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Making Music
Rhythm and sound are natural parts of every day. With little
effort children can experience and discover music in many
fun ways. Music can help set a mood – quiet music at rest time,
or fast, exciting music when the child needs a change of activity.
Make up games using music: these can entertain or even be
helpful at clean-up time (for example, get the toys put away
before the song is over). Learning to be quiet and listen
to the differences in sounds (loud or soft, high or low, etc.)
helps children to become better listeners.
Start by listening: to the rhythm of a clock ticking, your
feet walking, the rain falling. Listen to birds singing, dogs
barking, wind in the trees. Make your own rhythms by clapping
your hands, stamping your feet, skipping and hopping. Dance
to the rhythm of recorded music or the radio (but be careful
of the songs you choose – you want the words to be appropriate).
Make simple instruments
- A coffee can with a plastic lid, an empty plastic
milk jug turned upside down, and an empty oatmeal box make
great drums.
- Want a drumstick? Try a pencil with an eraser or
a chopstick with rubber bands at the end.
- Two sticks, two stones or two pot lids make wonderful
sounds.
- An empty container filled partway with stones, rice,
sand or dried beans makes a shaker or a rattle (secure the
top with tape so that young children won’t put the small
pieces in their mouths).
Experiment and Explore!
- How man sounds can you create with paper or plastic
bags? Shake, crumple, pop. Shake things in them – fast,
slow, loud and soft. (Don’t leave a child alone with
a plastic bag!)
- See what sounds you can get from your own body –
clapping, tapping, clicking, bumping, thumping, squeaking,
blowing, scraping and puffing. Make up rhythms for the children
to copy (two claps/one jump, two blows/one stomp).
And don’t forget to sing!
Words and music
to many children's songs sung in the U.S. |
