Teaching through sound is powerful for young children.
White Noise Ambience Lite is a free app by Logicworks. It is wonderful app for listening exercises and games in Preschool and Kindergarten.
Objective: To invite children to use their sense of sound to ask critical thinking questions? WHAT/WHO is making the sound, WHERE would I hear that sound, HOW is that sound created, and/or WHEN have I heard that sound before?
Sound Games to Play – SOUND CARDS
1. Have the children close their eyes (we use the following chant to do listening exercises/games):
“Close your eyes and open your ears,
Listen carefully…see what SOUNDS you can HEAR!”
2. Play the sounds from the White Noise App one at a time. See if the children know WHAT/WHO is making the sound or WHERE the sound is being made. Have the children heard the sound before? Is it a familiar or different sound to them? Why do they think the sound is what they determine?
3. Print, laminate, and cut apart the sound cards (linked above). Show the children the cards and play the sounds again. Choose a child to pick out the card that MATCHES the sound being made. When all cards are matched to the sound it makes, the game is over.
Extension: invite the children to HOLD UP the card that corresponds to the sound as it is played from the app.
The app also has a paid upgrade for additional sounds.
Smartphone Ringtone Sound Games
If you have a smartphone, you already have many sounds that children can listen to….RINGTONES. For very young children, play only 3 ringtones to start. Have the children listen to the different sounds and then choose a number that corresponds to each ringtone played (numbers 1-3). Play the 3 chosen ringtones several times for the children. Have the children close their eyes (using the chant above). Play one of the 3 ringtones to see if the children can remember which number was assigned to that particular ringtone. Children like hearing the different sounds and they will learn to quickly discriminate between the 3 tones! Again, explore higher level questions with the children as you explore a variety of sounds.
We hope YOUR children enjoy playing and learning with SOUND as much as our children do!