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Preschool Education
Small ears are fragile. Managing harmful noise around them is essential.
The Sound Monkey is a sound monitoring device designed for preschool environments. It enables teachers to visually monitor and record sound levels and educate little ones on how to look after their fragile ears. View brochure.
How does it work?
The Sound Monkey absorbs sound through a frequency sensitive filter that mimics the human ear. It indicates when sound levels are harmful - using a simple traffic light system featured in the Monkey’s mouth: Green smile for safe sound levels; orange downturned mouth for caution; and red downturned mouth for too loud.
Teachers and kids can also refer to the Sound Monkey app to see how well they've stayed on top of harmful sounds each week. It is great for classrooms and play areas, encouraging kids to be aware of harmful sounds and noise levels throughout the day. View brochure.
Safe Listening Tips for Early Childhood Learning Centres
One of the most effective ways to ensure our littlest Kiwis have healthy hearing for life is to teach them about safe listening habits before they reach school. By following these simple tips, you can help create a quieter, safer, and more comfortable preschool environment for children and adults.
1. Keep the volume down: Try to keep noise levels at a maximum of 75 decibels (dB). A simple way to check if the noise is too loud is if you need to raise your voice to be heard.
2. Teach children about noise levels: Explain to children the importance of protecting their hearing and encourage them to speak up if they feel that noise levels are too high.
3. Use sound-absorbing materials: Carpets, curtains, and soft furnishings can help reduce noise levels by absorbing sound.
4. Encourage quiet activities: Reading, drawing, and playing with quiet toys can help reduce noise levels.
5. Avoid noisy toys: Remove toys that produce loud or sharp sounds, such as electronic toys with loud music.
6. Try to reduce the the outside noises: If your preschool is located near a busy road, try to keep windows and doors that face the traffic closed to reduce the amount of outside noise.
7. Manage the "café effect": In situations where multiple conversations are happening, encourage educators to get children's attention using silent gestures and to speak quietly, creating a "reverse café effect" where children need to stop talking to hear them.
8. Provide ear protection when kids are participating in noisy activities, and talk about how important it is to protect your hearing to ensure you have good hearing health for life.
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Support our work in preschools
Help us reach our goal of installing 200 Sound Monkey devices in 2023.
Today, over one billion young people are at risk of losing their hearing globally. If we do nothing, this number will continue to rise.
Can you imagine losing your hearing due to completely preventable causes? From your educational outcomes to your emotional well-being, the impacts of hearing loss would be far-reaching and life-long. Now consider that in children, nearly 60% of hearing loss is due to avoidable causes.
Your donation of $5 or more will go towards delivering Sound Monkey devices to preschools nationwide.
