Hearing Development: What Babies Can Hear

In addition to seeing, smelling, tasting, and touching, hearing also needs to be learned. Although an unborn baby can already perceive voices and sounds through the mother's abdominal wall, it takes quite a while before what is heard is also understood. The first three years of life are crucial for hearing development because during this period the human brain learns to pick up sounds from the environment and interpret them meaningfully. Nevertheless, it takes until the age of six for children's sense of hearing to be fully developed.

Hearing Development in the First Year of Life

A newborn baby hears everything very muffled until the amniotic fluid in the ears has completely dissolved. While infants initially hardly react to loud phone rings or crying siblings, from the second month of life they respond much more intensely to sounds. For example, the little ones can already assign voices and imitate sounds. As hearing develops, connections between different sensory perceptions are also established. For instance, toddlers quickly learn: wherever loud noises are heard, there is also something to see. Additionally, children learn to link movement and sound. For example, if they shake a rattle quickly, it sounds very different than when they play with it slowly. Furthermore, functioning hearing is essential for optimal language development. Only those who hear words correctly can later pronounce them perfectly.

Auditory Stimuli Support the Learning Process

Babies’ hearing is already developed before birth and continues to mature over the years. Still, there are several ways to support babies in the learning process:

• Parents can use touch games, rhymes, or children’s songs to expose babies to sounds and vocal tones during daily routines. Bedtime or diaper changes are especially suitable moments for this.
• To train the ability to distinguish different tones, children can be alternately treated to rock ’n’ roll or classical music, for example.
• Toys with crinkly paper, xylophones, rattles, and the like not only support babies’ hearing development but also contribute to children’s motor skills. However, be careful: when choosing toys, electronic functions should be avoided. The learning effect is much greater when toddlers produce the sound themselves by pressing or pulling.
• When reading aloud, parents can vary pitch or emphasis and include little singing parts to train babies’ sense of hearing.
• Music boxes are good for hearing development and also serve as a helpful aid for falling asleep.

howa Musicbox Promotes Hearing Development

The howa Musicbox playfully accompanies children in their hearing development. The xylophone is just waiting to be brought to life with its tones and promotes the little ones’ musical sense. When children turn the rattle vigorously or scratch over the wavy surface, completely different sounds are produced. This way, the little ones learn which movement they need to make to create a specific sound. The general rule is: the fewer electronic components, the better. When children are allowed to produce the sounds themselves, the learning effect is much greater. That is why the howa Motor Skills Triangle Musicbox completely forgoes electronics.

Promoting Motor Skills

The Motor Skills Triangle Musicbox not only supports children’s hearing development but also invites them to explore and play. Curious children are eager to feel and touch the gears on the third side of the toy. This trains the fine motor skills of the little ones. The colorful design of the toy supports the children’s sense of sight, helping them learn to recognize different contrasts. As is typical for howa toys, the Motor Skills Triangle Musicbox is made of wood, making it particularly robust and durable.