Montessori Activity: Mommy Mommy, Where are you? (3C)

Idea adapted from the book "Phonemic Awareness in Young Children"

Age: From 3 years old

Objective(s):
1. To encourage the child's willingness to listen sensitively and thoughtfully, according to the book "Phonemic Awareness in Young Children".
2. To train the child's ability to locate the source of a sound.

Materials:
1. Blindfold
2. Musical instrument such as a flute (optional)

Directions:
1.  Tell your child you are going to play a game with Mommy, and that he is to sit in the centre of the room with his eyes covered.

2. Mommy goes to any part of the room and makes an animal sound, for example, moo, bow-wow, chip, bzzz, etc.

3. Ask your child to point to the direction where the Mommy is.

4. In addition, ask your child to name the part of the room to which Mommy has gone and indicate whether Mommy is lying down on the floor or standing on a chair. The purpose is to pinpoint from where in the room the sound is coming.

5. When the child has figured out from where the sound is coming from, mommy and child change role and the game is repeated.

Tips:
You can also use sounds other than animal sounds such as sounds tied to a particular theme being studied or musical instrument such as a flute.

Additional Information:
This is another version of hide-&-seek game which is more targeted to the purpose of language training.

I highly recommend this book "Phonemic Awareness in Young Children" by Marilyn Jager Adams et al from Amazon. It provides a very organized approach to teaching language, which I like: