lip reading, so this is where I excel. A lot of people, hearing and deaf/hard of hearing, do not rely on lipreading for communication, so this game challenges you to really pay attention to the way people speak and reinforces the importance of enunciating. I consider this almost the inverse of telephone. It’s frustrating but so satisfying when you do get it right! Phonak Hearing Loss Simulator This one works well if the adult is the ‘mother’ in the game, but with a bit of practice, children are able to do it OK as well (hopefully!).

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You need at least a couple of instruments for this one, that will be played by either one adult or possibly even two. Put out lots of rubber spots in a random array all over the floor. The spots should all be at least two meters apart, and you need at least as many spots as children. The spots are the rabbit holes. This is a voice recognition game. If you know what your friends sound like, then you will be able to guess.

The children are now the rabbits. They are going to hop around the ‘field’ (which is the playing area). One version is a simple listening game. You tell a story, but it has one element in it that makes no sense. Hearing loss . People with hearing loss in one or both ears may hear anything from odd sounds to music and voices, none of which are really there. Have a box or bag with some mystery objects inside. You also have a pretend phone of some sort (which is optional but really does bring it to life). This is kind of a funny one as I legitimately still don’t know if I’m hearing anything similar to what hearing people hear when I have my hearing aids on. This simulator does a pretty accurate job of depicting what it’s like to hear these noises when I don’t have my hearing aids on. I have severe hearing loss, so most of these things come across in vibrations more than actual noise when I’m aid-less.You will need at least one instrument, and three different instruments if you are going to do the harder version of the game. If children can suggest their own characters and movements then that is great. I have only skimmed the surface here of all the possible Mr Men and Little Miss characters that you could try. When they hear it they are going to run and find a box. When you are in the box you are safe. This is the lifeboat. The children are going to move around like different beans. The instructions the adult will give in this game, and the corresponding actions are these:

I rely a lot on body language and facial expressions to make up for the words I don’t catch when someone is talking. Charades is a fun game. It’s a good way for others to learn how to pay attention to body language and new ways of expressing themselves when interacting with someone who is deaf/hard of hearing. Word JumbleThe fun of this game really comes from the incorrect guesses made by the player wearing the headphones. While playing, many stupid guesses were made and it just adds to the hilarity. Adding more instruments and animals. When you shake the tambourine, that is the friendly snake. The children will just carry on. A maraca is a monkey. He’s your friend, so when you hear that you’re going to wave. The drum is still the fox, and that still means hide.