Exploring Sound with Balloons

One thing guaranteed to fill half an hour with giggles for a three year old is a balloon. My son’s favourite thing to do at the moment is to (have me) blow a balloon up, hold it without a knot and then let it fly around the room. He loves trying to catch it, following every movement with his eyes, and he loves the sound it makes. Taking this cue, I decided to spend some time with him exploring all the different sounds a balloon can make.

The wonderful thing about sounds and balloons is the wide variety. There are loud and soft sounds which encourage both belly laughs and quiet patience. It is fun to try to imitate the sounds. This is great for developing speech and giving young children confidence in their voice.

After letting a full balloon fly around the room a few times, I needed a rest from blowing it up. So we made some sounds with a deflated balloon. We made it snap by stretching it and letting go of one side near the floor. Then we made it go "boing" very quietly as we stretched and loosened it quickly.

Stretching the Balloon

Once the balloon is blown up, listening to the air escape is hilarious. We heard the classic raspberry as it flew around the room and made a screech when we pulled the end open.

Screeeeeeeech! (My son took this picture - very proud)

 

The full balloon makes a very satisfying "doof" and "boom" when hit on objects around the room. My son enjoyed hitting things he usually can’t, including my head! It was very satisfying for him. Scraping a finger over the surface of the balloon gave an odd scraping noise. He called it "binga-binga"!

Making More Noise on the Balloon

Copying the sounds was fun - slow at first but he soon got the hang of it. Maybe he’ll be more inclined to make an effort when his little brother is giving some noise competition!

I’m sure there are more sounds to be made with balloons. I’d love to read about them in the comments, let me know what you hear.

Balloon on Balcony

Improve your children's listening skills with pieces of paper

Do you know what paper sounds like? What can you do with paper to make a noise? How much noise do you think you can make with one piece of paper? These are some of the questions you can ask to initiate exploration of paper, or you can leave them around, discovery box style, for the child to find and listen to. Either way, the preparation is pretty similar and can be adapted for children of any age ready to refine their listening skills.

Cut some differing pieces of paper to the same size. (A4 works well as it is small enough to handle and big enough to do a variety of things with.) Find ways to make a noise with them, comparing as you go. Simple. Your child will practice listening to quiet sounds and subtle differences in sound, both good for focussing better in school and becoming a good conversationalist.

We used ordinary printer paper, tissue paper, grease proof paper, tin foil (OK, I know it’s not paper, but it makes a great sound), thin packing paper and a piece of kitchen roll. Use anything you have available. My two year old looked at me oddly when I asked him what he thought paper sounded like, but was soon listening intently to the differences as we shook them. 

Are you ready to listen?

Then we listened carefully to the quiet sound made when you put thumb and fore finger on either side and rub in a circle. Holding the paper close to the ear we heard a very different sound. He was enthralled.

Flicking the paper produced lots of giggles as he saw the paper move quickly towards him as I hit it from the other side.

Next we ripped the sheets up. Some paper sounded the same as other sheets, and some very different. Then we just had loads of fun ripping it all up!

Paper Ripped Noisily!

For an almost three year old, that was enough. We learnt a lot and had lots of fun. An older child may want to do more and talk about the how and why of the different sounds. A larger variety of materials would also be interesting, for example different thicknesses of card or other materials like plastic.

Here are some things you could do:

• Rip
• Shake
• Rub
• Flick
• Draw on - with different types of pen
• Screw into a ball
• Walk on (especially on carpet)
• Have a pet walk on
• Hang on a line and throw a ball at
• Drive cars or other vehicles over

Any more ideas? I’d love to read your comments.

Most of the sounds here are very quiet, especially in a child’s world, and are a reminder that sometimes it is worth holding your tongue and paying attention to what’s going on, just so you don’t miss anything.

And we didn't waste the paper...

Add glue and coloured card

 We made an interesting picture:

Recycled Paper Art

Driving Cars on Corrugated Card

I’m not sure if this is an activity or just a really easy way to fill some time, or both! We started off looking for some cardboard to frame a couple of photos. B chose the corrugated sheet and was immediately engrossed with it. He scratched it, poked at it, twisted it. We had used corrugated card before, but it was a while ago, and I could see a new fascination with it.

It seemed counterintuitive to stand and watch or give comment. So I left him alone. A long while later I found him driving his cars from one end of the room to the other, across the corrugated card to a parking lot on the carpet. He had also drawn on the card since I had left. He looked very happy and completely engrossed in his work.

Later, as I took photos, he told me all about the cars’ journey and how they went bumpity bump across the card.

Completely Engrossed

Bumpity Bump Bump!

Painting in a Tub

We got more than we bargained for with this project, all mixed up with a lot of fun.We played with paint yet didn't get too messy, we talked a lot about colours and what we expected to happen, and we moved around all over the place.

I saw some great pictures on teaching 2 and 3 year olds of kids rolling a huge can around the room. Inside was paint and golf balls. We get yogurt in one litre plastic tubs from the supermarket and always have too many table tennis balls lying around, add paper and paint, then I just had to hunt down the scissors to cut the paper down to size. We quickly had a mini version of the one I had seen. I love anything with such simple preparation.

He chose blue and white for the first colours. Once everything was sealed tightly in the tub, we rolled it around the floor. Then we threw it, kicked it, bounced it (this got lots of giggles), spun it, and he sat on it before opening it up to see the surprise.

The balls matched the paper with an interesting mottled pattern which impressed us both. He immediately wanted to have another go. We ended up with all the colours in the tub and beautifully decorated table tennis balls.

These are things we did that B benefited from:

• Measuring the paper to make it fit in the tub
• Choosing which colours to squeeze in and what effect the might have
• Pushing the lid on tightly
• Moving the tub around in different ways and talking about what it was doing
• Expectation of a result and comparing that to what we saw
• Experiencing transference of liquid onto different surfaces
• Practicing handling tricky objects (paint covered ping pong balls)

So what I thought was just going to be throwing around a tub full of paint actually turned out to be an opportunity for extended conversation and practicing numerous movements. And we loved the final products.

Breaded Rabbit

I enjoy looking for new activities for us to do. There are so many creative ideas and fun activities. Recently we found our own - at the dinner table.

We were eating salad and bread. B held up a half eaten slice of bread.

"Rabbit" he said "Hopping rabbit". And he hopped it around the table, let it eat some lettuce and have a nap. Then he took a big bite from it!

Throughout the meal he made a swimming turtle, slithering snake and little pig. We talked about how they moved and ate. It made dinner very lively.

So although I love finding new activities to try out, it is even more enjoyable to watch B create his own games. We had a long conversation with lots of new words, ate lots and lots of healthy food and gave his imagination a little work out. Never say don't play with your food!