Sound Travels - Musical Instruments

Playing the shaker

The children expressed interest in learning about different instruments. The children shared what they already knew about pianos and violins. To learn more about different instruments and the sounds they produce, we visited the website http://www.dsokids.com/. This allowed the children to visually see the instrument and at the same time hear the sound each makes. Prior to listening to each instrument, the children made predictions as to what type of sound they would hear (high, low, loud, soft). "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" soon became a hit with the group as many of the clips demonstrated the instruments playing that song.

The children were each given a shaker to play, They found that moving the shaker fast produced a different sound than shaking it gently. This finding resulted in the children trying many different ways to make the shaker produce sound. After playing the shakers, the children asked to make their own. Before filling the shakers, the children experimented with different types of materials (rocks, buttons, beads, pasta) to see what sounds they would produce.

Painting their shakers.

Playing the finished instrument.

Choosing the filling.

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