Toddlers, Robots, and Sound
One of the joys of parenting is going down rabbit holes learning about what your child is interested in. One of my toddler’s special interests was blue robots. As a woman with a STEM background, … Read More
Kids, Sound & Science
Sound for Lego Animations
When my nephew was nine, he got the book Klutz Lego Make Your Own Movie, which teaches how to do stop-motion animation with Legos. When I saw his first videos, they were so fun I … Read More
Why Don’t We Teach Kids the Language of Sound?
We teach young children how to recognize colors and shapes. We teach them to name emotions. These are foundational skills for everything from math to art to language developing. Teaching them to name sounds may … Read More
Stomping Game for Toddlers
When we talk about sound-related games for young kids, we tend to think of their hands. What can they touch, shake, or rattle to create sounds? Toddlers love to walk, kick, stomp, run and jump, … Read More
No, Your Unborn Baby Doesn’t Need Headphones
At some point, someone decided unborn babies needed headphones. Not metaphorically. Actual speakers designed to strap onto a pregnant abdomen so a baby can listen to music directly. Pregnant women are magnets for products. If … Read More
Too Loud for Little Ears? The Science Behind Hand Dryers
High-speed hand dryers in public restrooms are convenient, but they come with an annoying side effect: they’re loud. For many young children, this sudden burst of noise isn’t just uncomfortable—it can be downright terrifying. Some kids develop noise … Read More
Understanding Auditory Processing Disorder (APD): When the Brain Struggles to Process Sound
When we think about hearing issues, we often picture hearing impairment, hearing loss, or deafness. Even as a sound engineer, it’s natural to associate hearing problems with physical damage rather than errors in brain processing. However, Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) is … Read More
Tracking My Son’s Language Explosion: A Look at Early Word Development
Like many parents, I kept track of my son’s earliest words for his scrapbook. But after reading How Babies Talk: The Magic and Mystery of Language in the First Three Years of Life, I became fascinated … Read More
The Mozart Effect – Debunked
The concept of the “Mozart Effect” was presented in a book in 1999 but the basis was a research paper written in 1993 (by Frances Rauscher, Gordon Shaw, and Catherine Ky). The original study found … Read More
Hearing Dogs: How They Assist the Hearing-Impaired
Hearing dogs are specially trained to assist individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing by alerting them to important sounds in their environment. These dogs provide both safety and independence by acting as their owner’s ears. … Read More