Today, our activity is about animals and their sounds. Children learn about the world and the things around them, and it doesn’t take them long to start developing bonds with animals. As they do, the sounds that animals may become even more fascinating, and learning about them becomes even more exciting. 

What You will Need 

Optional videos and Books: 

Engaging with Your Child 

Teaching animal sounds is a foundation for speaking and phonics. Regardless of whether your child loves to play with a dog or act like a monkey, without even knowing the sound that goes with various animals. Imitating animal sounds is not only fun for your child, but it also helps your child reach speech development milestones faster. Simply seeing animals in books and hearing their names and sounds will still provide them with a valuable foundation. It teaches your child how to pronounce other words and builds language blocks that prepare your child to speak, read, and write. For example, by engaging in stories about farm animals, you’re teaching your child how to love and care about the creatures in our world. This prepares children for social skills needed for school and the ability to express the emotions when words can't. 

Encourage this language developmental milestone by pointing out farm animals in real life. If you’re at the supermarket and spot a magazine with a duck, talk about the sounds ducks make. At a petting zoo, point out the different animals and the sounds they make. Read books about animals and their life. Watch simple and interesting videos about animals and their sounds with your child. Doing so builds your child’s vocabulary and helps to expand the view of what sound each animal makes. Play different games with your child, for example, invite children to stand up and move like his/her favorite animal(s). Ask to think about how a rooster or a cow might move, sing-a-long animal songs and records. Songs such as, “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” or “The Alphabet Song” but rather use animal sounds instead of words. Take a walk in a park or backyard area to observe and listen to the sounds of nature. Ask your child to listen to the different sounds and then try to identify them. Ask: "How many different types of sounds can you hear?" and try to imitate those sounds. 

Tip: Remember that some children may need to observe the activity before they can engage in imaginative play.