Teaching toddlers with a listening center

By Kelly

48

Published: Oct 02, 2013

Updated: Feb 05, 2019

Print

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.

Teaching toddlers with a listening center

If you have a toddler, then you probably understand how excited they are about books! As parents, it is our job to foster that excitement and nurture a love for reading! There are several ways that you can promote learning and literacy at home! Not sure what literacy is? Check out my YouTube video where I break it down for you. Today we are going to dig in a little deeper and discuss strategies for teaching a toddler with a literacy center. Centers are designated areas, usually seen in Pre-K through 3rd grade classrooms, that provide specific small-group activities. Whether you have one toddler or more, it is still possible to create an effective listening center at home! Teaching toddlers with a listening center

The benefit to creating a listening center at home is that you are also encouraging proper classroom behavior. Start by designating a small area that is kid friendly. I picked this spot in our playroom and Stella approved it! The first thing you want to do in your listening center is make it fun! Model what it looks like to be at a listening center. This mean, show your toddler how to look at the pictures and follow by flipping the pages. You’ll be amazed at how eager they will be to join in on the fun! Besides, there is something exciting about hearing a story being narrated by characters. Toddlers love to listen while the book comes to life.

Make Reading Fun! Tips at Smart School House The next thing you need to do is gather a variety of audio books. No, audio books are not the same type of “books on tape” that we grew up with. Technology has come A LONG way since those clunky tape decks and massive headphones. You can find tons (and I mean tons) of audio books by searching the internet. But, you can also download them to your MP3 player or even your cell phone! However, and this is my top secret teaching tip, go to your local library and simply “check-out” some audio books there! Your toddler will LOVE perusing the library in search of great audio books!

 

Monster Headphones2 One of the important things to think about when making a listening center at home, are the headphones. They need to be fun, kid friendly, and DURABLE! We prefer to use these Monster headphones for Stella and Mitch. Why? Well, these specific headphones are engineered to be super tough and designed for durability. They’re basically indestructible people!! Do you know how important that is when we’re talking about kids? The N-Tune HD headphones are super flexible….which means you can bend and twist them without breaking them! Like I mentioned before, headphones have come a long way since we were in school. These are THEE perfect headphones for kids and listening centers. Characters in books come to life with the incredible N-Tune HD sound and the quality of the durable design makes a mom (and a teacher) happy! Not to mention, they come is a vairety of super fun colors AND they plug in to cd players, phones, tablets, and several other devices!

Monster Headphones4 One final tip that is important to remember when you make a listening center at home, is that this activity also requires interaction with parents! When our toddlers get to school, they will be required to be able to sit and show a little independence. They might also be required to complete a worksheet to display comprehension of the book during elementary school. But, if your kids are the age of Stella and Mitch (2 and 3), it is important for you to stay with them. Instead of asking them to complete a worksheet (because that’s not important for a 2 or 3 year old), remember to talk about the story with them! Ask questions, have them show you their favorite part, or have them explain what happened at the end. However, if your child absolutely LOVES “school time” at home, bring out some crayons and a blank piece of paper and have them color a picture about the story. Monster Headphones5

Are you wanting to create a listening center in your house? Well, gift-giving season will be here before you know it and the holidays are a perfect time to give your kiddo a new pair of listening center headphones! They are super comfy and SUPER cute! Stella picked out this fun orange color for her Monster headphones. Did you know that 25 pairs of Monster headphones are up for grabs??!! They are valued at $150. Would you like a free pair? Simply check out the colors they offer by clicking HERE. Then, come back here and tell me which NTunes color is your favorite by leaving a comment at the bottom of this post! Which color would you like for your child?

CONTEST IS CLOSED

Pages: 1 2
Kelly Dixon

Welcome to Smart School House! I’m so glad you are here! I’m Kelly Dixon and my website is designed to inspire your creative side. I hope you visit us here often!

Read more about me

You Might Also Like

48 Comments

  2. We recently discovered books on tape at our library and my kids LOVE them. I like the red or blue headphones!

  15. The purple is so pretty, but I love the green too! A home listening center sounds like fun for my Gracie!

  16. My son handles a daily obligation of a dual diagnosis of high functioning ASD with major sensory problems alongside with combined ADHD- my son listens to everything from books to educational podcasts, anything that allows him to remain in his amazing world and these incredible headphones would cancel out background noise unlike many many others that have failed, leaving him distracted ending in tantrum 🙁 He LOVES Candy Red – his tablet case matches his entire room is already that same red- it’s calming as he tells me 🙂 EMBRACE EACH DAY- especially for those with the immense duty of a child. Allow me if nobody else has told you today, You are gifted and amazing Keep it up and GOod Luck and Thank you for this opportunity!

  17. What a great idea! And thanks for the chance to win the head phones. My daughter would love to listen to her Leo the Lightening Bug audiobook in the purple ones! Great book by the way…you should check it out for your little one! Courtenay

  18. What a great idea! As a retired first grade teacher, setting up a listening center at home is great training for the classroom. I am going to set one up at my house for my grandsons, ages 18 months and 2. I would love a blue and orange one for our Detroit Tigers and Denver Broncos! Thanks so much for considering us.

  20. Thank you for the wonderful post! So excited to start a listening center for my kids. Thank you for the tip about getting audio books at the library too. We love RED at our house!

  21. Wonderful tips! The blue headphones would be a great addition to our home school reading area.

  26. Fabulous idea. I loved listening to books when I was little. All of the colors are wonderful, but red or green are my favorites.

  27. Thanks for all the great ideas! 🙂 my 4 yr old loves books and trips to the library! We’ll definitely need to check out some audio books 🙂 she would love the red ones if they’re still available.

  30. I love the idea and my daughter has such a center in her play room where she loves to listen to her stories. She is not a toddler any more, but she enjoys this a lot after school, to sit (or lie) on her couch and listen to the stories. I would recommend to limit the time she listens with the headphones on, because at home it really doesn’t make any sense when she can as well listen to the stories without the headphones as well. And if she puts on the volume too loud this can damage her hearing severely. I would also give her some big pillow or mat or something to sit on. You are absolutely right about the library, my daughter loves to go there and choose some new books.
    Jule

  32. I’m a sucker for green. Always. I’d love to win a pair for our listening center at home!

  37. We would love any color, these look so nice ! Theys would be perfect. Hope I win !

  39. ANY COLOR!!!! Green is beautiful but I would just be thrilled to win any. This would be a perfect addition to my dream school room!!!!

  40. I’ve been wanting to create a listening center for my almost 2 year old daughter. The candy purple headphones would be perfect!

  45. Any color would be fabulous! I have a three and a half year old that is pretty respectful with her things but durable is always good with kids! Thanks for considering us!

  46. Awesome idea! I would love to do this in our home!

    I would definitely need blue for my 4 yo and green for my 2 yo. These headphones look great! 🙂