Description:
Make a percussion stick and engage the children in a discussion about percussive instruments, different musical instruments and sounds to help with moving and handling.
Links to EYFS:
Personal, Social and Emotional Development
Communication and Language
Physical Development
Mathematics
Understanding of the World
Expressive Arts and Design
Activity:
Find a Y shaped stick and use secateurs to cut it to size. Thread some bells and beads onto wire and attach it to the stick to make a percussive instrument which they can take home with them.
Talk about what percussion means and about different types of percussive instruments, bring in different musical instruments and let children have a try with each of them. Talk about what sound they make, loud or quiet, etc. Encourage the children to experiment banging with sticks on different materials and listen to the sounds they make. Give the children the opportunity to talk about their own interest regarding which instrument they like most and also encourage them to bring in their own instrument if they have one and talk about it with the other children.
During the activity encourage the children to count how many beads/ bells they used and if there is any pattern. Encourage the children to take pictures of their percussion stick using the camera or tablet to support using technology.
Home Activity:
If you have an instrument at home, let your child play with it and talk about what type of sound it makes. Explore what other instruments there are and what sounds they make. If you don't have any percussion instruments at home, make one e.g. let them bang different size saucepans with a spoon or perhaps fill some glass jars with varying amounts of water and let your child 'play' them with a stick so they can hear the difference in sounds. Discuss why they make different sounds.
