Today's creative play theme is "sound." We love exploring ways to turn familiar objects into something magical by using our imaginations. You can do this while investivgating sounds by turning household objects into musical instruments. Even your pre-crawling baby can turn a stool into a drum, a pot into a tambourine, and a cardboard tube into a trumpet. Take your small one on a search through the house and find creative objects that you can bang on, scratch, blow into, or shake and discover new noises in your house.
If you're looking for an extra challenge with your preschooler, start to talk about HOW the noises are being made. Is your new invention a percussion instrument or a wind instrument? Try drumming on three different sizes pots and discover the relationship between the size of an instrument and the sound that it makes. If your child loves sounds and music, hunt down some YouTube clips of various instruments, or better yet invite yourself over to a musician-friend's house and let the kids see instruments in action! Nothing inspires a young musician by seeing music performed in front of them! Guitars are very common, but search around your community for other instruments your children can see live and then try to make one of your own at home!
1 Comment
Recent rain and sunshine means we are starting to see more and more colors around the city. Color identification is one of the main concepts being mastered by toddlers and preschoolers and springtime is a great excuse to reinforce these concepts. Here are some fun and familiar creative play activities that will focus your child's mind and eyes on the emerging colors in the world around them:
Despite the persistant snow, it's almost Spring, and that means it's time to get outside for some adventures! Turn your regular walk through the neighborhood into an exciting adventure by adding in some imaginative play.
Draw a treasure map of your block. Create a family "adventure song" that you can sing together as you walk through the park. Write out a list of secret ingredients for a magic potion (3 twigs, 1 acorn, 2 rocks that look like cats) that you can search for along the way. After a winter of being cooped up, there is no limit to the fun we can have with a simple walk around the block. Stretch your legs AND your storytelling skills! Every week we'll post a new idea or activity for your family to do together. These activities are intended to strengthen your young child's budding imagination and creativity by finding new ways to engage with the world around them. These ideas will be an extension of our Creative Play classes for babies and toddlers, and will sometimes focus on activities in the Brooklyn and NYC area, but you don't need to be local or in our classes to take part!
Thanks for joining in and don't forget to check in every week! |
Authors
Lauren Jost, Director Archives
December 2017
Categories |