The silence game can be implemented in different ways. There are as many versions as there are Montessori teachers. I have made a habit of making it a daily exercise in my classroom. Dr. Montessori said, “Children are not only sensitive to silence, but also to a voice which calls them … Out of that silence”. The silence game is used to instill a sense mindfulness. It takes great self-control on the part of the children and is accomplished as a collective group.
I start this exercise early in the school year, as soon as the class begins to demonstrate some control of movement. We talk about silence, what it means and how we, ourselves, can create it. I have them listen. I ask them, “If we sit very still and very quietly, what can you hear?” The next day I tell them that we are going to play a special game that was created by Maria Montessori especially for her class. In order to play, we make ourselves absolutely still. I ask, “can you sit without moving a muscle?” I tell them as soon as we make our bodies still we will create silence. Dr. Montessori states in The Absorbent Mind, “perfect silence can only be obtained if all those present are willing. A single person can break it. Success therefore depends on conscious and united action. From this comes a sense of social solidarity.” We start with very short increments, like five or ten seconds, then we build to thirty seconds, then a full minute. When the children can stay still and silent for close to a minute, I will get out the one minute sand timer and they will watch in rapt attention while it empties. When we reach a full minute, they are so proud and excited. Montessori said it was a way to test the children’s will power. She found that their will power grew as the game was repeated and the periods of silence grew longer. In my own class last year, it became a competition. The children wanted to set a goal and see how long they could sit in silence.
In December, when we had reached a full minute, they decided that our goal should be eight minutes! This was not by my suggestion, this was a goal that they set for themselves, so every day we would play. The time would increase little by little as the year went on. Sure enough, by spring break we had made it to six full minutes. Believe it or not, my class of eighteen Primary students (ages 3-6) sat in silence for eight minutes by the end of the school year.
I think we can all agree that the world we live in increasingly lacks silence. Giving children the ability to choose silence and seek mindfulness is important and empowering. Showing these young children that they can control their body and quiet their mind will serve them well in myriad ways as they grow and develop. I think all of us can learn a bit about will power and determination from these beautiful souls. They never cease to amaze me!