How to Teach a Toddler Animal Sounds: Songs, Games and Easy Wins

1. Start with the easy sounds

Not all animal sounds are equal. Some are made of sounds toddlers can already produce; others, like a rooster's crow or a horse's whinny, are a mouthful for anyone. Begin with the ones that are easy to say and easy to tell apart:

• Cow: "moo"
• Sheep: "baa"
• Dog: "woof"
• Cat: "meow"
• Duck: "quack"
• Pig: an oink or a snort (toddlers love the snort)
• Snake: "sss"
• Lion or tiger: "roar"

Pick three or four to begin with and use them constantly, always paired with the animal's name: "The cow says moo. Moo! What does the cow say?" The pairing joins the sound to the animal rather than just the noise, though enjoying the noise is a perfectly good start. Add new animals once the first few are solid; farm animals and pets usually come first because they turn up in the most songs and books.

2. Let the songs do the teaching

Songs do most of the work here, because they repeat the same animal and sound several times in a row, with a tune that makes it stick.

Old MacDonald Had a Farm is the classic for a reason. Every verse introduces one animal, says its sound five or six times and then rolls back through all the animals so far. Our Old MacDonald Had a Farm video is animated so your toddler sees each animal as it appears, and the lyrics page has the words if you want to sing it in the car with a different animal each time. Let your toddler choose the next animal, even if it is a dinosaur.

Baa, Baa, Black Sheep and Mary Had a Little Lamb are gentler ones for the sheep sound and work well at bedtime. Both are on our lyrics pages.

Baby Learning World's own Tiger Cub Dance is built around a big, happy "roar", with Lulu the tiger cub wiggling, stomping and roaring her way through the song; most toddlers roar back by the second chorus. Baby Shark is a favourite for pointing at the shark and the sea creatures and asking what each one is, and Five Little Monkeys gives you the monkey, plus an "ooh ooh ah ah" that toddlers find hilarious.

Tips for singing animal songs:

• Pause before the sound and let your toddler fill it in. "And on that farm he had a cow, ee-i-ee-i-o, with a..." then wait. Even a hopeful "mmm" counts.
• Do the sound with your whole face. A wide, slow "moo", a quick, bouncy "quack". The exaggeration helps your toddler see how the sound is made.
• Sing the same song for a week. Novelty is for you; repetition is for them.

3. Make it a game, not a quiz

Toddlers switch off fast when they feel tested. "What does the dog say?" asked five times in a row becomes a chore. Turned into a game, the same question becomes something they ask you.

Who's hiding?

Hide a toy animal under a tea towel and make its sound. "Woof woof! Who could that be?" Reveal it. Then let your toddler hide one and make a sound for you to guess, wrong guesses included.

The wrong animal

Hold up the cow and say "quack quack". Most two year olds will correct you with great delight, and correcting you is a far better test of what they know than answering your questions.

Animal walk

Move like the animal while you make its sound: stomp like an elephant, hop like a frog, slither like a snake. This is a brilliant one for using up energy on a rainy afternoon.

Sound swap in the song

Sing Old MacDonald with your toddler's own choices. A farm with a dinosaur, a monster and the family cat is still a farm.

Keep every game short and stop while it is still fun.

4. Animal sounds around the house and outdoors

The best animal-sound practice is the kind that just happens. Keep an ear out for:

• Dogs barking on your walk. "Did you hear that? Woof woof. A dog."
• Birds in the garden or at the park. A magpie's warble or a duck at the pond is a real-life version of the song.
• The cat next door, the neighbour's chickens, the horses on a drive through the country.
• A trip to a farm, petting zoo or the animal nursery at a show. Hearing the real "baa" after weeks of singing it is a genuine moment of joy for a toddler.

In the car, take turns: you make a sound, your toddler names the animal, then swap. In the bath, a few floating animals and a duck give you five minutes of quacking and splashing; our bath toys for toddlers guide has suggestions.

5. Books, toys and pointing

Picture books with one clear animal per page are ideal. Point to the animal, name it, make the sound, then let your toddler turn the page. Lift-the-flap books add the suspense that toddlers love, and the "who's hiding?" game works just as well with a flap as with a tea towel.

A small set of chunky toy animals, farm or jungle, gets more use than almost any other toy at this age. Line them up and sing Old MacDonald, pointing to each one as it appears. Our best toys for 1 year olds and best toys for 2 year olds guides include a few animal sets that hold up to toddler handling.

6. When every animal says "moo"

Many toddlers go through a stage where one favourite sound covers every animal. The sheep says moo, the dog says moo, the goldfish says moo. This is normal and usually short-lived. Your toddler has worked out that animals make sounds and is using the one they can say best.

Rather than correcting, model the right sound and move on: "Moo! That's what the cow says. The sheep says baa. Baa, baa." Then make it fun by exaggerating the difference, a low slow "moo" and a wobbly high "baa". Most toddlers sort it out on their own within a few weeks of hearing the sounds paired with the right animals in songs and books.

If your toddler is not interested in animal sounds at all, that is normal too; some toddlers are far more interested in trucks, or colours, or climbing. Keep singing the songs and come back to it later. There is no deadline on quacking.

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