Saturday, February 28, 2009

Make Your Own Drum

This easy-to-make instrument provides even the youngest musicians with a wonderfully rich and resonant sound.
CRAFT MATERIALS:
Large, cylindrical oatmeal container
Craft knife
Tyvek (what no-rip envelopes are made of; available at your local post office or at office supply stores)
Markers
Duct Tape
Heavy-duty wrapping paper or one of your child's drawings

Time needed: Under 1 Hour
1. Remove the lid from a large, cylindrical oatmeal container. Cut out the bottom with a craft knife.

2. Cut a piece of Tyvek (what no-rip envelopes are made of; available at your local post office or at office supply stores) into a circle that's 4 inches wider than the mouth of the oatmeal carton. (For instance, if your container measures 5 inches across, the Tyvek should be 9 inches.) Don't worry about making the circle perfectly round; we traced the carton onto our envelope, then cut around it, keeping our scissors roughly 2 inches from that line.

3. If you like, have your child decorate the Tyvek with markers while you cut eight 2-inch lengths of packing or duct tape. Now tape the Tyvek over the mouth of the container. To get it as taut as possible, adhere 2 pieces of tape directly opposite each other after pulling the Tyvek tight between them. Continue in the same way around the container, until all 8 strips are applied in pairs (you'll need to gather the material slightly as you go). Finally, cut one last, longer piece of tape and wrap it all the way around the edge of the Tyvek.

4. Jazz up the drum by decorating it with heavy-duty wrapping paper or one of your child's drawings, held in place with packing tape or colorful duct tape.

To add to the fun: Make a few more in different sizes so your child can have a complete drum set.

Thanks to FamilyFun.com

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Rhythmic potential

Children need a lot of movement activity to fulfill their rhythmic potential. Movement and dance promote and nurture the following:

* Beat competency - the ability to keep a steady beat to music that is generated from an outside source
* Discrimination between music that moves in duple and triple meters (2/4 and 3/4)
* Instrumental readiness - it is often helpful, though not necessary, to have children walk, skip, or hop before attempting to make related sounds on a drum or rhythm sticks
* The ability to recognize a specific rhythm pattern - children often need to clap or tap a rhythm such as "du-de du," before they can recognize that pattern aurally

Source: National Musikgarten

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Rain Sticks from Mailing Tubes

Your and your child can enjoy the sound of a gentle rainfall with this sound-alike “rain” instrument. You can create a noisy, kid-safe maze for falling grain with just a mailing tube and aluminum foil, and this gives toddlers plenty of crafting opportunities to "do it myself."
CRAFT MATERIALS:
16-1/2- by 6-inch piece of clear Con-Tact paper (optional)
Small pieces of colored tissue paper (torn or cut) (optional)
15- by 1-1.2-inch mailing tube (available for $1.50 at Staples)
2-1/2-foot length of aluminum foil
Broom
1/3 cup of rice
2 tablespoons of un-popped corn
Hot glue

Time needed: About 2 to 3 Hours (but oh, it’s worth it)

1. To decorate -peel the backing off the Con-Tact paper. Let your child decorate the sticky side with tissue paper. (Alternatively, have her paint the tube, then cover it with the Con-Tact paper.) Wrap the paper around the tube and tuck the extra length inside the ends (for ease, cut small slits around the overhang before folding it in).

2. Crush the foil lengthwise into a long cylinder, then wrap it around the handle of a broom to form a coil. (it will look like a long lock of curled hair, sort of) Slide the coil off the handle, stretch it until it's slightly longer than the tube, then push it into the tube. Use hot glue or masking tape to secure the ends of the foil inside the tube, about 1/4 inch from each opening.

3. Hot-glue a cap to one end of the tube, then help your child pour the rice and corn into the other end (a funnel or small pitcher works well). Hot-glue the other cap in place. Now turn upside down to hear the rainfall. And turn upside down again, and again!

Thanks to FamilyFun.com for this!

Friday, February 20, 2009

Portable Behavior Kit for Parents

Time out is a good method to modify and shape your toddler's behavior. Once a child can walk and stand, having a time out as a consequence for willful disobedience is an effective way to help your child learn self control, and to recognize you as their God-given authority. A child psychologist suggested to me that I use a kitchen towel for this. At age 18 months, my son had to stand on the towel for 1.5 minutes during the time out. At age 2, 2 min. Age 3, 3 min., and so on. The last time he stood on a towel as a consequence was when he was 6 years old.

I kept a towel with me at all times. It worked in the grocery store, the parking lot at church, even at Epcot center. He was a strong-willed child, and by age 3, my husband and I had pretty much won the battle of the wills, thanks to this technique and to the towel! We did not discipline in anger, only in love, firmly, and often with tears in our eyes. Today, at age 23, my son is one of the happiest, most organized and motivated guys I've ever known. Self disciplined, generous, and joyful. Hey, we made lots of mistakes as parents, and I mean a lot. But with God's help, we did some things right.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Create your own "bottled" musical scale

Remember when you were a child and you had fun blowing across the top of a half empty coke bottle to hear the rich sound it would make? As for what tone it was, you probably didn't know, at least I didn't. Well, no longer. Now, experts have determined just how much water you need in eight 20-ounce pop bottles to create a major scale. Tape numbers to each bottle, 1 through 8 (or use different-colored stickers), and compose. Try "Row, Row, Row Your Boat"?

THE MAJOR SCALE
Do -- 7 ounces
Re -- 9 1/2 ounces
Mi -- 12 1/2 ounces
Fa -- 14 ounces
Sol -- 16 1/2 ounces
La -- 17 1/2 ounces
Ti -- 18 1/2 ounces
Do -- 19 ounces

ROW, ROW, ROW YOUR BOAT
11123
32345
888555333111
54321

TIP: Try using a piece of flexible plastic tubing. Rather than try to move your mouth from bottle to bottle, hold one end of the tube in your mouth and move the other end from bottle to bottle. (Source: DisneyFamily.com)

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Teaching a child to wait

In many songs and activities, there are moments when a child will wait naturally, especially in the Musikgarten program. One example is the song, "Well you walk and you walk and you walk and you....STOP!" This same delayed pause pattern shows up in many of the songs as well, like "My Little Rooster."
Here are some simple daily activities you can add to stretch those moments of anticipation. With infants it might include playing little movement and touch 'games' like lifting them way up and then back down into your arms, or circling your finger around and then landing gently on their nose. Do things that bring joy, not tears. Later, they might be more willing to put on their shoes if it means they will get to take a ride or a walk. They will love it if you bake cookies. You may hear your child say, "It's so HARD to wait for cookies to get done!" If you hear that, rejoice. You are giving your toddler a priceless opportunity to practice waiting. - Miss Susan