the human ear is a complex and fascinating sensory organ. Like ourother senses, our hearing, or audition, is highly adaptive - it enables us to hear sounds from the faintest of whispers to the collective cacophony of a playing orchestra, from the hum of a bee to the boom of an aeroplane passing through the sound barrier. It is a remarkable sound-catching device.
Despite the ability to hear such a wide range of sounds, humans tend to hear best those sounds the frequencies of which lie within the range of the human voice. This would partly explain our ability to detect the differences among thousands of human voices and instantly recognise the voice of almost anyone we know. This recognition is partly the mechanical responsibility of our brain's interpretation of sound waves detected in the ear, but is also part of our brain's ability to distinguish between useful, or needy sounds from that of background noise.
Very young children are more attentive to this background noise than most adults; babies especially are intrigued by a variety of auditory experiences, and it is only as we grown older that our attention and perceptions are conditioned to respond to immediate or important sounds.
This raises questions as to how much auditory stimulus we miss in the world around us because we are too focused on our hectic lifestyles. How much of the environment's natural orchestra are children missing out on because they too, are leading ever more busy lives?
Below I have outlined a few suggested activities that can be used as a basis for children to explore and appreciate the wide spectrum of sound that is ever present, but often unnoticed, in the world around them. These activities can be adapted to suit your own needs and do not necessarily require expensive audio equipment, although exploration of this kind can certainly be enhanced if children have access to a cheap tape recorder and microphone.
SOUND AWARENESS GAME
Have the children lie down with their eyes closed and start by relaxing them through the tightening and relaxation of individual muscles, starting first with the feet and slowly moving to the head. In complete silence, ask them to spend about two minutes listening to sounds around them, focusing perhaps on distant sounds first, then on their own bodily produced sounds.
What can they hear that they wouldn't normally when busy playing? Are there any sounds that they have never really 'heard' before, or do not know where they are located? For variation, this game can be played in or outside, and can be extended by the playworker by making discreet sounds and asking the children to guess, without peeking, what the object or person is that made the sound.
SOUND EFFECTS DRAMA
For this activity you will need a recording of various different sound effects. These can be recognisable, for example, birds singing, the wind blowing or people talking, or can be more abstract, such as the rustling of clothes, someone running their finger-nails down a guitar string, or the squeak of a door. Once you have about 20 sound effects, each at least 15 seconds in length, inform the children that you are going to play some, and that whatever sound they hear, they must interpret and act it out. You may want to specify that they have to freeze like statues once they know what the sound is, or that they keep acting it out like a silent movie. You will be surprised how children interpret sounds differently.
COLLECTING STRANGE SOUNDS
If you have access to a recording device - a mini-disc recorder gives excellent quality but a tape recorder will do - ask the children to work in small groups and to go about recording all types of sounds. They can then use the recordings for the above activity.
If you have some cash to spare, I would highly recommend the purchase of some sound effect CDs. The BBC produces a large collection, ranging from weather sounds to spooky sounds, and each is priced aboutthe same as a music CD. The address is shown below.
INTERNATIONAL SOUND EFFECTS CHAMPIONSHIPS
For a truly exploratory sound sensation, you may like to hold a competition whereby each child has to make the most unusual bodily sound effect. You could create categories of entry, for example, finger flicks, armpit antics, tonsil ticklers, belly bulges and so on! You may also wish to create so many categories that each child will win something, and perhaps award a certificate in the shape ofan ear as a prize. Whatever you choose,you'll be surprised at the number of body parts children can manipulate to create a sound effect!
For a list of the BBC's Sound Effect Library CDs, write to BBC Enterprises, Woodlands, 80 Wood Lane, London W12 0TT.
Philip Waters is a playwork co-ordinator, trainer and researcher based in York.
