**From FOCUS GAMES, a series of games I’ve developed to teach ‘focus’ to my beginning students (link)**

This is one of my favorite games, and I love to play it with group classes! It cultivates active, attentive listening. Finding a beautiful bell with a distinctive ring elevates the game to a very special experience. I typically borrow one of the ones from our zen meditation halls.

MATERIALS

A bell.

PROCEDURE

Students may sit or stand. This is a great floor/break/low energy activity.
Show students the bell (looking) and what it sounds like (listening), so they know what to expect.
Ask them to close their eyes. Students must keep eyes closed until the bell STOPS ringing.
While their eyes are already closed teacher rings the bell and after a few minutes dampens it abruptly.
Students fling their eyes open.

GAME EXTENDERS

– dampen the bell gradually rather than abruptly for a softer eye opening (“don’t open until the sound REALLY disappears”)
– allow the bell to ring until it stops on its own (depending on the bell this could last for 45+ seconds!)
– students use their hands in the air to imitate the waves of sound, then close their hands into a fist when the sound stops (eyes open or closed)
– have two (ore more) different bells ringing– they only open their eyes if one particular (which you establish at the beginning of the game) stops ringing.
– split the group into two (or more) groups. Each group follows the sound of one bell, they don’t open their eyes until their bell stops.
– same as above, but using hand waves and closed fists to represent the sound