I love a parade-even in the rain. So do kids. A great activity for any day is to have a parade at home. Find some dress up clothes, some batons or instruments and march all around the yard or the house. Two disposable pie plates make cymbals by taping some spools to their centers. Plastic ice cream pails with lids can be used as drums. If there’s a handle on the pail, it can be attached to a belt so both hands will be able to play. To make shakers, just about any small plastic container will work with a few things inside to make noise…er, sound. Surprisingly, erasers make a fairly loud sound and are easy to pick up if the lid pops off the container.
There’s lots of learning in this activity. Rhythm and coordinating movement to a beat are physical skills that are developing in prekindergarten kidlets. Listening carefully is also reinforced. This promotes sharing and cooperating strategies and, probably, some negotiating ones, too. After all, not everyone can be first to lead the parade.
Music is optional. Usually, when just a few kids start to march around, others will be eager to join and the parade gets bigger and bigger. The fun gets bigger and bigger, too. Know any great songs that are simple enough for singing, marching and playing on homemade instruments? Just doing that left, right, left, right can be tricky enough!