Theme: Animal Sounds

Book: Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown
Craft: Paper plate puppy
Linguist’s Corner: Early developing sounds

Animal Sounds

Before a child learns to use words, they learn to imitate sounds. An excellent way to make this skill very engaging is by playing with animal sounds!

You’ll also learn which sounds are the easiest for a young child to imitate and learn in the Linguist’s Corner.

Book

This week’s book is Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown, the same author who wrote Good Night Moon. In the Linguist’s Corner below, you’ll read about why books about farm animals contain so many early developing sounds!

This book has an excellent rhyme structure, which is wonderful for language development. HOWEVER - if your child loses interest in books, it is totally fine to ignore the words at first and look at the pictures together. The way that engages your child the most is the “right” way to read a book together.

  • You could point to each animal on the page while naming the animal and/or making its sound (point to the cow and say “moo”).

  • You could ask the child to find an animal on each page (“where’s the puppy?”).

  • You could match an animal toy with the same animal on the page (while holding toy cat: “can you find the cat in the book?”). Make it silly! Make it fun!

It’s worth repeating: The way that engages your child the most is the “right” way to read a book together.

Note: if you purchase the book at the link above, LTC will receive a 10% commission at no extra cost to you. I’ve intentionally chosen to partner with bookshop.org because I believe in their mission: “To help local, independent bookstores thrive in the age of ecommerce. Certified as a B Corp, Bookshop.org puts this mission and the public good above financial interests, giving over 80% of our profit margin to independent bookstores.”

Better yet - see if your local library has this book! While you’re there, introduce yourself to the librarian. :)

Craft

This paper plate puppy looks adorable! If you have a paper plate, a marker, some paper and glue (bonus points for googly eyes) - you’ve got a paper plate puppy!

In the Linguist’s Corner below, you will learn what this craft has to do with early developing speech sounds.

While making this craft together, I would target the following linguistic skills:

  • Verbs (cut, stick)

  • Parts of the body (eyes, nose, mouth, ears)

  • Colors

  • Sizes (big, little)

  • Safety words (hot, wait)

Linguist’s Corner

When a child is developing language, the earliest developing sounds are the sounds that a child can not only hear, but see. The most visual sounds are the sounds that are formed using your lips, or bilabial sounds.

The early developing bilabial sounds in English are B, M, and P. Try making these sounds yourself, and notice how you use your lips to form them.

Now you understand why you are making a paper plate puppy this week!

Many farm animal names and sounds are also full of these early developing sounds. Moo, baa, meow, pig, mouse, etc.

Bonus tip: hold the book or toy near your face while modeling the word to give your child verbal AND visual input at the same time. If your child doesn’t imitate right away, that’s ok! If they’re looking and listening, they’re likely learning even if they don’t immediately show it.

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Stay patient, stay connected, and have a blast! Feel free to email language.through.connection@gmail.com and show me how your craft turned out. I am a team of one and I read every single email that you all send to me. :)

About Language Through Connection

Brianna Lopez, M.S., CCC-SLP is a certified speech/language pathologist, a linguist and the founder of Language Through Connection. At Language Through Connection, we believe in creating an environment where language can thrive through deeply engaging, connection-oriented activities and strategies.

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