Listening for Environmental Sounds
Adapted by Melissa Hall, MA, CCC-SP from Kuster, JM. (2009). Do You Hear What I Hear? - Listening Activities, The ASHA Leader, p. 26-27.*The activity may need to be adapted based on listening experience and age.
| Activity | Description | Website | Approx. Age |
| FindSounds | This is a search engine which locates online sounds made by: birds, animals, natural events, household items, musical instruments, holiday events, people, tools, vehicles, and more. | http://www.findsounds.com/types.html | All children* |
| Bananas in Pyjamas | A timed animal-sound matching/ concentration activity with easy, hard, or very hard examples. | http://www.abc.net.au/children/bananas/
games/animal_sounds/default.htm |
Great for younger children! |
| Animal Sounds | The participant will listen to an animal sound, and will type the name of the animal heard, from a word bank of 21 animals. | http://www.perunakellari.fi/animalsounds/
animal-e.html |
All ages (may need assistance typing the answer) |
| Who Am I? | Sounds made by animals heard at night are played. The participant will guess which animal produced the sound. | http://www.kidsplanet.org/games/js/
whoami.html |
All children* |
| Fisher Price Animal Sounds Game | The participant is asked to select which animal they heard, by clicking on their picture. | http://www.fisher-price.com/us/littlepeople/
clubhouse/games.asp?section=animalsounds &gameID=LP_AnimalSounds |
Great for younger children! |
| Crickweb | Participants identify sounds and sort musical instruments at this website. | http://www.crickweb.co.uk/assets/resources
/flash.php?&file=sound1f |
School-age |
| Which One Makes the Sound You Hear? | This resource has eight animal and musical instrument sounds to match. | http://www.scholastic.com/earlylearner/
parentandchild/music/musicmatch.htm |
School-age |
| Sound-Object Association: Learning to Listen to Sounds | This is a learning module for the beginning listener. | http://www.listen-up.org/dnload/listen.pdf | Great for beginning listeners! |
| Brain Teasers | There are several activities on this website that focus on discriminating non-speech sounds. | http://brainconnection.positscience.com/
teasers/ |
School-age |
| Schoolsnet | • Sounds Game: participants guess what sound is heard
• Lotto Game Sounds: participants listen to a sound and then are shown what makes that noise |
http://www.schoolsnet.com/pls/hot_school/
sn_primary.page_pls_unit_detail? x=16180339&p_unit_id=198 |
All children* |
Listening for Speech
| Activity | Description | Website | Approx. Age |
| Brain Teasers | Multiple activities which focus on discriminating speech sounds, such as Sound Dominoes and Memory. | http://brainconnection.positscience.com/
teasers/ |
School-age |
| Alien Scavenger Hunt | Participants choose the sounds they hear in the word presented. | http://www.earobics.com/gamegoo/games/
alien/ashlo.html |
School-age (esp. for learning to read) |
| Fuzzy Lion Ears | Game of listening for beginning sounds | http://pbskids.org/lions/games/ears.html | School-age |
| Dave Sindrey's Discrimination Cards | Consonant cards differing in Final, Initial, and Medial. Also differ by place, manner, and voicing. Vowel syllable, and suprasegmental information also targeted. | Internet Archive: Sick Kids | School-age |
| Lanolin's Greenhouse | Practice listening for beginning word sounds | http://www.professorgarfield.org/Phonemics/
greenhouse/greenhouse.html |
School-age |
| Pumpkin Patch | Practice listening for ending sounds | http://www.professorgarfield.org/Phonemics/
pumpkin_patch/pumpkin_patch.html |
School-age |
| What Do You Hear? | 16 units for discrimination practice of vocabulary and grammar | http://www2.cambridge.org/interchangearcade/
sortbytype.do?level=0&type=Cup_word_up |
School-age |
| Sound Discrimination Activities | 9 activities developed to distinguish subtle differences in sound | http://brainconnection.positscience.com/
teasers/?main=home#sound |
School-age |
| Language Guide | Practice in hearing many common vocabulary words through pictures and accompanying audio. | http://www.languageguide.org/english/ | School-age |
For Fun
| Activity | Description | Website |
| Dennis Drayna's
"Distorted Tunes Test" |
Listening activity that may demonstrate some challenges with your own auditory discrimination. | http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/tunetest/Pages/dtt.aspx |
| Listening Device | Learn how to make your own listening device. | http://www.mnsu.edu/comdis/kuster2/listening/listening.html |
Listening Activities for Older Clients
| Activity | Description | Website |
| General Listening Quizzes
from Randall's Listening Lab |
Everyday conversations with adult and child voices and also asks questions at easy, medium, and difficult levels about what has been said. | http://www.esl-lab.com/ |
| Listening Games from English Language Listening Lab Online | Several audio examples and asks the listener to choose the correct picture from a selection and answer a question. | http://www.elllo.org/games/
student_games.htm |
| Audio Concentration Games | Timed and very challenging. | http://www.manythings.org/ac |
Additional Resources
| Activity | Description | Website | Approx. Age |
| Peter Flipsen | Listening Lists for Auditory Bombardment | http://www.ivent.com.au/~speech/pdf/listeninglists2010pf.pdf | School-age |
| The Listening Room | Provides activities and resources to support the development of speech, language, and listening skills of children, adolescents, and adult cochlear implant recipients. | http://www.hearingjourney.com/Listening_Room/ | All ages
(including adults) |
| 123Listening.com | Offers listening quiz makers, an activity wizard, lesson plan materials, and printable activities to use with downloadable audio files and mp3 listening tracks. | http://www.123listening.com/worksheetmakers/ | School-age |
