Music is often heard throughout Riley’s daily life. We sing songs for just about everything-bath time, sleep times, during meals, during play, to help soothe and calm her, and to wake her up. Music is important for language development and Riley loves it. Whenever music comes on, she immediately begins dancing and searching for the source. Music isn’t just about singing though, but also can be made by baby through musical instruments. Here are a few ways that we allow Riley to be a musician...
###Pots and pan play in the kitchen### When I'm in the kitchen cleaning (a continuous chore it seems) or trying to get dinner made, I will often pull out a variety of pots and pans for Riley to explore. I give her wooden spoons and spatulas to use as well. Riley will bang, stir, flip the pots and pans over, and play some more. She loves to make noise and will even pull magnets off the fridge and dishwasher to plunk inside the pots for added sounds.
###Baking dish guitar### Riley loved the rubber bands in the rubber band puzzle tray so much, that I decided to stretch them around an 8 x 8in baking dish this time. She did a lot of strumming and plucking then listening to them twang in response. She experimented with flipping the dish over and plucking the rubber bands on the back to see what would happen. It sounded different that time. I left this out in her play area for about a week (until I needed my baking dish back, mama bear needs her brownie fix), so she could experiment with the sounds during play time.
###DIY Shaker### Riley recently has been enjoying picking items up and shaking them. I figured it was time to make her a shaker. I took an empty, clear Gatorade container with the label removed and filled it half way with dry, colored pasta noodles. I had a surplus from our dry pasta sensory stash. You can use anything you have on hand-buttons, paper clips, coins, dry beans, etc. Making sure the lid is on tight (you can always glue or tape the lid on as an extra measure), I gave it to Riley to shake to her content. Every time Riley shakes the shaker, I say “shake, shake”. We did that enough that now Riley has associated those words with that movement, and will shake on command (most times). She doesn’t like to show off for people.
###DIY drum### Using an empty (cleaned out) food canister, I added dry pasta noodles inside and closed the lid. Again, you can add other items that you have on hand and glue or tape the lid on. I wrapped the outside of the canister in construction paper, added pictures of our family to the outside and sealed it with contact paper to make it more aesthetically pleasing. This is, of course, an optional step. Riley uses the drum as both a drum and a shaker. She will also roll it across the floor to hear the whooshing sound of the pasta inside.
Benefits
- Physical development: Riley is working her arm, hand, and finger muscles as she moves, flips, grabs, pulls, pushes, shakes, plucks, and drums away
- Language development: A part of developing language is an awareness of sound. Riley experiments with the volume and tone of sound during this play.
- Cognitive development: Riley is learning about cause and effect because each time she moves, flips, shakes, plucks, and drums (the cause), it produces a different sound (the effect). Each time she repeats this, she is testing to see if the same result will happen over and over.
What other musical instruments have you made with or for your child to explore?
Links to materials
