Sound and object matching
6–12 monthsSuccess MindsetMaterials: Sound-making toys (rattles, bells, or crinkly materials)
Shake a rattle or make a sound with an object while it is visible to your child. Then hide the object behind your back and make the same sound. Watch to see if your child looks for the object or reaches toward you. Bring it back out and shake it again. This helps your child connect sounds to objects and build memory skills. You can use rattles, bells, or crinkly paper.
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How to Do This Activity
Shake a rattle or make a sound with an object while it is visible to your child. Then hide the object behind your back and make the same sound. Watch to see if your child looks for the object or reaches toward you. Bring it back out and shake it again. This helps your child connect sounds to objects and build memory skills. You can use rattles, bells, or crinkly paper.
Why It Works
Connecting sounds to objects builds memory, attention, and early reasoning skills. This activity challenges children to remember what they heard and anticipate what will appear, which develops working memory and attention control. These cognitive skills in early childhood predict literacy and numeracy growth and make unique contributions to kindergarten achievement, controlling for domain-specific skills (Welsh et al., 2010). The cognitive competencies developed through sound-object association are foundational to the crystallized abilities that predict later school achievement (Schneider et al., 2014).
Tips for Parents
Use just one or two different sounds at first. Too many sounds can be confusing for this age.
Make it playful and celebrate when your child shows recognition. Your enthusiasm encourages their learning.
Materials Needed
Sound-making toys (rattles, bells, or crinkly materials)
Learning Methods
Sensory ExplorationResponsive InteractionMovement-Based Learning
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