“The Drum Song” The Drum Song A few weeks ago, I was in a store when I overheard a wonderful mother-with-young-child conversation. The child was a girl who was perhaps five or six years old. She kept asking, “When are we going to go, Mom? I want to go.” And her mom said patiently, “Be […]
Category Archives: Rhythm Instruments
Fourth of July Musical Fun! Preschool children love the fun and excitement of the Fourth of July, and patriotic music is a big part of the festivities! Here are some ways to include patriotic music in your celebration in a developmentally appropriate way. He Called It Macaroni – I can’t take credit for this idea, […]
Tap-a-Doodle-Doo! Can a rooster play the drums? As it turns out, Yes! Children love this very silly activity to play with their coffee can drums: Children love the word “tap-a-doodle-doo” and the other “-a-doodle-doo” words! At any rate, they always enjoy singing along with the silly words to this activity, from my book “Shake, Rattle, and Roll: […]
Drinking coffee can be very beneficial for the young children you teach. No, I don’t mean they should drink coffee! But if you do, you can get a free set of fantastic musical instruments for your whole class. Coffee cans! If you’re not saving them and repurposing them to be children’s drums, you should. Here’s why: […]
(This post is adapted from a chapter in my book “Teaching Creativity.”) In my music classes, we often do creative brainstorming with rhythm instruments. One child at a time offers an idea for a way to play the instrument, and then the rest of the group will experiment with that movement. One time, we were […]
I’m planning to use this in a class soon and thought I’d give a shout-out…there are a lot of versions of “La Bamba” out there, but Daria’s is my go-to version to use with young children. First, it’s the most authentically Latin-sounding, in rhythm and in instrumentation. Daria’s vocal performance is lovely and has an […]
Noisy Science If necessity is the mother of invention, I’d have to say that one of my best teaching “inventions” was inspired by the necessity of my not going completely deaf. You see, I’m an early-childhood music teacher. You know how noisy a typical preschool classroom is? Well, I’ll see you that noisiness and raise […]
Yes, I’m aware that the picture features a romantic mouse couple, not rhythm sticks… Here’s the thing though – rhythm sticks aren’t as cute as mice giving each other flowers. This activity appears in my book “Shake, Rattle and Roll: Rhythm Instruments and More for Active Learning” (Gryphon House, 2015). “Oh My Darling Valentine” Tap […]
(This article appears in the October issue of TEMPO, the magazine of the NJ Music Educators Association.) Reinventing the Wheels on the Bus: Music Improvisation with Young Children Several years ago, I was presenting a workshop on rhythm instrument activities to a group of elementary music teachers. It was going well, the participants seemed interested […]
Hi! I had a very fun chat with Anna Wilmoth, the wonderful Marketing Director at Gryphon House, about my career in early childhood music, my new book, and more. It appeared on the Gryphon House blog last week. You’ll find a lot more great early childhood information and resources at their website. KidsChat: Abigail Flesch […]
Music (and Science) For Young Children 