Now that the children are acquiring concentration, self-control, independence and coordination of movement through the Exercises of Practical Life, we can introduce them to this new game, the game of ‘silence’.

During the time from 2 to 5 years the children are laying the foundations of many different abilities. They are talking, thinking, remembering, classifying the environment within their minds, and all these activities are ‘self-initiated activities.’ This activity of the silence game is very significant. Rightly used, silence can nourish a sense of the secret within the child. We need time to ponder, reflect, muse and dream. Silence opens up the first stages of self-knowledge and identity. It is the precondition for becoming attuned to that inner voice of God within all of us, our conscience. We may help the child to be a scientist, an artist or a workman, but he also needs time to be able to be still. Montessori speaks of ‘The powerful creative force of silence–“to be full of life and then be very still.”

To play the silence game, the children need a good degree of coordination. The guide must keep in mind that to keep quiet involves keeping very still and to keep very still we need to be in control of all our movements.

Material

• A card on which the word ‘silence’ is clearly printed in red on white or other color on card that stands out very clearly in contrast.
• A small bell.

Direct aim of the material

To make a silence.

Indirect aim of the material

To perfect the child’s control over his own movements; to test the control that they already have and the preparation for listening and discerning sounds in nature. It is also a preparation for prayer and meditation.

Control of error

The Teacher

Age of great interest

About 3 to 5 years.

Presentation

1. The Teacher sits on a low chair or else on the floor and asks the children to sit in a semi-circle and if they would like to help her to make a silence.
2. The Teacher asks them to make sure that they are sitting very comfortably and not touching anyone else, so that there is a little space between each person.
3. The Teacher then tells the children that they are going to play a special game which consists of not moving at all! She explains that they are all going to keep very, very quiet. They have to be able to keep very, very still; each part of their body must be able to stay still.
4. She aks the children if they can keep their feet very still, saying:
   1. “Even our toes should become still”
   2. “Now let’s keep our legs very still”‘
   3. “Now our bodies very still”
   4. “Now our hands very still, even our fingers!”
   5. “Now our heads very still”
   6. “Our mouths and our eyes very still”
   7. “Let’s close our eyes so that even our eyelids are quite,quite still!”
5. As they do this together, a great stillness will come over the room, and this is a great thrill for the children. The guide should hold it for only a short time, and then in a whisper tell the children what a lovely game it was to play together, and they will play it again another day. If they ask her, they can try to do it for a little longer next time.

Game 1: Next stage of silence

1. The guide tells the children that they are going to play the game in a special way and once they are very quiet and have played the silence game they are going to start listening very, very carefully to all the noises and sounds that they can hear.
2. So after the silence has been produced, the teacher says, “Now we can begin to listen”. She says this in a very quiet voice.
3. After about two minutes of silence, they cease the silence and they all say one at a time what they heard during the silence game. One may have heard the sound of breathing, another may have heard the sound of a car hooter and so on.

The children, as they get older, they can make a silence without waiting for the teacher. They may use the little bell and hold up the card, saying ‘silence’. When the children are all absolutely silent the teacher can then take the silence card and put it back. In this way the teacher controls the time of silence during a work time, and does not allow it to go on too long.

Game 2: Calling the Children

1. A variation of the game of silence is that the teacher, when there is a silence made by everyone, can gently whisper the name of a child who is to stand up and come as quietly as he can to her on tip toes.
2. She then continues to call each child by name until they are all clustered round her.
3. Then she should carry on with any activity that she wants them to do following this (preferably a group activity).

Game 3: Identifying sound

1. The teacher asks the children if they would like to make a silence.
2. When there is a really deep silence, the teacher asks the children in a very quiet voice to listen very carefully whilst keeping their eyes shut.
3. She tells them that she is going to make some sounds, and see if they can tell her what sounds they are.
4. The teacher:
   1. shakes one of the sound boxes from the Sensorial Material(Lesson 16,Section 4) and waits for the children to tell her.
   2. gives a tiny tinkle of the bell,
   3. pours some water,
   4. pours some rice,
   5. claps her hands gently,

Each time the children say what the noise is and then go back to making a deep silence.

Game 4: Silence Sequence Game

A further game of silence-The teacher can go around the room making different sounds one after the other, but this time she goes back to her place, they all open their eyes and cease the silence, and she asks them to tell her, in sequence the sounds in the order that she made them.

Game 5: Listening Game

A further development of the game is to make a silence and then for a cassette or a record of good music to be played to the children.