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Home › Articles › Development › Sensory Play for Toddlers

Sensory Play for Toddlers

Part Two: Developing the Sense of Hearing

By Laura Cone

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Scientists say a baby's ears begin to form around eight weeks in the womb, where they are soothed by the gurgling and rumbling of Mom's stomach. Some babies may even recognize their mother's voice as early as week 27. What are some ways a parent can help develop their child's sense of hearing?

Hear the Beat
Stacy Clark of Tampa Palms, Fla., had a difficult time communicating with her toddler, Hanna, who she adopted from China at 6 months. "One of the first things we did was take her to a Music Together class," says Clark, who recently joined her daughter in the creative family music program. "She did not understand any English, but music is a universal language."

When Clark wants her daughter to put away her toys, she sings a song her toddler remembers when picking up instruments and props in the class. Clark also taught her daughter, who is almost 2, sign language. "After we started her sign language, she began speaking very quickly after that," Clark says. In another year she plans to enroll her daughter in piano lessons.

If you decide to join a formal group such as Greensboro, N.C.-based Kindermusik or Music Together, which was developed by the Center for Music and Young Children in Princeton, N.J., don't expect your toddler to sit still. Most toddlers wiggle and worm themselves away from their parents, only to return when they hear the mesmerizing sound of a tambourine, egg shakers or their name in a song.

Reading Rituals
Jim Trelease of Springfield, Mass., a reading expert and author of The Read Aloud Handbook (Penguin, 2001), says the basic tool of learning a language is words. "You build a house, you have to go out and get lumber," he says. "The words are the lumber we use in order to build our understanding of the world we live in. There are only two ways to get words into a person's head and through their brain either through the eye or through the ear. If you learn braille, you could get them through your fingers, but it's a whole lot slower."

Reading is also the

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