How to teach animal sounds at home
Five simple games that teach children from age 2 animal sounds and names, with nothing but your voice.
Published
Habba Habba
Habba HabbaFive simple games that teach children from age 2 animal sounds and names, with nothing but your voice.
Published
Animal sounds are among the first things children love to copy. A sound is easy and funny, and it ties an animal to a word, which opens the door to many more words.
Make the sound and ask: "Who says moo?" Wait a moment before giving the answer, and let them point at a picture or a toy.
Waddle like a duck and say "quack", or plod like a cow. Moving makes the word stick faster.
As you turn the pages of a picture book, stop at each animal and ask "What does it say?" If they don't know, make the sound yourself and carry on.
Hide behind a door, make an animal sound and let them guess who's there. It's funny and it trains listening.
If they say the cat says woof, don't say "wrong". Say: "That's the dog, it says woof. The cat says meow." Staying calm makes them want to try again.
In Habba Habba, the Sounds game works the same way: Seed asks "Who says meow?" and helps calmly after a wrong tap, with 11 farm and home animals.