Within their first year of life, children begin to learn the concept of cause and effect. It begins with simple ideas like, “If I shake this rattle, I hear a sound,” or “when I push my toy car, it rolls along the floor.” These simple ideas of cause and effect are how children learn to control and interact with their environment. This helps your child to develop early communication and cognition skills. With all of this in mind, we’ve found a way for you to help demonstrate the mechanics of sound for your child using a fun activity. Follow along!
Materials You Will Need:
Rubber bands
Scissors
Chopsticks or wooden spoons (to act as drumsticks)
Containers of various sizes
Cellophane paper
Extra large balloons
Various materials to bounce on the drums (rice, flour, dried beans, marbles, etc.)
How to Play
1. Make your drums. To make your drums, you will need to cut the end off of your balloon (the part you blow into). Next, stretch the balloon over your container (bowl or tin can) of choice, and you’re done! For your next drum, cut the cellophane paper to fit over one of your containers and secure with a rubber band. Boom! Two drums made within minutes.
2. Time to set up your equipment. Set your materials of choice (rice, flour, dried beans, marbles, etc.) on top of your drums.
3. Time to play! Now’s the fun part. It’s time to start banging on your homemade drums and watch the rice, beans, and marbles fly around!
Reflection Time
After you’ve played around a bit with your homemade musical equipment, take some time to reflect with your child about their experience. We recommend making a list of questions to engage with your child with, such as:
Which objects had the most bounce?
Which drum surface causes the objects on top to bounce for the longest time?
Which drum surface causes objects to bounce the highest?
How are the results affected if you bang your drumstick softly? Or more heavily?
There are many effective ways to help your child learn the mechanics of sound. Stay tuned for more musical activities to engage your child with this summer.
For more fun musical activities, visit our website!