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Social Story for an Inside Voice
An inside voice social story gives a child a simple way to understand volume: some places are for big voices and some are for small ones. Many young children genuinely don’t notice how loud they are, especially when they are excited, and “shh” on its own doesn’t tell them how much quieter, or why.
The story below uses a pretend volume dial, from whisper to playground, that a child can turn down themselves. It isn’t about being in trouble for being loud, because loud is fine in the right place. Free to read aloud, or make one with your child in it.
What will happen, in order
- Outside, a big voice is fine
- Inside, use an inside voice
- Turn the volume dial down
- Whisper at bedtime
Read the steps together in the daytime, more than once. The free printable below has these steps at the top and the bedtime story underneath.
Rosie’s Volume Dial
A free story to read aloud tonight
Rosie had a big voice. It was the best voice for calling the dog from the end of the yard, and for singing in the car, and for shouting “GOAL!” at the park.
But at the library, her big voice made the librarian look up. In the doctor’s waiting room, a baby woke up and cried. And at dinner, Grandpa said, “Rosie, I’m right here,” and put his hands over his ears, but kindly.
So Mom drew Rosie a volume dial on a piece of paper. Number one was a whisper. Number two was an inside voice, like talking at the table. Number three was a playground voice. Number four was only for emergencies.
“Outside, you can turn it up to three,” said Mom. “Inside, try two.” Rosie practiced. Two. Three. Two. One. She liked turning it down with her finger on her own chin, click, like a real dial.
At the library that week, Rosie turned herself to one, and whispered to the librarian that she wanted a book about sharks. The librarian whispered back, “Shelf four,” and smiled.
At bedtime, Rosie turned the dial all the way down to one. She whispered goodnight to the dog, and to her shark book, and to Mom. Then she turned it to zero, which was sleeping.
Read it a few nights running rather than on the morning of. Familiarity is the part that works. The aim is that by the day itself, none of it is new.
Why is my child so loud?
Lots of young children are loud, especially when excited, and many don’t yet notice their own volume. A few children are loud because they don’t hear well, so if your child is often loud, says “what?” a lot, or seems not to hear you, it is worth asking your pediatrician about a hearing check.
What helps a child use an inside voice?
Showing tends to work better than telling. A volume scale with numbers, using a quieter voice yourself, and noticing out loud when they turn it down usually work better than repeated shushing. Saying where loud voices are fine helps too, so it isn’t about their voice being wrong.