Increase Children s Attention By Carolyn Edwards Children hear more poorly than adults in noisy situations. Although there is a gradual improvement through the elementary years, children are thirteen to fifteen years of age before they can cope in noise as well as adults do. Children with recurrent ear infections, language disorders, English as a second language, hearing loss in one ear, and any degree of hearing loss in both ears, have even more difficulty understanding speech in noise than their peers. Classrooms are noisy places and the noise is primarily generated by children talking and chairs moving on uncarpeted floors.
Tennis balls are an inexpensive solution to decrease chair noise in the classroom.
Take an exacto knife and cut an X in the top of each tennis ball. The X should be just large enough to insert the metal leg of the chair. Each chair requires four tennis balls. Tennis balls have lasted two to three years in a classroom, before losing their effectiveness. Sound from chairs moving is reduced to a minimum.