Cochlear implant technology was initially designed to promote reception of speech sounds; however, music enjoyment remains a challenge. Music is an influential ingredient in our well-being, playing an important role in our cognitive, physical and social development. For many cochlear implant recipients it is not feasible to communicate how sounds are perceived, and consequently the benefits of music listening may be reduced. Non-speech sounds may also be important to persons with multiple functional deficits that relay on information additional to verbatim for participating in communication. Deaf-born children with multiple functional deficits constitute a special vulnerable group as lack of reaction to sound often is discouraging to caregivers. Individually adapted tools and methods for sound awareness may promote exploration and appreciation of the information mediated by the implant. Two current works involving habilitation through sound production and music will be discussed. First, the results from a pilot study aiming at finding musical toys that can be adapted to help children explore their hearing with engaging sounds and expressive interfaces will be presented. The findings indicate that children with multiple functional deficits can be more inclined to use the auditory channel for communication and play than the caregivers would anticipate. Second, the results of a recent questionnaire study, which compared the music exposure and appreciation of preschool cochlear implant recipients with their normally hearing peers will be presented. The data from this study indicate that preschool children with cochlear implants spend roughly the same amount of time interacting with musical instruments at home and watching television programmes and DVDs which include music. However, the data indicate that these children receive less exposure to recorded music without visual stimuli and show less sophisticated responses to music. The provision and supported use of habilitation materials which encourage interaction with music might therefore be beneficial.