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Mother and child reading

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Ball Begins With B!

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Reading BrightStart! Screener

Is your 3-, 4- or 5-year-old child on track to read? Find out now.

Take the Screener
Mother and child reading

FEATURED BOOK

The Cow That Went OINK

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Reading BrightStart! Screener

Is your 3-, 4- or 5-year-old child on track to read? Find out now.

Take the Screener
Tools for Educators

ERRRRRR Goes the Fire Engine!

Prep: 2 Minutes / Activity Time: 5 Minutes

Babies love to engage in sound play with adults! During this phase of development, babies enjoy experimenting with sounds and vocal intonations. They are now able to combine more consonants and vowels to produce longer vocalized sequences (“ma-bu-ma-goo”). Babies find pleasure in imitating vocalizations and gestures like “bye-bye” and “peek-a-boo.” Experts agree that sound play may help pave the foundation for later developing phonological skills, which are important for learning how to read. Your baby will be excited to share this activity of imitating environmental sounds!

  • Developmentally appropriate: 
    • Toy cars 
    • Trucks 
    • Fire engine 
    • Airplane 
    • Helicopter 
    • Telephone

Step 1: Gather one of your baby’s favorite toy cars or trucks or toy telephone. 

Step 2: Engage your baby in play with the toy. 

Step 3: Model the environmental sound of the toy, such as the motor noises of the car or truck, the siren of the fire engine or telephone ringing. 

Step 4: Encourage your child to imitate the sound. 

Step 5: Expand communication by adding labels and using correct grammar. For example, you might say “Here comes the fire engine! I hear the siren! ERRRRR! How does the fire engine sound?”. 

Step 6: Respond to your baby’s attempts to imitate the sound by repeating the sound back to her.