It might seem odd to read about robots on a blog about sound… but I’m a mom in tech and my toddler is obsessed with robots!
You can use robots as a way to get a toddler to listen and verbalize sounds (which helps with speech development). You can talk about concepts like quiet and loud, high sounds and low sounds, and sound localization (“where is that sound coming from?”) using robots. You can also make up sound effects like beeps, blops, and whooshes. We make robot sounds a lot in our house – everything from robot arms clicking or clanking to robot jumps with boinks.
Books That Make Sounds
In general, I’m not a fan of books that make noises. The sound quality is so poor and I think it takes away a child’s desire to use their imagination, which includes making up sounds.
Robot Books!
Robots, Robots Everywhere! is a Little Golden Book with TONS of different robots. They even get into real robots and automation like vacuums and machinery (like robots who make donuts!). It rhymes, it’s catchy (even my 2.5 year old remembers most of the words) and there really are robots everywhere.
Little Robot Rabbit by Mike Brownlow is a board book with flaps – perfect for a two year old. The story is about a robot who loses its pet rabbit. It’s fun and cute but also a good book to use to talk about some emotions. My son was enamored with this book when he first read it (and read it again and again…)
We love Boy + Bot, the story of a boy who becomes friends with a robot until the robot stops working (spoiler: his power gets shut off). This would make a great gift because it’s a nice-sized hardback book (with regular paper – not a board book). Amazon has a Kindle version, as well.
If I Had A Robot by Dan Yaccarino is a cute story from a boy’s perspective about what a robot could do for him (like eat his vegetables and kiss his Aunt Louise).
Little Golden Books has a book on Pixar’s Wall-E. It matches the movie story of Wall-E and Eve, who he falls in love with and follow anywhere. The story is pretty condensed and brief. Most of the pages are taken up with drawings, which are colorful and cute. Robots, Robots, Everywhere would be my first choice for Little Golden Books but this one makes a nice story.
For Younger Toddlers (and Infants)
There’s not a lot of words in Make a Robot – it’s more about the mixing and matching of robot heads, bodies and legs. If your older toddler loves the app Sago Mini, they’ll probably love this book, too.
Robot Kitties by Jim Benton. This is a simple board book that’s good for young toddlers (and infants). The language is pretty basic but it’s still a fun book about robot cats.
That’s Not My Robot is a cute Usborne board book (from their Touchy-Feely series). The robots are big, bright colored and it’s perfect for teaching about body parts.