Children, free play, & 60 homemade musical instruments! - Child's Play Music

http://childsplaymusic.com.au/ & http://www.facebook.com/ChildsPlayMusicPerth This video shows a class of 4.4 to 5.4 year olds exploring my 60 homemade musical instruments through free hands-on play. It's loud, it's amazingly educational and it's fun! None of the children have met me or played my instruments before today, and it is entirely unscripted. It shows excerpts from a typical Child's Play Music incursion; this is what it's like to have me and my instruments at your school or child care centre - but there's much more to the program than I can show here; I'll be posting up more videos soon, including more structured orchestral activities. But free play always comes first!

Watch the glee on their faces as they pound away on enormous drums, thongophones, bowed banjos, metallophones and more - then watch how they begin to explore rhythmic and melodic patterns, all without any direct tuition or adult intervention. Children learn best through active hands-on self-directed play, and these children explore the instruments fully - fortunately my instruments are designed to to be almost unbreakable :)

Here in Western Australia this age group is called kindergarten, but in most places this would be called a preschool; these children won't be starting Year One until 2013, and they have a whole year of Pre-Primary to go before that happens. These are very young children!

What are the children learning? They are learning that every child is a natural musician, that they can play music and it is easy and fun. They are learning that there are dozens of instruments they can play and that each has its own techniques for playing. They are learning that music has structure and form, and that there are melodic instruments and rhythm instruments. They are learning about scales and melodies and rhythmic patterns without being taught them. They are learning that some instruments are loud, some quiet, and that it's possible to modulate volume. They are learning that instruments come from all over the world and from every culture. They are learning that they can make their own instruments - and do it sustainably using recycled materials.

My sincere thanks to the staff, parents and children of this school who permitted me to film this video, and especially to the parent who filmed the session for me. It was a condition of that permission that I did not identify the school or the children by name.

Alec Duncan
http://www.facebook.com/ChildsPlayMusicPerth

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Children
• Child's
• Play
• Music
• Homemade
• Instruments
• Education
• Fun
• Free-Play
• Learning
• Drums
• Recycled
• Kindergarten
• School