Activity 3.5

Mouth noises, other than speech

Toddlers need practice using their mouth muscles, to build them up for good speech. Let them see and hear you make all sorts of noises for them to copy. Try:

• Blowing air through your mouth
• Whistling
• Clucking
• Tut-tutting
• Sucking air
• Popping your cheek

Asking your toddler to help you with the animal noises in this story:

Once there was a lonely little puppy. She loved playing and went ‘woof, woof’. One day she went for a walk and met a duck. ‘Hello’ said Duck, ‘I like swimming and I go ‘quack, quack’ – can I go with you?’

‘Of course’ said Puppy and they walked together and they met a cow. ‘Hello’ said Cow, ‘I like eating grass and I go ‘moo, moo’ – can I go with you?’

Continue on, introducing some more animals. Finish the story with:

Suddenly Puppy came to a big field.

‘What shall I do now?’ she asked. ‘Play a game with us!’ cried all the animals. Puppy wasn’t lonely any more.

You can use your body to make musical instruments. Try:

• Clapping hands
• Slapping thighs
• Stamping feet