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Learning Should Be Fun

October 7, 2011 by Mama Carmody 22 Comments

Learning Should Be Fun


 

“A joyful heart is good medicine…”  -Proverbs 17:22

I love exposing children to new learning opportunities. I believe that learning should be fun and hands-on.

Children’s learning activities should be enjoyable and interesting. Repetition of a concept will help secure it in the mind of the learner. I do not suggest repetition as in using flash cards over and over in some sort of old school torture. I mean using the same concepts in several different learning environments.

I share, through this blog, many fun learning opportunities that you can experience with the children in your life. You will find detailed ideas as well as general concepts that you can mix and match in different learning situations.

At first most of my concepts will be for younger children. Although, I did teach 4th, 5th and 6th graders for a couple of summers, most of my expertise comes with young children.

Along with the different learning concepts, I want to research and post different attractions with family friendly activities that are going on in our community.  At first these activities will be centered around Indianapolis because that is where I currently reside but my dream is to expand the resources well past Indiana.  Although I will be posting specific activities that are going on in the Indianapolis area, I will also suggest general activities that make good learning opportunities that you can look for in your area.

My real vision for this blog is that it can help families have fun learning together but there will be information that will be interesting to teachers too. I am so excited about having this opportunity to share with you.

Most Sincerely,

Mama Carmody

Related Posts:

When Do Children Start Learning
The Lessons – Overview
Colors – Overview
Shapes – Overview
Fun with Music – Overview

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: attractions, family friendly activities, learn, learning, learning opportunities

Fun with Music: Woodwind Instruments

August 11, 2013 by Mama Carmody 45 Comments

Fun with Music: Woodwind Instruments




This post, “Fun with Music: Brass Instruments”, is written in collaboration with Shannon Wijnker, who used to blog on Mamamusing. Shannon is a music teacher and mother of four.

What is your favorite woodwind instrument; flute, saxophone, recorder or some other? Are you aware of all the woodwind instruments available for your playing and listening pleasure. I would suggest reading either “Woodwind (Instruments and Music)” by Daniel Nunn (for the younger child) or “Wind Instruments (How the World Makes Music)” by Anita Ganeri (for older children). You will see more details about these books below in the Story Time section.

Playtime
Craft
Musical Outings
Story Time
Games Online
Related Posts

Playtime

When you were younger, did you ever make a whistle with a blade of grass? That blade of grass works like the reed in a woodwind instrument. When you blow over the blade of grass it vibrates which causes the air to vibrate and the result is a whistling sound. If you have never done this here is what you do. Take a wide piece of grass and place it between your thumbs. Place your mouth over your knuckles and blow. Were you able to make a whistling sound? Sometimes it takes practice, just keep working on it. This is a fun thing to teach your children, they will think you are amazing.

Shannon from Mamamusing shared that a recorder is great for children to experiment with (and it is a woodwind instrument). You can find them very inexpensively at the dollar store. She also says, “Remember that it’s not just about making a beautiful sound, but playing and exploring the concept of sound. Children learn best by constructing their own concepts and ideas, and by trial and error. They will learn how to create a variety of sounds. Some of which they will like and some they will decide they don’t. Your concept of what is acceptable sound may vary from theirs. But be patient and let them explore.”

“A great resource for teaching them music (and how to play the recorder) is a magazine called “The Recorder Classroom”. I believe there are 4 issues printed so far. You can download both the music and accompanying mp3s online. They are fun to play and I find my students are motivated to learn the music, when they have great accompaniments to play along with.”

“As a child, this toy (by Fisher Price) was a great way to experiment with sound. I don’t know if you can still buy it in stores, but if you find it at a garage sale, or used online – it is a great toy! Or the saxoflute is another great option, because the child can build their own instrument with the various plastic pieces of tube. The sound created (high or low) will depend on the pieces they choose to use.”

Fisher Price Crazy Horn Set
Fisher Price Crazy Horn Set

*** You can find the Fisher Price version on eBay, as it has been discontinued by Fisher Price. You can find a similar toy on Amazon.com  The Quercetti Saxoflute.

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Craft

Wind Instrument Made from Straws

Fun with Music: Woodwind Instruments: Craft
Fun with Music: Woodwind Instruments Craft

This craft is adapted  from Learning Ideas – Grades K -8


Materials Needed:

Drinking straws
Cardboard
Glue
Ruler
Scissors
Duct Tape

Instructions:

1. Cut 2 rectangular pieces of cardboard. (approx. 5 by 2 inches) I used scrap cardboard from an old box.
2. Cut the straws in varying lengths. I used 3”, 4”, 5”, 6” & 7”. You can use more straws and different lengths if you would like.

Fun with Music: Woodwind Instruments Craft
Fun with Music: Woodwind Instruments Craft

3. I didn’t trust simply trying to glue the straws into place because it has been my experience that plastic straws and glue are not long time friends so I glued down duct tape (sticky side up) to help secure the straws into place.

Adding Glue and Tape
Adding Glue and Tape

4. Let the glue dry completely then place the straws on the tape, in order of length.

Placing straws for woodwind craft
Placing straws for woodwind craft

5. Place the second piece of cardboard on top (having all ready glued the tape into place).

Fun with Music: Woodwind Instruments Craft - Attaching other piece of cardboard
Fun with Music: Woodwind Instruments Craft – Attaching other piece of cardboard

6. Since I used scrap cardboard I then added some brightly colored duct tape to decorate my wind instrument. Your child could color or paint it if you would like.
7. To hear the different sounds the instrument makes you need to blow across the top of the straws not straight into them.

Fun with Music: Woodwind Instruments Craft
Fun with Music: Woodwind Instruments Craft

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Musical Outings

Take your children to any place that live music is being played. In Indianapolis, you can find many places that give free outdoor concerts during the summer. Maybe you have the same opportunities in your area. Outdoor concerts are a great way to introduce your children to live music because they can sit in their own lawn chair, on a blanket or even get up and dance around a little. Maybe you have older children or neighbors that participate in a school band. Take your children to see them. Expose your children to many types of music. Take the time to talk about what they are hearing, how it makes them feel and the different instruments they are seeing and hearing.

Shannon from Mamamusing wants you to know: “In London, there are several outdoor concerts and festivals in Victoria Park during the summer. One of the best is Sunfest (beginning of July). You can check out a video of my kids enjoying the multicultural music and dancing byclicking here.”

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Story Time

Below you will find books that discuss the many different types of woodwind instruments and some are devoted to one type of woodwind instrument. Have fun exploring and learning about woodwind instruments with your child.

Clarinets (Music Makers) by Pamela K. Harris
Reading Level: Ages 6 and up
Give your child the opportunity to learn about clarinets with this interesting book by Pamela K. Harris. The book covers many aspects of the clarinet; from the way it is made to how it is played. The illustrations are pictures of actual clarinets and people playing them. Enjoy learning about this special woodwind instrument; the clarinet.

Flutes (Musical Instruments of the World) by Barrie Carson Turner
Reading Level: Ages 6 and up
This book has a lot of information in it but it is laid out nicely. The book introduces you to 18 flutes from around the world. You will find some flutes that look familiar to you and there are others you may have never seen before. Each instrument has it’s own page so if you just want to cover the familiar ones or if you want to break the book up into different sessions it is laid out well for that. Although this book is for a little bit older child you could use it with a younger child by becoming familiar with the text and then simply point out and discuss the different instruments rather than reading it word for word.

Flutes (Music Makers) by Pamela K. Harris
Reading Level: Ages 6 and up
Give your child the opportunity to learn about flutes with this interesting book by Pamela K. Harris. The book covers many aspects of the flute; from the way they are played to how they are made. Your child will get to see flutes from several different countries. The illustrations are of flutes and people playing them. Enjoy learning about this special woodwind instrument; the flute.

Saxophones by Sharon Sharth
Reading Level: Ages 6 and up
Saxophones are a part of a group of instruments called woodwinds. This book will help you and your child learn a lot about saxophones. You will be able to see the different shapes and sizes they come in. You will find out how music is played on a saxophone. Did you know a saxophone can make many of the same sounds that we do with our voices? The illustrations in this book are actual photos of saxophones and people playing them. Share this book with your child so they can learn more about this popular instrument.

Wind Instruments (How the World Makes Music) by Anita Ganeri
Reading Level: Ages 6 and up
This book covers many different wind instruments from around the world. They are all played by blowing into them but that is about the only thing that is common to all of them. Some wind instruments have simple carved mouthpieces, some use a reed in their mouthpiece and some even use two reeds. Most wind instruments are played with the musicians mouth but there are a few that are played with the nose. Be sure to pick this book up to learn a lot about wind instruments. See how many you recognize.

Woodwind (Instruments and Music: Level I) by Daniel Nunn
Reading Level: Ages 4 to 8 yrs old
This is a great book to introduce your young one to woodwind instruments. It has simple text that will allow your child to understand and learn about these special instruments. There are wonderful pictures of musicians playing different woodwind instruments from around the world with just a couple of sentences per page. I can’t wait to share this with the little ones in my life.

Music Makers: Woodwind Instruments by Elizabeth Reid
Reading Level: Ages 6 and up
Give your child the opportunity to learn about woodwind instruments with this interesting book by Elizabeth Reid. Your child will get to learn about the many different types of woodwind instruments. They will see woodwinds from several different countries.They will learn how they are made and the different ways they are played. The illustrations are pictures of actual woodwind instruments and people playing them. Enjoy learning about woodwind instruments. Which one is your favorite?

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Games Online

Shannon from Mamamusing shares some fun online games:

Now that you have introduced your children to some of the various instrument families in the orchestra, you may want to visit the Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra. This is a website created by Carnegie Hall which is a wonderfully FREE interactive online game for young children to explore and learn more about the various instruments of the orchestra. You will need to use a computer, because the game requires Adobe Flash, which you can download for free (if you don’t already have this utility installed on your computer).

There is also a wonderful set of books for children ages 4 to 8 years old that helps them learn different musical concepts. Along with the books the author, Sharon Burch, has a website with coloring pages and games for your child to enjoy and enhance their learning experience: Freddie the Frog Games and Coloring Pages

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Related Posts

Music at an Early Age by Shannon at Mamamusing
Fun with Music – Overview
Fun with Music – Percussion Instruments
Fun with Music: Brass Instruments
Fun with Music: Voices
Fun with Music: String Instruments
Fun with Music: Keyboards

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Filed Under: Music Tagged With: children and music, educational activities, elementary lessons, elementary school, fun learning, fun with music, instruments, learning about instruments, learning concepts, learning fun, learning opportunities, love, love to laugh, love to laugh and learn, love to learn, making learning fun, music, preschool, woodwind instruments, Woodwinds

Fun with Music: Voices

September 15, 2013 by Mama Carmody 28 Comments

Fun with Music: Voices




This post, “Fun with Music – Sting Instruments”, is written in collaboration with Shannon Wijnker, who used to blog on Mamamusing. Shannon is a music teacher and mother of four.

Shannon writes:
Many parents want to give their children the gift of music, but don’t know where to start. I think that teaching children how to explore their voice and singing is so easy and something that every parent can encourage. And it doesn’t have to cost a cent!

Content:

Playtime
Craft
Musical Outings
Story Time
Games Online
Related Posts

Playtime

More from Shannon:

I wrote a post about Music at an Early Age, and in my post I touch on my philosophy about educating our children to be musical.

It is never too early to start building a foundation that facilitates musical proficiency. Babies and toddlers learn about music by first learning about sound. They experiment with their voices make different sounds of varying volumes. While many parents will recognize this as ‘noise’ it is a great first step. Encourage them to explore various ways to make sounds with their mouths and talk about how to modulate their volume.

A tip: I teach my students to put their fingers against their windpipe. If they whisper they don’t feel a vibration. If they are talking or shouting, then they will feel a vibration. This helps to build the concept of volume.

Also, let them experiment with their voice. Children will naturally do this, so let them feel free to explore. Though some encouragement, they will create their own songs about random subjects. (The other day my daughter sang about how she was sorry for hitting her sister after she was let out of time out).

Visit my blog I mentioned earlier to watch a video of my 18 month old experimenting with her voice in the car.

Children learn best thru example and modeling. That means that you need to show them that you enjoy listening to music and/or singing. If you aren’t prepared to sing with your kids, then make sure to play a CD or two repetitively so they can learn the songs. Children need to hear songs that only have a few notes. Not pop songs! Learning these songs also helps with language acquisition, because they are learning rhyme. Don’t overwhelm them with too many songs. They will only feel comfortable trying to sing, once they know a song inside and out. You cannot play a song too much for a child. If you’re getting sick of it, they are just beginning to memorize/internalize it!

Echo songs are also a great idea. Small pieces of melody are easier to learn, and they foster a musical independence. Many children will only sing with a recording, and they need to be confident with their own voice. (eg. Down By the Bay)

A common complaint by many adults is that they are simply ‘tone deaf’. I disagree. They are not tone deaf, but did not develop the proper muscles to sing in tune. Trying to sing up a scale is very difficult for a child. It is much easier for them to start high and sing down. If you pay attention, many children’s songs have a lot of descending passages because of this. Until the muscles develop (you can work on these muscles by singing, and by starting from a high note and singing to a low note), singing outside of a notes which are naturally comfortable will result in ‘out-of-tune-ness’.

Some exercises:

· Sigh from the top of your voice to the bottom (test how high/low you can go)
· Use sounds such as “mmmm” “zzzz” “vvvv”
· Sing lying on the floor
· Make “siren” noises without straining
· Teach them to match pitch by singing back the note you are singing
· Have them follow your hand up and down with their voice (or draw their name while following the hand with their voice!) – this may take some practice
· Have them hum and get them to recognize that sensation when they sing

Remember that kids learn best by doing, not by being told how to do something. When they lose interest, move on and try again another time. Children learn best by repetition. Also, songs are much more fun with movement and actions. Have fun!

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Craft

Microphone

Love to Laugh and Learn: Materials Needed for Microphone Craft
Love to Laugh and Learn: Materials Needed for Microphone Craft
Materials Needed:

Empty paper towel roll or toilet paper roll
Small styrofoam ball – 2 1/2 inches (63 mm)
Fancy scrapbook paper, construction paper or paint
White craft glue
Decorations (sparkly stickers, foam stickers, markers, etc)

Instructions:

1) Cover the workspace. I used parchment paper because I was able to get it cheap at the Dollar Tree Store. And cover the child. I found an old tee shirt.

2) I cut a ring from a toilet paper roll to set the styrofoam ball on so that it wouldn’t roll away.

3) Paint the styrofoam ball black or silver. I like to use foam applicators for painting large surfaces. The most difficult part of painting the ball was learning that its okay to get your fingers messy.

Love to Laugh and Learn: Microphone Craft - Fun with Music: Voices
Love to Laugh and Learn: Microphone Craft – Fun with Music: Voices

But he got used to it and enjoyed the painting.

Fun with Music: Voices - Microphone Craft
Fun with Music: Voices – Microphone Craft

4) We are making two microphones; one from a paper towel roll and one from a toilet paper roll. I couldn’t decide which would be better for a 2 year old so we made both.

5) You can decorate the rolls however you like. You could paint them but I decided to use a fancy piece of scrapbook paper. I cut it to fit each roll.

6) We glued the paper and then applied it to the rolls. Jeremiah used the glue stick and then I added some white craft glue for extra adhesion.

Love to Laugh and Learn: Gluing Paper for Microphone Craft
Love to Laugh and Learn: Gluing Paper for Microphone Craft

7) Jeremiah added some stickers because stickers are fun and they are a great fine motor exercise.

Love to Laugh and Learn: Applying Stickers
Love to Laugh and Learn: Applying Stickers

8) Finally we attached the balls to the top. Make sure to use a thick craft glue. I ended up adding some super glue but super glue should be used with caution and by adults only.

9) Now we can enjoy using our voices by singing into our microphones. The toilet paper size was better for little hands but the paper towel roll was a great size for older kids.

Love to Laugh and Learn: The microphone craft is a hit! Fun with Music: Voices
Love to Laugh and Learn: The microphone craft is a hit! Fun with Music: Voices

This microphone craft was adapted from itmom.

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Musical Outings

Take your children to any place that live music is being played. In Indianapolis, you can find many places that give free outdoor concerts during the summer. Maybe you have the same opportunities in your area. Outdoor concerts are a great way to introduce your children to live music because they can sit in their own lawn chair, on a blanket or even get up and dance around a little. Maybe you have older children or neighbors that participate in a school band. Take your children to see them. Expose your children to many types of music. Take the time to talk about what they are hearing, how it makes them feel and the different instruments they are seeing and hearing.

Shannon from Mamamusing wants you to know: “In London, there are several outdoor concerts and festivals in Victoria Park during the summer. One of the best is Sunfest (beginning of July). You can check out a video of my kids enjoying the multicultural music and dancing byclicking here.”

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Storytime

Freddie the Frog® and the Flying Jazz Kitten – 5th Adventure: Scat Cat Island by Sharon Burch
Reading Level: Ages 4 – 9 yrs old
Freddie the Frog meets the Flying Jazz Kitten and learns about wonderful new ways to use his voice. The Flying Jazz Kitten teaches Freddie the Frog the swingin’ beat and excitement of jazz scat singing. There is also a CD with the dramatized story, sing-along songs and an instrumental blues track to create your own special scat.

The Voice and Singing (Let’s Make Music) by Rita Storey
Reading Level: Ages 6 yrs old and up
Each person carries around a special instrument with them wherever they go; their voice. Your child will enjoy learning about their voice in this cute informational book. In simple descriptions, they will learn how their voice works. They will learn about many different styles of singing and different ways they can enjoy singing. Whether they are listening to others sing or using their own voices, singing is fun.

Voices (Instruments and Music) by Daniel Nunn
Reading Level: Ages 4 to 8 yrs old
An instrument that we don’t discuss very often is the voice. This book describes how people use their voices to make music. Sometimes they are accompanied by another instrument or other voices. Sometimes they sing all alone. Share this book with your child and help them learn how their voice is an instrument to enjoy.

Voices and Singing (How the World Makes Music) by Anita Ganeri
Reading Level: Ages 6 and up
This book covers voices as a musical instrument. Your child will learn about many styles of singing from all over the world. The way people use their voices from other parts of the world can sound very different than what we are used to hearing. Along with reading this book take some time to look on the internet and find examples of the different ways people use their voices, such as jazz singing, gospel singing, throat singing and yodeling. How do you and your children use your voices to make music?

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Games Online

Shannon from Mamamusing shares some fun online games:

Now that you have introduced your children to some of the various instrument families in the orchestra, you may want to visit The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra. This is a website created by Carnegie Hall which is a wonderfully FREE interactive online game for young children to explore and learn more about the various instruments of the orchestra. You will need to use a computer, because the game requires Adobe Flash, which you can download for free (if you don’t already have this utility installed on your computer).

There is also a wonderful set of books for children ages 4 to 8 years old that helps them learn different musical concepts. Along with the books the author, Sharon Burch, has a website with coloring pages and games for your child to enjoy and enhance their learning experience: Freddie the Frog Games and Coloring Pages

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Related Posts

Music at an Early Age by Shannon at Mamamusing
Fun with Music – Overview
Fun with Music – Percussion Instruments
Fun with Music – Brass Instruments
Fun with Music – Woodwind Instruments
Fun with Music: String Instruments
Fun with Music: Keyboards

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Filed Under: Learning Activities, Music Tagged With: children and music, educational activities, fun learning, fun with music, laugh, learning, learning fun, learning opportunities, love to laugh, love to laugh and learn, love to learn, making learning fun, music fun, singing, voice, voices

Fun with Music: String Instruments

October 21, 2013 by Mama Carmody 10 Comments

Fun with Music: String Instruments

This post, “Fun with Music – Sting Instruments”, is written in collaboration with Shannon Wijnker, who used to blog on Mamamusing. Shannon is a music teacher and mother of four.





Shannon writes:

As a child, I was always fascinated with string instruments. In fact, the violin was the first instrument that I learned how to play. After listening to someone play the violin, I walked up to them and told them that I wanted to start lessons (not even consulting my parents of course!). One thing led to another and my studies in music began.

I find that children are familiar with the guitar, but have little to no knowledge of any other instruments in the string family. Especially in our school system, a majority of the children are only exposed to woodwind and brass instruments.

Just the other day I was watching Sesame Street with my kids and they had a skit about musical instruments and vibrations. I thought to myself…. Yes! String instruments are the best way to teach children about vibration! Drawing a bow across the strings is a great visual and tangible way to demonstrate this concept for young children. My daughter just loves to watch them, because she thinks they are cool J. All musical instruments make vibrations, but string instruments are the best example. You can also talk about pitch and that the bigger the instrument gets, the lower the vibration will sound. The smaller the instrument, the higher (and as faster) the vibration will sound. Play a game with your child and have them compare two different instruments and guess which one will make the higher/lower sound.

Content:
Playtime
Craft
Musical Outings
Story Time
Games Online
Related Posts

Playtime

More from Shannon:
One of my favourite string performers is Yo Yo Ma. He plays the cello and has an amazing talent for making the music sound so expressive. You can find a plethora of videos on YouTube. Natalie MacMaster is a very talented Canadian violin player. Another great example to listen to! (and a completely different style of playing)

Also, introduce your child to listening to music by playing all four (4) movements of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. This is played by a string quartet (4 string instruments: 2 violins, viola and cello) and each movement depicts a different season. Have your child draw a picture of what season they hear when listening to the music. (Only one movement per seating!)

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Craft

Box Guitar

Materials Needed:

String Instruments: Materials Needed
String Instruments: Materials Needed

Cardboard shoe box or similar
Rubber bands of different sizes
Paper, crayons, markers, stickers, etc. to decorate your instrument
Glue
Scissors
Paper towel roll (optional)

Instructions:

1) Cut your paper to the size you need to cover your box. (I was able to eliminate the first two steps because the box I had was solid black.)

2) Decorate the paper then glue it to the outside of your box. (We just used stickers this time. Stickers are a great fine motor activity for little hands.)

String Instruments: Decorating Box
String Instruments: Decorating Box

3) Cut a hole in one end of the box; just big enough to fit the end of a paper towel roll through.(Since we just used stickers, I cut the hole in the end of the box before we attached the stickers.)

String Instruments: Hole for Paper Towel Roll
String Instruments: Hole for Paper Towel Roll

4) Make small cuts on one end of the paper towel roll.

5) Push the end with the cuts through the hole in the end of the box.

6) Spread out the cut pieces and add some glue.

String Instruments: Glue Handle
String Instruments: Glue Handle

7) I then used duct tape to make sure the paper towel roll held in place.

String Instruments: Duct Tape
String Instruments: Duct Tape

8) Have a grown-up cut little slits on the long sides of the box. Make the same number of slits as the rubber bands you are going to use. This will help keep the rubber bands in place rather than sliding around as the child plucks them.

9) Arrange your rubber bands from largest to smallest.

10) Stretch them around your decorated box and slip them into the slits.

11) Now pluck away. Can you hear a difference between the largest rubber band and the smallest?

String Instruments: Playing Guitar
String Instruments: Playing Guitar

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Musical Outings

Stringed instruments cover everything from guitar and banjo pickin’ to violins and cellos in a symphony. In Indianapolis, you can find many places that give free outdoor concerts during the summer. Maybe you have the same opportunities in your area. Outdoor concerts are a great way to introduce your children to live music because they can sit in their own lawn chair, on a blanket or even get up and dance around a little. Expose your children to many types of music. Take the time to talk about what they are hearing, how it makes them feel and the different instruments they are seeing and hearing.

Shannon from Mamamusing wants you to know:
“In London, there are several outdoor concerts and festivals in Victoria Park during the summer. One of the best is Sunfest (beginning of July). You can check out a video of my kids enjoying the multicultural music and dancing by clicking here.”

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Story Time

Strings (Instruments and Music) by Daniel Nunn
Reading Level: Ages 4 to 8 yrs old
This book makes a great introduction into string instruments. The text is simply a sentence or two on each page. The illustrations are actual pictures of string instruments and people playing them. Your child will get to see the many different sizes and shapes of string instruments. Have fun learning about string instruments.

Strings (The Musical Instruments of the World) by Barrie Carson Turner
Reading Level: Ages 6 and up
This book has a lot of information in it but it is laid out nicely. The book introduces you to 19 stringed instruments from around the world. You will find some instruments that are familiar to you and there are others you may have never seen before. Each instrument has it’s own page so if you just want to cover the familiar ones or if you want to break the book up into different sessions it is laid out well for that. Although this book is for a little bit older child you could use it with a younger child by becoming familiar with the text and then simply point out and discuss the different instruments rather than reading it word for word.


The Violin and Other Stringed Instruments (Let’s Make Music)
by Rita Storey
Reading Level: Ages 6 and up
This is a very informative book for children that would like to learn a little more about what string instruments are and how they work. Your child will learn about the different sizes of string instruments. They will learn how different string instruments are played; some plucked or strummed with fingers, while the musician uses a bow or pick on others. Your child will learn why some string instruments don’t need electricity to be played and others do. It’s a great book that gives a little more detail, as to how string instruments work, but is still very interesting.

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Games Online

Shannon from Mamamusing shares some fun online games:

Now that you have introduced your children to some of the various instrument families in the orchestra, you may want to visit The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra. This is a website created by Carnegie Hall which is a wonderfully FREE interactive online game for young children to explore and learn more about the various instruments of the orchestra. You will need to use a computer, because the game requires Adobe Flash, which you can download for free (if you don’t already have this utility installed on your computer).

There is also a wonderful set of books for children ages 4 to 8 years old that helps them learn different musical concepts. Along with the books the author, Sharon Burch, has a website with coloring pages and games for your child to enjoy and enhance their learning experience: Freddie the Frog Games and Coloring Pages

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Related Posts


Music at an Early Age by Shannon at Mamamusing
Fun with Music: Overview
Fun with Music: Percussion Instruments
Fun with Music: Brass Instruments
Fun with Music: Voices
Fun with Music: Keyboards

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Save

Filed Under: Music Tagged With: educational activities, fun learning, fun with music, guitar, guitar craft, learning fun, learning opportunities, music fun, string instruments

Fun with Music: Brass Instruments

July 16, 2013 by Mama Carmody 12 Comments

Fun with Music: Brass Instruments


This post, “Fun with Music: Brass Instruments”, is written in collaboration with Shannon Wijnker, who used to blog on Mamamusing. Shannon is a music teacher and mother of four.

Every instrument is important in a band or orchestra setting but, I must admit, my personal favorites are the brass instruments. I love the showy high notes of the screaming trumpet, the s-l-i-d-e of the trombone and the oompa, oompa of the big tuba. I could listen to brass music all day. I rented the 1957 movie, The Music Man, just so I could watch the performance of Seventy-six Trombones, as I was preparing for these posts. In preparing your child for this activity read Brass (Instruments and Music) by Daniel Nunn. There is more information about this book below in the Story Time section.

Content:

Playtime
Crafts:
Trumpet from Toilet Paper Roll
D.I.Y. Bugle
Musical Outings
Story Time
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I have been blessed with a family of brass players. Both of my daughters played trumpet while in school. My husband’s primary instrument is the tuba but he can play all the brass instruments quite well. I have been able to experience many different settings with brass instruments. Both of the girls participated in marching band and my husband plays in a symphony, a concert band, a couple of big bands and a quintet. Oh, how I love music.

When my girls were babies I wouldn’t let them blow raspberries. You know…when you stick your tongue out and blow air through your lips to make that vibrating sound? I didn’t allow them because, although it might be cute when they are babies, when they get older and blow a raspberry in someone’s face, it is no longer cute or funny. I didn’t see any reason for confusing them by approving of raspberries when they were babies just to turn around and reprimand them when they got older. What I did let them do was to buzz their lips…the way you make a motorboat sound; similar to a raspberry but no tongue. The reason I let them do this was because it would build the muscles they would need to blow through a brass instrument. Knowing how to buzz your lips is essential in learning to play any brass instruments. I didn’t know if they would grow up to be brass players but I wanted to help them develop the skills they might need in the future.


Playtime

Encourage your child to make motorboat sounds. Have them practice them in the pool or the bathtub. Have your child try tightening their lips and making a motorboat sound, then loosening their lips and trying again. Do they hear the difference in the sounds?

If your child doesn’t all ready have a toy trumpet or some sort of horn, make one from the craft section below. Then let them march around and pretend to play their brass instrument.

Shannon  from Mamamusing suggests that you use YouTube to view the different  instruments. Then you and your child can see and hear them.

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Crafts

Trumpet from Toilet Paper Roll

Brass Instruments: Materials needed for Trumpet Craft

Materials Needed:

Toilet paper roll
Yellow or gold cardstock or cardboard
Trumpet template
Wax paper
Rubber band
Scotch tape
Yellow duct tape
Buttons
Glue
Scissors

Instructions:

1) Take a piece of wax paper and place it over one end of the toilet paper roll.

2) Tape the wax paper to the outside of the toilet paper roll. You might want to use a rubber band to hold the wax paper in place while you tape it. Then remove the rubber band.

Fun with Music: Brass Instruments – Trumpet Kazoo Craft

3) Print 2 copies of the Trumpet template and cut them out or print one copy and use it as a pattern to cut 2 copies from your yellow cardboard or cardstock.

4) Spread glue on the straight (not flared) part of the yellow paper. I alternated stripes of glue stick and white glue. The glue stick helps hold it still but the white glue gives a stronger hold once it dries.

Gluing Trumpet Kazoo Craft

5) Glue the 2 trumpet templates to the toilet paper roll with the bell (the flared part) towards the end that has the wax paper on on. Use rubber bands to hold in place until completely dry. (I glued one piece on and let it dry some before I tried adding the second piece.)

Fun with Music: Brass Instruments – Trumpet Kazoo Craft

6) Use scotch tape or duct tape to tape the two sides of the bell together. I made a slight fold along the edge of the bell and then taped that over the other section of bell. I thought it helped give the bell a little bit rounder shape.

7) Wrap a piece of duct tape around the narrow end (mouthpiece) of the trumpet. This will help keep the cardboard from getting soggy if your child puts the mouthpiece inside their mouth.

8) This trumpet is simply a fun toy. It works like a kazoo; your child hums into the mouthpiece to produce their music.

Fun with Music: Brass Instruments – Trumpet Kazoo Craft Completed

The idea for this craft was adapted from the blog, “Bible Story Hour”.

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D.I.Y. Bugle

Fun with Music: Brass Instruments – Materials Needed for D.I.Y. Bugle

 

Materials Needed:

Empty 2 liter soda bottle
Single serve soda bottle with same size mouth as the 2 liter bottle
45 inch length of 1 inch diameter, flexible clear plastic tubing ( I purchased mine at Lowes)
2 Large wooden craft sticks (tongue depressor size)
yellow duct tape
Scissors

 

Instructions:

1. Cut off the top third of the 2 liter bottle. This will be the bell of the bugle.

Fun with Music: Brass Instruments – Top Third of 2 liter

2. From the single serve soda bottle, cut off the mouthpiece. This will serve as the mouthpiece to your bugle.

Fun with Music: Brass Instruments – Top of Single Serve Soda Bottle to be Used for Mouthpiece

3. Insert the mouthpiece of the 2 liter bottle into the end of the tubing to form the bell.

Fun with Music: Brass Instruments – Bell of Bugle

4. On the other end of the tubing insert the part of the single serve bottle that you cut off into the tubing. This leaves the mouthpiece of the single serve soda bottle to be used as the mouthpiece of your bugle.

Fun with Music: Brass Instruments – Mouthpiece

5. Cut the two wooden craft sticks in half. These are going to be used to brace the top of the bugle loop.

6. Loop the tubing around and use a piece of tape to secure it. Then place 2 halves of the tongue depressor on top of the loop (laying across both pieces of tubing). Tape around the the top of the loop and the tongue depressor. Repeat with the other two pieces of tongue depressor on the underneath side of the loops. This will hold the loop together and give you a nice sturdy place to put your hand.

Fun with Music: Brass Instruments – brace

7. To get a sound out of your bugle you will have to use the skills that any brass player uses. You will need to buzz your lips as you blow through the mouthpiece. You should not be puffing out your cheeks because the air does not come from your cheeks, it comes from your lungs and diaphragm.

8. Have fun with your new bugle!

Fun with Music: Brass Instruments – D.I.Y. Bugle

The idea for this craft was adapted from the blog, “Preschool Crafts for Kids” and the book, Brass (Instruments and Music) by Daniel Nunn.

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Musical Outings

Take your children to any place that live music is being played. In Indianapolis, you can find many places that give free outdoor concerts during the summer. Maybe you have the same opportunities in your area. Outdoor concerts are a great way to introduce your children to live music because they can sit in their own lawn chair, on a blanket or even get up and dance around a little. Maybe you have older children or neighbors that participate in a school band. Take your children to see them. Expose your children to many types of music. Take the time to talk about what they are hearing, how it makes them feel and the different instruments they are seeing and hearing.

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Story Time


Ben’s Trumpet by Rachel Isadora
Reading Level: Ages 4 to 8 yrs old
Ben lives near the Zig Zag Jazz Club. He sits on his fire escape at night and listens to the music. He plays his trumpet right along with them. During the day, he goes over to the jazz club and watches the musicians practice. He constantly plays his horn for everyone in the family. One day some neighbor kids started making fun of Ben because Ben’s trumpet was pretend. The trumpeter from the Zig Zag Jazz Club happens to notice that Ben has stopped playing his trumpet. When he asks Ben why he isn’t playing his trumpet, Ben tells him that he doesn’t have a trumpet. Take time to pick this book up and find out how the trumpeter from the Zig Zag Jazz Club helps Ben out.


Brass (Instruments and Music) by Daniel Nunn
Reading Level: Ages 4 to 8 yrs old
This book makes a great introduction into brass instruments. The text is simply a sentence or two on each page. The illustrations are actual pictures of brass instruments and people playing them. Your child will get to see the many different sizes and shapes of brass instruments. They will also learn that some brass instruments aren’t made out of brass at all but made out of wood. Since you have to buzz your lips to play the wooden horns, just like the brass horns they get included with the brass instruments. As an added bonus, there is an illustration of how to make your own horn. Have fun learning about brass instruments.


Listen to My Trumpet! by Mo Willems
Reading Level: Ages 4 to 8 yrs old
Piggie gets a trumpet and wants to show his friend Elephant what he can do on his trumpet. He blows and blows and all kinds of sounds come out of the horn, but is it music? Find out what Elephant has to say about Piggie’s playing and how Piggie responds.


Tubby the Tuba by Paul Tripp
Reading Level: Ages 4 and up
Tubby the Tuba is part of the orchestra and he wants to play more than just oompah, oompah. He believes he could play a beautiful melody too but none of the other instruments believe him. Follow Tubby through his disappointments and how meeting a certain bullfrog turned his musical achievements around. The copy of the book that I borrowed from the library had a CD with it. Although I would encourage reading the book to your child a couple of times before using the CD, I strongly recommend having your child listen to the CD as well. The CD is the story with an orchestra playing along, so your child can hear a tuba, trumpet, violin and many other instruments. This story holds a special place in my heart because my husband is a tuba player and he agrees with Tubby that tubas can play more than oompah, oompah. He enjoys playing flute solos on his tuba. A lesson to be learned: Just because it hasn’t been done before doesn’t mean it can’t. If you believe in something, give it a try. You might give yourself and the people around you a whole new wonderful experience.

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Related Posts

Music at an Early Age by Shannon at Mamamusing
Fun with Music – Overview
Fun with Music – Percussion Instruments
Fun with Music: Woodwind Instruments
Fun with Music: Voices
Fun with Music: String Instruments
Fun with Music: Keyboards

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Filed Under: Music Tagged With: brass instruments, bugle, children and music, educational activities, fun learning, fun with music, kids and music, laugh, learn, learning, learning fun, learning opportunities, lessons, love, love to laugh, love to laugh and learn, love to learn, making learning fun, music, preschool, preschool lessons, trumpet

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