Fun Activities: At Home or Indoors
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 many 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!
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