Animal Sounds
Here's What To Do
Gather some visual examples of animals; these visual examples can be animal toys, animal flashcards, a book with different pictures of animals, homemade drawings of animals, or cut-outs of animals from a magazine.
Show these visuals to your child while saying the names of the animals and the sounds they make.
Your child should be able to see your mouth as you make the sounds.
Give lots of affirmation to encourage your child to mimic the animal sounds.
Put PEER Into Action
Pause:
- Position yourself to be at eye-level with your child.
Engage:
- Say phrases like “here is a sheep, it says baa baa” or “here is a cow, it says moo, moo.”
- Allow your child to hold the visual examples as you say the names and sounds.
Encourage:
- Smile big and say, "Can you say moooooo?"
- Your child may not respond with the correct sound, but praise them when they make any kind of sound. If they do get close to making the right sound, celebrate!
Reflect:
- Can your child make any animal sounds yet? Keep practicing and they'll learn more over time.
Not quite ready?
Even if your child isn't able to make any animal sounds yet, they're still getting the chance to practice making different sounds of speech.
Ready for more?
If your child can make some animal sounds, encourage them to say other words that start with the same sound. (Like: mooooo! Yes cows say 'mooo.' Can you say 'milk?' Cows make milk!)
As your child masters this skill...
They will try to vocalize different speech sounds.