Explore and Play: Chirp, Chirp, Peep, Peep, QUACK!

Key Science Concepts

Children will listen to, describe, and compare sounds. They’ll explore the ideas that:

• Sounds vary in two ways: volume (loud or soft), and pitch (high or low).
• A sound becomes louder when the force of the action that is creating the sound is increased (for example, when you hit a drum harder). A sound becomes softer, or quieter, when the force is decreased.

Directions

Tell children they are going to play a game in which they make their voices sound like Chirp, Peep, and Quack. Say, As we’re playing, remember that Quack is really loud and Peep is quite soft. Chirp's is a high sound and Quack's is lower.

1. Write the words “chirp, chirp, peep, peep, QUACK!” on a chart and have children repeat the pattern of the five bird sounds several times, imitating the way the three characters in the story talk. The final sound—QUACK!—should be said in a loud voice, just as Quack would.
2. Then go around in a circle and have each child repeat one bird sound in the pattern: chirp, chirp, peep, peep, QUACK!—with the fifth child in the circle making a loud QUACK! Do a few rounds slowly, then speed it up.