Skip to main content

Group Time Activities for Music & Movement for Preschoolers

Music and movement are perfectly complemented pairs for teaching preschoolers abstract reasoning, coordination and music skills. Abstract reasoning skills are developed through the anticipation of the beat of the music. Coordination skills are developed by teaching children to use both hands to beat a drum in a controlled, rhythmic pattern. Music skills come from listening and responding to music using both physical and mental processes. Whether the child is listening and responding to a new song or walking around the room to the beat of that song, music and movement are two actions that complement each other well.

Awareness


Ask the preschoolers to sit in a circle on the floor. Place one child in the center, standing up. Have the child in the center close his eyes; instruct him to point in the direction that he hears music. Point to a random child in the outside circle and request that she sing a few notes. The child in the center of the classroom must quickly turn toward the singing child and point in the direction of the sound. When the child in the center correctly locates the singing child, the child that was located goes in the center and the game continues.

Drawing


Provide the children with paper and a marker or set of crayons. Begin playing a musical selection of your choice. Choose music that is calming and not too energetic to help keep the preschoolers’ attention. Ask the children to draw impressions of the music based on what the children are hearing. Tell them to attempt to draw the melody as well as they can. When the music gets higher, they should trace a line that extends to the top of the paper, when it gets lower tell them to draw to the bottom. Have them switch hands between pieces to develop both hands.

Drama


Pick a song that has words the children can understand. Go over the words ahead of time and put on a dramatic act that portrays the children’s interpretation of the music. The children can point, make faces and interpret the music with yelps or cries. Encourage each child to experiment and develop his ability to express his interpretation of the music. Allow the children to paint and color pictures to include in the drama.

Marching


Marching to the beat of the song is an activity that will develop coordination, provide the children with a physical release and teach them how to identity the beat in a song. Play a song that the children seem to like and know. Ask all the children to stand up and begin marching in time. Tell them to try and match your footsteps as much as possible. Form a line and begin marching around the room with all of the children following you in time. With enough practice, a child will begin to match your steps and learn to identify the beat in music on his own.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why Claude Debussy Never Cared About Music Theory

  Claude Debussy was born on August 22, 1862. So, I felt writing a blog post to celebrate would be appropriate. Debussy was a revolutionary composer who challenged the conventions of Western music. He was influenced by the impressionist painters, the exotic sounds of gamelan music, and the symbolist poets. He created a musical language that was expressive, colorful, and atmospheric. One of the most remarkable aspects of Debussy's music is his use of harmony. He did not follow the rules of tonality and functional harmony that dominated the music of his time. Instead, he used modes, scales, chords, and parallel movements that created a sense of ambiguity and fluidity. He also experimented with timbre, texture, rhythm, and form to create musical images that evoked moods and emotions. Debussy's music can inspire us to think outside the box and explore new possibilities in our own compositions. We can learn from his innovative techniques and his artistic vision. We can also apprecia...
Post a Comment
Read more

List of Musical Techniques and Their Meanings

Musical techniques are the building blocks of any basic music training. These techniques allow performers to improve their coordination and develop accuracy through repetitive daily exercises. Musical techniques progressively build upon previously learned techniques. Scales Scales form the basis for other musical techniques. Student may study major and minor scales as well as modern scales, such as the whole-tone and octatonic scales. A scale consists of patterns of half steps and whole steps. These whole steps and half-step arrangements will be different for each scale. Scales are musical techniques that can help a performer to play faster and more accurately, and make learning new pieces easier. Chords Chords require knowledge of major and minor scales. Chords come in several different forms that affect the sound. Triads consist of three notes spaced a third apart and classified as major, minor, augmented and diminished chords. Seventh chords build on triads and have an additional no...
Post a Comment
Read more

Similarities of Classical and Baroque Music

Music has evolved through the centuries and undergone drastic changes. One of the most significant transitions was from the Baroque to the Classical period of music. In this paragraph, I will compare and contrast some of the main features of these two styles, such as ensembles, instrumentation, and counterpoint study. The Baroque and Classical periods of music have many similarities. While the style of music changed drastically, certain key elements remained the same between the two styles. Composers in the Classical period sought to simplify music and create clearly audible musical lines. In contrast, composers from the Baroque period were interested in creating complex and highly ornamented musical lines. The Baroque period occurs from approximately 1600 to 1750, and the Classical period extends from 1750 to 1820. Ensembles Ensembles are groups of musicians that perform together. Both the Baroque and the Classical period had similar types of ensembles, such as operas, orchestras, str...
Post a Comment
Read more