Drumming

March: Kids Marching, Drumming Play Activities

2017/03/28 admin Leave a comment

The name of the month inspires today’s post on kids marching, drumming play activities. After all, life is based on rhythm: breathing, heart rate, sleep-wake cycles, seasons, and more.

importance of music for kids

Kids seems to drum naturally. They will tap a pot lid on the floor or hit it with a wooden spoon. Hands clap over and over or shake a set of keys rhythmically. No matter the age or stage of children, drumming activities will occur over and over, with or without a drum. Little Sister is discovering how hitting the floor makes a different sound from hitting the drum. Like all kids, she will drum on a variety of surfaces. Some will bring parents running to see what’s making that terrible noise, like drumming on the heat registers which echoed all over the house. Make sure dogs, cats, and babies are not within reach of a toddler with a drumstick.

Big Sister has made drums with a variety of items from the kitchen cupboard and the recycling basket. An old tin ,that holds buttons, as well as some plastic tubs, and empty food containers are being explored for the sounds they make. Chopsticks are an alternative to drumsticks. kids marching drumming play activities

Children are highly sensory, and drumming includes the senses of hearing and touch. You can ask your child to make some loud sounds, and some that are soft. So soft it’s almost a whisper? Can s/he make the drum beats fast, faster, and very fast? How about slow, slower, and really slow? These drumming play activities encourage careful listening, exploring, and concentrating.

Christmas music and songs for kids

Marching adds the sense of the body’s movement. Find some drum music and let your child march around. Is the music for slow marching or fast? Try some dance music. There are hundreds of YouTube videos on kids marching, drumming, and dancing to music. Even ants march. ants-go-marching

The website, Childhood 101 has a super post on Drumming Activities for Preschoolers with more ideas and suggestions, like echo drumming. Kids can copy a drumming pattern that you make. They love drumming something and then we have to copy them. Or they can drum for us to march. Doing chores to the beat of a drum makes it so much more interesting. Any chance kids can pick up their toys and put them away while we drum? Sometimes, counting out “1, 2, 3, march” will get kids out the door if we’re in a hurry. What are some other kids marching, drumming play activities?

Current Events

Super Bowl Half-Time Can Inspire Child’s Play: Drumming

2014/02/03 admin Leave a comment

The Super Bowl half-time show started with a drum solo, and the thousands and thousands of people in the stadium loved it, so did millions of fans watching at home. And why not? Drums use rhythm and our entire lives are spent connected to rhythms. Think of heart beats and breathing rates, day and night cycles, and the yearly rotation of seasons. Those are all rhythmic patterns.

Drums can inspire a play-of-the-day. They are great fun, natural for kids, and can help them with learning and kindergarten readiness. No matter the age of your child, there will be lots of ways for making sounds by drumming. Kids will use practically anything to be a drum. Babies like to tap on the table, the floor, and other objects that make a noise. Young toddlers love to hit on pots and pans with spoons and make much louder noises. Kids will discover how striking different surfaces can make very different sounds.

Little Sister found that the floor made a much sharper sound than hitting the top of the drum. Older kids can often use both hands and will alternate as they explore and create their own drums.

Drumming is also a very sensory experience for both hearing and touch. Drumming uses many basic musical concepts, such as loud/soft, and fast/slow. These activities also encourage listening and concentrating. For kids that are very interested put on some music with a strong beat and let your child drum along. Or, if you and your child each have a drum, you can play a very simple rhythm which your child can copy, like an echo. Trying to make sounds together is also a fun activity.

The rhythm of the Super Bowl game may not have been what was expected, but Bruno Mars had an awesome drumming rhythm. Where might your child one day be drumming?

Art Music Drama

Kindergarten Readiness: November is Drum Month

2013/11/04 admin Leave a comment

Did you know that November is International Drum Month? Drums are great fun, natural for kids, and can help them with learning and kindergarten readiness. No matter the age of your child, there will be lots of ways for making sounds by drumming. Here’s some fun we’ve had with drums.

Kids will use practically anything to be a drum. Babies like to tap on the table, the floor, and other objects that make a noise. Young toddlers love to hit on pots and pans with spoons and make much louder noises. Older kids can often use both hands and will alternate as they explore and create their own drums.

Children are not only discovering ways that they can make sounds, they are beginning to tune into rhythm. We all live with rhythm everyday, think of breathing and heartbeat. Drumming is also a very sensory experience for both hearing and touch. Drumming uses many basic musical concepts, such as loud/soft, and fast/slow. These activities also encourage listening and concentrating.

For kids that are very interested put on some music with a strong beat and let your child drum along. Or, if you and your child each have a drum, you can play a very simple rhythm which your child can copy, like an echo. Trying to make sounds together is also a fun activity.

The idea for drum month came from the Percussion Marketing Council. Perhaps, they were just recognizing how much people like to drum. There are animals that make a drumming sound too, not just people. Can your child have some fun and learning with a drum?

Art Music Drama, Infant and Toddler

Some Handy Ideas for Kindergarten Readiness: Drums

2012/09/13 admin Leave a comment

Hands can make all kinds of rhythm and rhythm makes all kinds of brain connections for early learning and kindergarten readiness. Drumming is a favorite activity for young children. Pots and pans and wooden spoons can make just as satisfying a sound as a real drum. As far as rhythm goes, it’s no wonder that … Continue reading Some Handy Ideas for Kindergarten Readiness: Drums →