This game is just like “I Spy”, except instead of using our eyes, we are going to use our ears to play the game “I Hear”!

To begin with, plan a camping trip with your child, or go for a hike. This can be a trip out of town to your favorite campsite, or you can set up “camp” in your own backyard by using your imagination! Or, you can plan a day trip to hike! Franklin Falls, Rattlesnake Ledge, or Denny Creek Trail are all great options for kids!

Once camp is all set up, or once you get to your hiking destination, you can sit around with your family and spend a few minutes listening to all the different sounds in nature.

You can start by talking about all the sounds you hear! For example, “Oh! I hear the water splashing” while pointing in the direction as the river."

Then, you can say, “Let’s play a game called I Hear! It’s very similar to I Spy! First, I am going to listen for and pick one sound that I hear. Then, I am going to describe what I am hearing and you will have to guess what it is that makes that sound!”

The point of this activity is to help your child draw awareness to the sounds in his or her immediate environment and to begin making sound associations to specific locations, while also building semantic relationship skills.

For example, to describe a river I might give the following clues: I hear splashing, streaming water, fish jumping, and the sound is very close.

Be creative with this game, but most importantly, HAVE FUN!