This activity promotes development and learning by encouraging children to listen to, understand, and respond to communication from others.

Materials Needed:

• Animal photos
• Animal sounds (Click Here)

Participants: This activity is intended for adult/child interaction or 2 or more participants/players.

Directions:

1. Make recordings of animal sounds in your home and neighborhood, such as pets or birds. Print photos of each corresponding animal.
2. Show your child the photos and say each animal’s name. Now listen to the sounds you recorded. Can your child guess what animal makes each sound? Ask your child to point to the correct animal or say the animal’s name.
3. Ask your child to try to make animal sounds, sing songs about animals, such as “Old McDonald,” or read books about animals.

Learn More: Alternately, listen to recordings of animal sounds found on the internet. Instead of asking younger children to identify sounds, simply show the photos, listen to the animal sounds, and verbally label each for your child. “This is a donkey. Here’s its sound.”