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Create Your Own Toddler Kitchen Band!

what-to-expect-photogallery-the-second-year-05-toddler-bangs-on-everything-toddler-with-pots-and-pansThere are tons of fun musical activities that we can do to engage our children in the power and magic of music making. But no music activity is as tried and true as this one… banging on pots and pans. Have any memories of sitting on the kitchen floor as a youngster and making “music” while dinner was on the stove? Well, there’s a reason for that… distraction! It was probably the only way mom could get you to do something by yourself for a few minutes while she strained the noodles and got the dishes out. The best part of this activity is that it’s about as much fun for 6 month-olds as it is for 3 and 5 year-olds, so you’ve got many years to use it.

This activity teaches cause and effect and shows your child how to hear the difference in sound when wood hits metal, wood hits plastic, metal hits plastic, and (get your earplugs ready) metal hits metal!

 

Here are a few easy ways to create your own kitchen band:

  • Give your child a wooden spoon and an overturned pot and let them play the drums. You can also give them “drums” of varying sizes, textures and materials and let them experiment with what they hear. Use a juice pitcher, plastic containers, a colander, a frying pan and anything else you can find that’s not already in use.
  • Fill small plastic containers with sand, dried beans or rice to make shakers. We like to make one of each and use it as a lesson in dynamics (loud and soft).
  • Measuring spoons that are attached on ring make an awesome sound when shaken. Try a plastic one and a metal one and hear the difference!
  • Make “guitars” by using a colander and strumming it with a wire whisk.
  • And on the quieter side of things, (yes this activity can be quiet) use recycled oatmeal containers or coffee cans and turn them into hand drums. You can decorate them, get the family together, and then have a drum circle!

Okay, have fun tonight!!! And don’t forget the earplugs 😉

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