14 Silly Sounds to Help Your Toddler Find Their Voice

One Halloween my kids and I were carving pumpkins at the kitchen table, and at some point I picked up the hollow pumpkin, looked inside, and said "AAAAAH". My kids thought this was the funniest thing they'd ever seen. Within about ten seconds, all three of them had their own heads next to their own pumpkins, yelling into them too. We probably looked completely unhinged from outside the window. Or from inside the window...

That pumpkin moment is a pretty good example of what I mean when I talk about helping a child "turn on their voice." It's not about teaching a specific word. It's about building the comfort and confidence to be vocal at all, so that when real words are ready to come, your child already knows how to use their voice on purpose.

SLP Cari Ebert describes this as helping your child become a "vocal risk taker." I love that phrase. Some kids just need a little more encouragement and a little more fun before they're willing to put their voice out there.

If your child is quieter, isn't using many words yet, or seems hesitant to make sounds at all, these activities are for you. And if your child is already talking up a storm, this is still worth trying. Sometimes even chatty kids benefit from backing up to this low-pressure, silly stage every once in a while.

A quick note before we dive in: you're not asking your child to do any of this. You're modeling it. You're showing them it's fun, and then leaving the door wide open. If they join in, wonderful. If they just watch and laugh, that counts too.

Play Sounds

These are the pretend, real-life sounds toddlers naturally love.

1. "Brr, it's cold!" Open the freezer, or just talk about the weather outside, and give it an exaggerated shiver and sound.
2. Snoring. Great for a sleepy game. Snore dramatically, then say "wake up!"
3. "Shh." This one comes with a built-in gesture, a finger to the lips, so even if your child can't make the "sh" sound yet, they can imitate the motion and still be part of the game.
4. A big, silly sneeze. Take it up a notch by balancing a small toy on your head, sneezing, and watching it fly off.
5. "Where's Daddy?" Or Mama, or the dog, or whoever you're looking for. Pair the phrase with a searching gesture, hands up, looking around, so your child has both a sound and a motion to copy.

Action Sounds

These pair a simple sound with something you're already doing.

6. "Boom" when a block tower falls.
7. "Wheee" when a car goes down a ramp, or your child goes down a slide.
8. "Oof" when you crash into a pillow or flop onto the couch.
9. A verbal routine tied to a daily task. This one's personal. When my son was a baby, my husband started saying "ahh... boop!" every time he pulled off his sock, right as it popped off his foot. He kept doing it, over and over, day after day. Eventually, even though that son was my late talker, he started saying "boop" right along with him. That tiny, silly routine became one of his first real attempts at using his voice on purpose. Think about a task you already do every day, socks, diapers, buttoning a coat, and see if there's a small sound you can attach to it.

Object Sounds

These use a prop to make the sound feel more concrete, or just more fun.

10. A paper towel tube. Talk or hum through it and listen to your voice change.
11. Pop tubes, if you have them, or really any toy that invites a sound. Stretch them, connect them, make noise through them.
12. A play microphone. Sing "la la la" into it, then hand it over and see what your child does with it. It genuinely doesn't matter if they sing, chew on it, or just hold it. You've modeled the behavior either way.
13. A kazoo. No words needed here at all. Just the simple act of turning on your voice.
14. A big bowl, held close to your face. Speech-language pathologist Laura Mize suggests saying "ah" into a bowl for the echo effect. It sounds a little funny and toddlers tend to love it. It's basically the pumpkin trick, just year-round.

Why This Matters More Than It Seems

None of this is about correctness. There's no right or wrong sound here, and your child doesn't have to copy you at all for it to count. What you're actually doing is taking the pressure off, showing your child that using their voice is fun and safe, and giving them dozens of small, low-stakes chances to try.

For a quieter or more hesitant toddler, this stage matters more than it might seem. You can't skip straight to words if a child hasn't yet gotten comfortable being noisy on purpose. This is the groundwork.

So pick two or three of these and work them into whatever you're already doing today. Bath time, snack time, the walk to the car. You don't need special toys or a plan. You just need a willingness to be a little silly.

And if you want more of these built right into a daily routine, several of the Activity cards in the Toddler Talking Toolkit are designed around exactly this kind of low-pressure, play-based sound-making, matched to specific skills your child is working on. But even without it, grab a pumpkin, or a paper towel tube, or just your own two hands, and go be loud with your kid today.