Home Activity Ideas

Read about the key elements of home practice and sharing musical activities with your children here.

Hands-on participation with your child/children is key to building musical awareness.  We encourage to try these activities at home with your child as “practice”.  Practice should fun and enjoyable.  Participating with your children also encourages confidence in musical expression and performance.

Play Games to Reinforce Patterns

  • Sing easy, repetitive melodies
  • Play with magnet boards
  • Play missing note game
  • Make up short melodies and put on magnet board
    or staff paper
  • Draw a picture about a favorite song or musical sumbol
  • Make a large staff with colored tape on refrigerator door
    for “magnet play”
 Keyboard Practices

  • Play high, low, and middle games.
  • Find all the Do’s, Re’s, etc.
  • Team play & sing (parent/child an octave higher
    or lower)
  • Do fingering in the air or on knee while singing pitches.
    Then transfer to the keyboard – always singing
  • Sometimes, stand up to play and sing!
Consistency and Companionship

  • Have a set daily time for sharing music
  • Music by yourself is lonely!  Take time to interact with your child.
  • Encourage making music spontaneously as well as during your
    scheduled activity time.
 Making Time for Music

  • Short periods of activity on a daily basis are better than
    2 or 3 longer session in the week.
  • Repetition is especially important for younger children.
  • Provide a comfortable setting for your music activity time.
Singing

  • Sing fun songs and activity songs (good for traveling too!)
  • Point and sing solfege for keyboard songs in your music books
  • Make up new lyrics.  Be silly or serious.  Have fun.
 Family Music Time

  • Involve the whole family in-a-log, play-a-long ensemble times.
  • Even the youngest siblings (even babies!)can shake a maraca
    or a jingle bell.
Rhythm

  • Clap or play instruments along with your class CD or other
    favorite music.
  • March, walk, or do other movement activities with your class CD
    or other favorite music.
  • Make rhythm cards for games and creating rhythm songs
  • Engage in motions with your children while playing
    and singing activity songs.
 Percussion Instruments for Home Use

  • Maracas (make your own)
  • Shakers ,bells
  • Small drums, wood blocks
  • Triangles, finger cymbals
  • Sticks, Tambourines
  • Remember – you don’t need to purchase these!  Children enjoy making
    their own musical instruments.