How To: Help Your Baby Hear It Before They See It During Play

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Playtime is the perfect time to practice listening!

During playtime or daily routines, let your baby hear your words before you show them the object or start any actions. This gives your little learner practice focusing on listening first and helps strengthen their listening skills.

Here’s how to use the Hear It Before They See It strategy when playing with a rattle:

Sit close to your baby – within 3 to 4 feet of them and their hearing devices.
Make ear contact first. Shake the rattle so your baby can hear it without seeing it.
Use the LSL strategy, Be a Director, point to your ear, and say, “I heard that. Shake, shake, shake. I think it’s your rattle.”
Pause and notice how your baby responds. Maybe they widen their eyes, pause, move, or look around.
Shake the rattle again and hold it out for your baby to reach, hold, and shake. You could say, “Here’s your rattle!”
Then, give a play-by play of what your baby is doing. You could say, “You’re shaking your rattle. Shake, shake, shake!”
Observe how your baby responds over time to hearing the rattle.

Watch the video below for a real example of how you can use this strategy during playtime with another toy.

Image with text that reads, “Hear It Before They See It With Toys.” Click to play the video.

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How To: Help Your Baby Hear It Before They See It During Play

Playtime is the perfect time to practice listening!

Here’s how to use the Hear It Before They See It strategy when playing with a rattle:

Watch the video below for a real example of how you can use this strategy during playtime with another toy.

Explore More Support For Families of Children with Hearing Loss

Chapter Resources

Playtime is the perfect time to practice listening!

Here’s how to use the Hear It Before They See It strategy when playing with a rattle:

Watch the video below for a real example of how you can use this strategy during playtime with another toy.

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