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(Unit 2) Topic 7: Music and Movement

2 Clock Hours of Early Childhood Education

Music Materials to Provide Based on Age Group

Topic 7 Page 4

Click here to take notes.

Three to Six Months:
Sing, chant, or recite rhymes to the child as you do everyday activities, such as changing diapers, feeding, cleaning up, and playing. Don’t worry if you do not sing well. The child will benefit from the one-on-one experiences. In addition, patting, rocking, and moving to music help enhance the child’s awareness of music and movement.

Six to Twelve Months:
Provide age-appropriate toys that make noises, such as rattles with different contents (beads, bells, sand). As you sit with the child, hold a toy and encourage the child to hold the toy as well. As you sing or play recorded music, shake your toy and invite the child to imitate your actions. This will not only help build musical awareness, but help develop small motor skills as well.

Twelve to Eighteen Months:
Provide the children with safe musical instruments such as jumbo jingle bells, shakers, xylophones, drums, and toy keyboards. Instruments can also be fashioned from pots and pans, large plastic spoons, plastic containers, and coffee cans (be sure to securely wrap any sharp edges with heavy tape).

Eighteen to Twenty-Four Months:
Provide the children with scarves. The children should be free to explore the scarves as you play recorded music. The children will show more interest if you join them as they explore the scarves with the music (Jalongo & Isenberg, 1997).

Preschool
Your classroom collection of musical instruments should show diversity in sound and culture. Xylophones, bells, drums, rhythm sticks, maracas, a Chilean rainstick, and other musical instruments that represent music around the world should be included in your music and movement learning center. You can also include everyday items, such as a can of coffee beans and a box of macaroni or rice, to help kids explore sounds.

If you don't have the funds available to purchase musical instruments for kids, try making your own by filling and decorating containers with coffee beans, beads, rice, marbles, or sand. Making DIY instruments would also be a great project for kids to help with or make on their own.