Guess the Sound

Students hear a sound, guess what is making it, then you reveal a photo and the answer: a dog barking, frying eggs, a door creaking. It's a quick, lively listening game that gets the whole class talking, from single words with beginners to full sentences and the noun + verb-ing pattern at higher levels. Show it on a projector or share your screen in an online lesson.

Choose a quiz

The quizzes

Animal Sounds

A1–A2

10 sounds. From a cow mooing to a lion roaring.

Play it

Sounds from around the Home

A2

15 sounds. From frying eggs to a hair dryer.

Play it

Street Sounds

A2–B1

10 sounds. From car horns to a police siren.

Play it

Sounds of Summer

A2–B1

10 sounds. From buzzing bees to a thunderstorm.

Play it

Halloween Sounds

B1

15 sounds. From a creaking door to a witch cackling.

Play it

How it works

Guess the sound quiz: a large play button with Sound 4 of 15 and a Reveal button
1. Play the sound. Students listen and guess.
Guess the sound quiz revealing a photo of a lion with the answer: a lion roaring
2. Reveal the photo and the answer.

Each quiz plays one sound at a time. Press play, give students a moment to guess, then press Reveal. Use the arrows to move on. At the end there is a list of all the answers to go over together, plus a few discussion questions on the topic. Press Full screen for a projector or a video call.

Ideas for using it

  • Play, pause, guess. Play a sound and give students a few seconds to whisper to a partner or write a guess before you reveal. Play it again after the reveal so the sound and the words go together.
  • Teams. Teams write their answers on paper or a mini whiteboard and get a point for every correct guess, with a bonus point for the exact phrase (a door creaking, not just a door).
  • Full-sentence guesses. Before the reveal, students must answer in a full sentence: "I think it's...", "It sounds like...", "It might be...".
  • Twice through. Play all the sounds without revealing anything while students write their guesses, then go through them again with the reveals to check.
  • Online lessons. Share your screen with audio, and ask students to type their guesses in the chat at the same moment, so nobody copies.
  • Sound stories. Pick three or four sounds and ask pairs to build a short story that includes them all. Great with the Halloween and street sounds.
  • Your own sounds. Students record a sound at home on their phone and the class guesses it next lesson.
  • Compare languages. What does a dog or a cow say in your students' languages? Do the same animals make the same sounds?

Useful language

  • Guessing: I think it's... · It sounds like... · It could be... · It might be... · It's definitely... · I've got no idea!
  • Noun + verb-ing: a door creaking, a dog barking, bees buzzing, car horns honking.
  • Animal sound verbs: bark, miaow, moo, quack, hiss, crow, roar, croak, bray, squeak.
  • Describing sounds: loud, quiet, high, low, sharp, soft, annoying, relaxing, creepy.

Tip: put a few of these on the board before you start, so every student has a way to answer.

Keyboard shortcuts

Space: play / pause · R: reveal · Arrow keys: previous / next sound · F: full screen

More in our collections

The Halloween sound quiz is part of our Halloween collection, alongside other activities on the same theme.

Halloween · All collections

Advertisement