Play a listening game

Ways you can develop listening skills in your child:

  • Have your child close their eyes, then ask them what sounds they can hear – the sound of cars driving past, the wind blowing in the trees, dogs barking, the clock ticking, horns beeping, etc
  • Guess the instruments being played in a piece of music
  • Create a bingo game where your child hears a sound and places a counter on a matching picture
  • Make an audio recording of different sounds in the environment. Play this to your child and have them ‘guess the sound’
 listen

Did you know:

  • Playing with sounds and being able to discriminate between them is an essential early literacy skill
  • If your child is not responding to, or they are unable to identify sounds, it may be an indication of a hearing problem that needs to be checked out

What your child is learning:

  • To identify sounds which will help them to hear the sounds of letters in words when learning to read
  • An appreciation of musical sounds
  • To listen attentively and respond to what is heard