The Magic of Music and Playtime for Little Ones with Hearing Loss

Let’s Play the LSL Way: Musical Fun 

There’s a reason babies and young children LOVE music! Songs and music stimulate their brain and provide all kinds of benefits for their development. It’s all about the rhythm, rhyme, and repetition. Remember all the nursery rhymes we learn when we’re little? There’s a reason for it! Music is an incredible tool for teaching children to listen and talk, helping children develop clear speech, a voice rich in inflection, and a memory for words.

Research shows music and singing can help children who are deaf or hard of hearing develop listening and talking skills. Music is beneficial even while your baby is waiting to receive their first hearing devices.¹

For your child who is deaf or hard of hearing, music is a fun and easy way to practice Listening and Spoken Language (LSL) strategies and techniques. Let's play the LSL way with musical fun for your child.

Keep reading for tips you can use with your:

• Baby
• Toddler
• Preschooler

Baby

Let’s sing, dance, and rhyme! Professional singing voice NOT required! Your baby loves to hear YOUR voice.

Giddy-up Horsey 

Have your baby seated on your lap. Pause and wait, then say, “Let’s go!” Begin making galloping sounds by clicking your tongue and gently bouncing your baby. Start to sing “Giddy-up, giddy-up, giddy-up Horsey. Giddy-up, giddy-up, giddy-up, go, go, go!”

Use the Hear It Before They See It (or audition first) strategy. Make the horse sounds before you start singing and bouncing. Your baby starts to know what’s coming and may bounce in excitement!

Pat-a-cake

When singing with your baby, model the motions for Pat-A-Cake while facing them. Then, move your baby to your lap and hold their hands for the motions as you sing through it. Soon, your baby will start doing these actions on their own when they hear you sing the song!

Pop Goes the Weasel

Use the It’s All About Me strategy and sing with your baby’s name. As you sing, “All around the Mulberry Bush, the monkey chased (name). The monkey stopped to pull up his sock, and…POP goes (name)!” When you say “pop,” lift your baby up!

Toddlers

Toddlers love listening and singing along to music. Did you know that when your child listens to music their brain forms connections that build vocabulary and strengthen listening comprehension? Music and singing activates your child’s whole brain! Here are some LSL play ideas to try as you enjoy music together!

Finish the Lyric 

Try using the It’s Your Turn LSL strategy and auditory closure by singing a familiar song and leaving off the ending. Pause for your toddler to finish the verse. “The itsy bitsy spider went up the water____.” Pause, wait, lean in, and see what your child says!

Wheels on the Bus

Repetitive songs that add different verses are a great way to help your child develop their language skills. Use the popular tune, “Wheels on the Bus,” and act out the song’s verses. Add actions for the “wiper, horn, door, people, and driver.” 

Silly Songs

Sing or play some of your child’s favorite songs again and again. Toddlers thrive on repetition, and they’ll join in as they naturally begin to remember the words. Once your toddler knows the words, replace the lyrics with something silly to make your toddler laugh and catch their attention. Maybe “baby shark” becomes “baby hippopotamus!” 

Preschooler

Music is a memory magnet! The things we learn through songs and music stick in our brains — they’re hard to forget.¹ Music and singing are also important to family culture, early childhood development, and listening and talking skills. These activities for preschoolers are great ways to support learning with rhythm, rhyme, and repetition. You’ll have fun along the way too!

Experience Live Music

Who doesn’t enjoy live music? Preschoolers love to experience live music performances at the local library, coffee shops, church, and outdoor community concerts. Arrive early and talk to your child about the music, the musicians, and the different instruments. After the performance, you can ask your child about what they heard.

Talk with your pediatric audiologist or LSL interventionist about strategies to make listening easier in a large venue. 

Explore Instruments 

The benefits that instruments bring to children with hearing loss are endless. Explore and discuss instruments with your preschooler. You can talk about what they’re made of (wood, brass) and how each produces music (strings, keys, wind).

Super Songwriters!

Preschoolers love to listen and sing different versions of classic songs. Get creative with your child to change the words of classic songs throughout daily routines and talks. You could try singing “Plate, fork, knife, and spoon” to the tune of “Head, shoulders, knees, and toes,” as you set the table.

¹McConkey Robbins, A. (2024). Living LSL Webinar: Making Music and Building Brains.