Creating Centers for Musical Play and Exploration

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Kristen M. Kemple,
Jacqueline J. Batey, and
Lynn C. Hartle

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Make adaptations for special needs

Do you . . .

• Consider accessibility to the music center? Make sure all children can enter the center comfortably and access materials independently.
• Modify or adapt materials so children can use them in effective, satisfying, and safe ways?
• Consider grasp and fine motor manipulation as well as gross motor requirements?
•  Address adaptive communication needs (for example, a communication board) for the music center as for other classroom areas?
•  Consider structuring peer assistance through a buddy system, for children who might benefit from peer-scaffolded interaction with materials?
•  Collaborate with an early childhood special educator and the child’s parents if you need additional insight when planning your music center?

Encourage positive behavior

Do you . . .

• Plan the location of the music center carefully? Consider the possibility of an outdoor music play center.
• Move and rearrange the center when you change its musical focus and content (for example, it could sometimes be an outdoor center)?
• Engage the children in setting basic ground rules?
• Teach appropriate use and care of materials? Start with durable materials.
• Set and communicate limits for the number of children who can use the center at one time?
• Separate music materials from things that could damage them (food, water, excessive sunlight)?

Note: This checklist was inspired, in part, by ideas found in S. Moomaw’s More Than Singing: Discovering Music in Preschool and Kindergarten (St. Paul, MN: Redleaf, 1997), 123–27.

 

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