Animal Sounds Book Play

A sturdy board book with large, clear animal pictures (farm animals are a great choice)

Choose a board book with large animal pictures.

Sit baby on your lap so they can see the book and your face.

Open to the first animal: "Look! A cow!" Then with big expression: "Mooooo!"

Wait a few seconds. Watch baby's reaction — smiles, stares, mouth movements.

Next animal: "A duck! Quack quack quack!" Make it silly and exaggerated.

For each animal: name it, make the sound, pause. This rhythm helps baby learn.

Go back to favorite pages — baby will kick or bounce for ones they loved.

Try pausing where the sound should be and see if baby fills it with any vocalization.

Animal sounds are often among a baby's first "words" because they're fun, repetitive, and paired with something visual. Don't be surprised if "moo" shows up before "mama" — that's totally normal and shows great language development.

Exaggerate your mouth movements so baby can see how you form the sounds. They're studying your face more than you realize.

The same book read 50 times is better than 50 different books read once. Repetition builds recognition, and babies genuinely love hearing the same story again and again.

Once baby is around 9-12 months, try asking "What does the cow say?" and waiting. Even a rough "mmm" attempt deserves a big celebration.