Using Instruments
Submitted by: Heather Biley & Tara Orlowski
Activity 1: KWL Chart (back to top)
Age: 5-6
Activity: Chart Paper; Marker
Materials: At the beginning of a unit having to with musical instruments, teachers could have children discuss and help fill in a KWL chart about instruments. Doing this will help provide information to the teacher about what the children know, and what to know about instruments and music. She can then based curriculum on the various topics of interest.
Safety Precautions: none
Standards:
SSS (Aesthetics and Critical Analysis): The student listens to, analyzes, and describes music.
SSS (Applications to Life): The student understands the relationship between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts.
Activity 2: Making Music (back to top)
Age: 5-6
Activity: The teacher should introduce or demonstrate three or four musical instruments. She should then ask students to turn their backs as she plays one of the instruments. Ask, "Which one did I play?" Repeat this game several times, letting student volunteers play the mystery instrument.
Materials: Various Musical Instruments
Safety Precautions: none
Standards:
SSS (Skills and Techniques): The student performs on instruments, alone or with others, a varied repertoire of music.
SSS (Aesthetics and Critical Analysis): The student listens to, analyzes, and describes music.
Activity 3: Making Musical Instruments (back to top)
Age: 5-6
Activity: Set up art center with materials and invite children to make their own instruments. Encourage kids to make music. Shaking or striking their instruments will produce different sounds. Lead children in a parade as you march, playing your instruments, and sing.
Homemade Tambourines: Staple two sturdy paper plates together, face-to-face, with beans inside.
Homemade Maracas: Pour some beans into can and seal with the lid.
Materials: Paper Plates; Coffee Cans; Dried Beans; Stapler; Glue; Markers and various are materials (ex. Tissue paper, sequence)
Safety Precautions:
Standards:
SSS (Skills and Techniques): The student performs on instruments, alone or with others, a varied repertoire of music.
SSS (Applications to Life): The student understands the relationship between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts.
Activity 4: Making Music With Water (back to top)
Age: 5-6
Activity: The teacher should fill several glass jars with different amounts of water and seal shut. Introduce jars to students as a whole group and model tapping on each with a pencil. Discuss how different amounts of water will create different pitches. Allow children to experiment during center time by having them arrange them in order from lowest pitch to highest pitch.
Materials: Several Glass Jars w/ lids; Water; Pencils for tapping
Safety Precautions: Make sure are monitored when experimenting in order to reduce the risk of breaking the class and injury.
Standards:
SSS (Skills and Techniques): The student performs on instruments, alone or with others, a varied repertoire of music.
SSS (Applications to Life): The student understands the relationship between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts.
Activity 5: In the Learning Center (back to top)
Age: 5-7
Activity: After reading about and introducing different types of musical instruments place a CD or tape player in the music center and allow children to listen to various CD's of different musical instruments. Place visual aides of instruments and see if children can recognize what instruments are being played.
Materials: Various tapes or CD's with different types of musical instruments; CD or tape player; Visual aides of musical instruments that have already been learned
Safety Precautions: none
Standards:
SSS (Aesthetics and Critical Analysis): The student listens to, analyzes, and describes music.
Activity 6: Categorizing Instruments (back to top)
Age: 5-6
Activity: For this activity the teacher should first read a story to children about different categories of instruments and set up four hoops, each labeled a different category of instrument. She should then introduce various instruments and as a whole group, allow children to participate in picking which category each belongs in.
Materials: Instruments from each of the four categories; Story about different categories of instruments; Four hoola-hoops; Labels of Woodwinds, brass, percussion, and strings
Safety Precautions: none
Standards:
SSS (Applications to Life): The student understands the relationship between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts.
Activity 7: Making and Playing Guitars (back to top)
Age: 5-6
Activity: For this activity the teacher should first allow children to color and/or paint their tissue box the way they want. After drying the teacher should model an already constructed guitar and show children how to construct their own using the cardboard tube, tissue box, and elastics. Upon completion have children play their Guitars to music.
Materials: Tissue Box for each child; One Cardboard Paper Towel Role for each child; Three Rubber Bands for each child; Tape and/or Glue; Scissors; Markers, crayons, and/or paint
Safety Precautions: none
Standards:
SSS (Applications to Life): The student understands the relationship between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts.
SSS (Creation and Communication): The student creates and communicates a range of subject matter, symbols, and ideas using knowledge of structures and functions of visual arts.
Activity 8: Creating A Concert (back to top)
Age: 5-6
Activity: Teachers should clear an area of the room for the stage and dance floor. Have one group of children choose an instrument to play, put on some music, and let the concert begin. Encourage children to sing along. Invite the other group of children to dance to the rhythm. They can have fun making up dances with names like "the Snake," "the Swim," etc. Have children switch places after the first "set."
Materials: Variety of different songs; Various instruments
Safety Precautions: none
Standards:
SSS (Skills and Techniques): The student performs on instruments, alone or with others, a varied repertoire of music.
SSS (Applications to Life): The student understands the relationship between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts.
Activity 9: Making and Playing Horns (back to top)
Age: 5-6
Activity: Teachers should begin by showing children pictures of different kinds of horns. Discuss the ways they look similar and the ways they look different. Explain to children that they are going to make their own horn. Give each child one toilet paper tube and a square of wax paper. Help students cover one end of the toilet paper tube with the wax paper and secure it with a rubber band. Students can hum into the open end. Encourage everyone to work together to play a song as a band.
Materials: Toilet paper tubes (one per child); Wax paper; Rubber bands (one per child)
Safety Precautions: none
Standards:
SSS (Skills and Techniques): The student performs on instruments, alone or with others, a varied repertoire of music.
SSS (Creation and Communication): The student creates and communicates a range of subject matter, symbols, and ideas using knowledge of structures and functions of visual arts.
Activity 10: Making Sounds with Different Drums (back to top)
Age: 5-6
Activity: Introduce activity by showing children the various containers and making different sounds by drumming with your fingers or with the rhythm sticks. Pound on your drum hard, then softly. Pound on your drum fast and then slowly. Provide children with their own container and have them imitate above examples. Allow them to explore and create their own rhythms.
Materials: Different items that can be used as a drum (ex. Coffee cans, boxes, plastic containers, etc…); Drum or Rhythm Sticks
Safety Precautions: none
Standards:
SSS (Skills and Techniques): The student performs on instruments, alone or with others, a varied repertoire of music.
SSS (Applications to Life): The student understands the relationship between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts.
Activity 11: "Whole Lotta Maracas Goin' On" (back to top)
Age: 5-6
Activity: The teacher should begin by reading Sushila's Band by Stephanie Lang or Thump, Thump, Rat-a-tat-tat by Gene Baer. Then allow children to make their own maracas using different household items. Fill an empty oatmeal can or a box with beans or rice, put a lid on it, and shake, shake, shake! After children create the instruments, have a marching, maraca-shaking band!
Materials: Plastic or cardboard containers with lids; Beans; Rice
Safety Precautions: none
Standards:
SSS (Skills and Techniques): The student performs on instruments, alone or with others, a varied repertoire of music.
SSS (Creation and Communication): The student creates and communicates a range of subject matter, symbols, and ideas using knowledge of structures and functions of visual arts.
Activity 12: Simon Says with Instruments (back to top)
Age: 5-6
Activity: The teacher should introduce the game of "Simon Says" and explain that they are going to play with instruments. The teacher will be "Simon" first and children will have to follow what she/he is doing. The teacher should play instruments hard and soft, fast and slow, etc… This game can be repeated with various children being "Simon."
Materials: Various instruments
Safety Precautions: none
Standards:
SSS (Skills and Techniques): The student performs on instruments, alone or with others, a varied repertoire of music.
Activity 13: Musical Instruments (back to top)
Age: 5-6
Activity: Instead of playing musical chairs, have children play the game of musical instruments. Explain to them that when the music begins they can play their instrument but when the music stops, they must also stop until the music begins again.
Materials: Various Instruments for children; CD or tape and player
Safety Precautions: none
Standards:
SSS (Skills and Techniques): The student performs on instruments, alone or with others, a varied repertoire of music.
Activity 14: Using Our Bodies as Instruments (back to top)
Age: 5-6
Activity: Have children use their bodies like a musical instrument. Illustrate this first by clapping, tapping your thighs, beating your chest softly, humming, or snapping. Explain to the children how they can put some of these movement/sounds together to create rhythms or patterns. For example: Clap, Clap, tap, tap, or Clap, tap, snap. Allow children to practice to music then have them take turns in showing how they used their bodies like an instrument.
Materials: CD or tape and player
Safety Precautions: none
Standards:
SSS (Applications to Life): The student understands the relationship between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts.
Activity 15: Acting out Stories with Instruments (back to top)
Age: 5-6
Activity: Assign children characters in a familiar story and an instrument and have them act out being that character and playing the instrument when the character's name or part is read. An example of this could be: One child has a horn and she/he represents the Mama Bear. Every time you say Mamma Bear, the child blows his or her horn.
Materials: Reading books; Various Instruments; Name tags of different characters to be role-played
Safety Precautions: none
Standards:
SSS (Applications to Life): The student understands the relationship between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts.