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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Making and shaking maracas

Materials: Offer paper plates, empty soda cans, plastic cups, pie tins, paper towel rolls. (Be sure the soda cans have no sharp edges.) Provide materials to pour inside them, such as rice, sand, pennies, small jingle bells, marbles, beans, and so on. Add a CD player and CDs with familiar songs.

Supporting play: Children can place their chosen materials between two paper plates or pie tins, then staple them together. Or they can fill empty soda cans, then put tape over the openings. Children can listen carefully and try to identify the materials in others’ maracas. A children’s marching band can play the maracas to accompany a familiar recorded song.

Exploring instruments from many cultures

Materials: Provide a variety of instruments from different cultures and countries. Remember to include instruments indigenous to regions of yourown country. You might ask families to loan instruments and demonstrate their use,
or inquire about borrowing instruments from music teachers or the music department of a local college. Include photos and perhaps maps (depending on developmental considerations) depicting the origins of each instrument. The Diagram Group (1997) publication Musical Instruments of the World may be a source of ideas.

Supporting play: Introduce the center and the instruments thoughtfully to ensure that children understand how to
use them safely and respectfully. Allow children to explore and play in the instrument center two at a time. Guide children to compare and contrast the appearance and timbre (distinctive sound of a type of musical instrument) of different instruments. Children may enjoy comparing the different ways to change the sounds of various instruments.

Musical jars

Materials: Provide several identical glass jars, each filled with the same amount of colored water. Provide a striker, a small pitcher of water, and some paper and crayons.

Supporting play: Encourage children to experiment with the sounds made by striking the jars. If the jars are truly identical, they should all sound very similar. Suggest adding a little water to one of the glasses, then ask children to compare the sound made by striking that jar to the sound made by striking the other jars. You might prompt children to try to create a sequence of tones from low to high and then to create music or re-create simple, familiar tunes on the jars. Children can draw a picture to represent their composition or to show the sequence of the jars.

 

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