Match the Sounds Game

 

    

Exploring and experimenting with sound has fascinated both children and adults for centuries. The following activity is designed to help children explore the world of sound while simultaneously building cognitive and auditory-discrimination skills. 

Age Group: This activity is very moldable and can be used with children ranging from 3-5 years

Type of Activity:  This activity is designed to be done either one on one with a child or with a small group of children as close adult supervision is required.

Learning Objective:

Children will build their auditory-discrimination and categorization skills by matching sounds.

Materials:

• An even number of hollow plastic eggs or empty plastic bottles 
• Paper
• Tape
• Small household items to fill the eggs or bottles such as rice, dry beans, loose change, or paper clips.

Completing the Activity:

To complete this activity, you will need to start by setting out an even number of plastic eggs. Fill the eggs with small items from around your house that will make a noise when you shake them inside the eggs. For my eggs, I used pennies, ping-pong balls, dried beans, and paperclips. Make sure you create matching pairs for each sound. For example, I had two eggs with pennies inside, two eggs with dried beans, etc. 

If you don't have any plastic eggs, you can also use empty plastic water bottles with paper taped around the outside so that children can not see the contents. Here is an example of one I made when I was trying out this activity. 

Once you have your eggs or bottles filled, set them out on a table. Invite children over and encourage them to try shaking the eggs or bottles to see what they sound like. Make sure to explain that they can't open the eggs or bottles yet. Build children's vocabulary by talking with them about the different sounds and helping them describe what they hear. Once children have had a chance to explore the eggs or bottles, explain to them that the idea is to find two that sound the same. Help children take turns shaking the eggs and trying to find a match. Once they think they have a match, allow them to open the eggs to see if they got it right. If not, have them close them up and try again. The game ends when all of the eggs have been matched; however, you can keep replaying the game as many times as you want. As children play, watch to see whether or not they can correctly match the eggs. If children struggle, you may need to take a turn and demonstrate how to find a match. Also, you may want to try only setting out 4-6 eggs. Once children have mastered matching a few choices, you can add in more eggs. 

What Children Will Learn:

As children play the matching game they...

Practice cognitive skills- As children listen to the different sounds and find matches, they practice the cognitive skill of categorization by exploring which items make a loud or soft sound and which eggs sound the same. 

Practice language skills- As children play the game and discuss what they hear, they learn new words to describe sounds. Also, as children work to find eggs that sound the same, they develop their auditory- discrimination skills. The ability to discriminate between different sounds is a critical skill needed to produce and understand spoken language. 

Adapting and Expanding the Activity:

• For children who are Deaf or hard-of-hearing, fill the eggs or bottles with items that feel different when you shake them. For example, fill one set with pebbles and another with paper clips. Focus on having the children match the eggs or bottles that feel the same when you shake them. 
• Build children's cognitive skills by having them make predictions about what is inside each egg based on the sound. 

Experimenting With Pine Cones

One of the beautiful things about nature is that it is filled with opportunities and materials that can be used to help children learn and grow. Recently, nature unexpectedly gave me a gift when a wind storm blew pine cones all over my yard. After experimenting with the pine cones for a while, I realized that not only are they beautiful, but they also can be used to create several educational experiences. The following activity is designed to help children and adults explore the science of how pine cones open and close while also building children's cognitive and fine motor skills. 

Age Group: This activity is very moldable and can be used with children ranging from 3-5 years

Type of Activity:  This activity is designed to be done either one on one with a child or with a small group of children as adult supervision is required.

Learning Objectives:

1. Children will work on strengthening their pincer grasp (the motion of picking up an item with their index finger and thumb) by using tongs to pick up small items.

2. Children will explore cause and effect and making predictions by experimenting with water and pine cones.

Areas of Development Addressed:

As children play with the pine cones, water, and kitchen tongs they...

Practice fine motor skills- As children open and close the tongs to pick-up pine cones and other items, they strengthen muscles needed for writing, cutting with scissors, and even eating. 

Practice cognitive skills - As children experiment with the pine cones and water and make predictions about what will happen, they build critical cognitive skills, including understanding cause and effect and making predictions. 

Practice language skills- By engaging in conversations with adults during the activity, children learn new words related to science and nature. 

Materials:

• Bowl or bucket
• Dry pine cones with open scales
• Warm water 
• Small kitchen tongs
• Optional: items for children to pick up with the tongs such as small blocks, small plastic balls, or pebbles

Completing the Activity: 

To complete this activity, you will need to start by setting out a bowl with warm water, some kitchen tongs, and pine cones. (Note) Set aside one or two pine cones out of the water to use later. Also, if you gathered your pine cones while it was damp outside, make sure that they have had time to thoroughly dry out and their scales have opened. Once you have the supplies laid out, invite children over. Explain to children that the idea is to place the pine cones in water and watch what happens. If your children are verbal, encourage them to share their guesses about what will happen. Once children are done guessing, encourage them to use the tongs to pick up the pine cones and place them in the water. If children struggle with their pincer grasp, you can give them more opportunities to practice by having them use the tongs to add other items to the water, such as small blocks, pebbles, etc.

Once the pine cones are in the water, encourage children to observe what happens. Allow children to put their hands in and explore what the water and pine cones feel like. Build their language and observation skills by talking with children about what they see and feel. For example, you can talk about how the pine cones float or how they feel wet and sticky. Also, remind children to watch to see if anything changes with the pine cones. After about 10-15 minutes, the pine cone scales should start to close. If children struggle to pay attention, allow them to focus on another activity for a while and then gently bring them back to see if the pine cones have changed. 

Once the scales have closed, have children remove the pine cones from the water with the tongs. Bring the dry pine cones out so that children can compare them to the wet pine cones. 

Let children feel and explore the pine cones. Encourage them to think deeper them questions such as, "What is different about the pine cones now?" or "Why do you think the little scales closed up?" After giving children a chance to manipulate the pine cones, explain that the pine cones hold seeds that can be used to plant new trees. The little scales on the outside of the pine cones protect the seeds inside like an umbrella. When the pine cone gets wet, the pine cone scales close to protect the seeds inside. Allow children to continue exploring the pine cones and asking questions until they start to lose interest.

Ways to Expand the Activity:

• Practice math skills by having children count pine cones or categorize them by size and shape.
• Explore art by providing children with paper and paint and letting them roll pine cones through the paint to create a textured picture.
• Explore nature by taking a walk outside with children to gather supplies for this activity, such as pine cones, small stones, acorns, etc. 
• Practice literacy skills by encouraging children to write or draw about their pine cone experiment.