Developing Sound Awareness

This stage is in three parts and supports the development of sound awareness (hearing the difference between sounds).

• Stage 1

  Hearing the difference between sounds on their own. You say one of the sounds and your child has to listen and find the matching sound.

• Stage 2

  Hearing the difference when the sound is before or after a vowel. For example, if your child is working on the ‘p’ sound, you might say ‘eep’ or ‘pee’. 

• Stage 3

  Hearing the difference when the sound is at the beginning or end of a real word. You say a word and your child has to find the sound picture for the sound they heard at the beginning or end of the word.

  Gradually add new sounds as your child starts to find this easier. Only move on to the next stage when your child can get eight out of ten answers correct on three different occasions.

Activities To Try At Home With Sound Pictures

• Run

  Stick the sound pictures on the wall. Your child has to run to the sound they hear.

• Jump

  Lay the sound pictures on the floor and jump on the sound you hear.

• Drive

  Lay the sound pictures on the floor and drive a toy car to the sound you hear.

• Post

  Make a post-box (you could use a cereal box) for each sound you are working on. Your child posts the picture into the correct post-box.

• Tower

  Lay out the sound pictures with one brick on each picture. Give your child a pile of bricks. Your child adds another brick to the sound they hear.

• Skittles

  Put a line of skittles next to each of the sound cards. Your child knocks a skittle down from the line that matches the sound they hear.

• Games

  Find a game with lots of pieces (e.g. Monkey Business, Pop-up Pirate). Split the pieces between the sounds and take a piece from the sound you hear.

• Are The Activities Too Difficult?

  If your child is finding the activities difficult, try using the action cue when you say the sound. This will give your child a visual clue. You could also reduce the number of sounds you are working on, so your child is only listening for two different sounds.