Making the story come alive - sound effects

Create an interactive story time with your child. You can do this by creating sounds effects.

Remember that your child can only manage to sit and listen for a short time. Movement is important for young children, so putting actions and sounds to words can keep your child engaged for longer.

Making sound effects includes movement and creating sounds. When your child has been active, they're then ready for listening to the next part of the story.

It can also be fun to read outdoors and make sound effects to songs and rhymes while you are out and about!

What do we need?

A book that will lend itself well to sound effects such as 'Rumble in the Jungle' by Giles Andreae. ('The Book Trust' website has a read aloud version of this story for you and your child to listen to.) 

Everyday household items to make the sound effects.

Many Lancashire libraries will have 'noisy books' that you can borrow and story-time sessions that you can attend with your child.

Why not try one of the free 'Baby Bounce and Rhyme' or 'Toddler Rhyme Time' sessions at your local library?

What to do:

Choose a story that lends itself well to sound effects.

Try making sounds in different ways, such as:

  • using mouth and body sounds
  • using everyday items you will find around the house.

Examples of sounds you can make using your body or everyday items might include:

  • a 'rumble' from a wooden spoon going round and round a metal pan
  • a 'rumble' by patting your knees
  • a 'rustle of the leaves' by crinkling piece of paper.
  • Keep pausing and asking your child if they can create their own noises.

Skills your child will learn

An animated approach to reading will:

  • deepen the level of their understanding of the story
  • exercise all the muscles in their mouth
  • get them ready for creating difficult speech sounds
  • develop a better understanding about the world they live in
  • bring a sense of fun to reading!

Each story will have noisy words, or onomatopoeias such as:

  • machine noises - honk, beep, vroom, clang, zap, boing
  • impact sounds - boom, crash, whack, thump, bang
  • sounds of the voice - shush, giggle, growl, whine, murmur, blurt, whisper, hiss