"Sounds" Like Fun!

As you beg your child to use their “inside voice” , you may feel the urge to never encourage them to make sound ever again. However, exploring sound is of the upmost importance to the developing child. It is not only their primary tool for communication with you and their peers, but it provides a lens through which they can interpret the world they live in. We teach children to make and understand sound so that they can form clear schema, or mental foundations, that will eventually allow them to differentiate between types of animals, automobiles, musical instruments, and more! So take this opportunity to enjoy making a little NOISE with you family - and hopefully get it out of their system before nap time...

The Homemade Shaker

If exploring the world of sound at our Storytime classes this week as taught us anything, it’s that little ones LOVE shakers. Now you and your family can create personalized shakers of your very own!
Materials: 
2 small paper plates
stapler
1/2 cup raw beans
funnel 
markets, crayons, paints, feathers, tape/ stickers, etc. 
Step 1: Encourage your child to decorate the backs of 2 paper plates 
Step 2: Place the 2 plates together facing each other, and staple them together around the rim, leaving a small open gap 
Step 3: Place funnel in the gap, and allow your child to help you pour beans into the space between plates. When all the beans are inside, seal your shaker with a final staple or two  
Step 4: SHAKER PARTY!
*BONUS: Post a picture of your little one and their shaker to our Facebook page, with the hash tag #spellboundsounds

The Soundscape

With your snazzy new shaker in hand, you and your little one can now create your very own sound scape - just like a professional Folly Artist would for play or movie! This activity is also great for developing character recognition. 
Materials:
story book 
brand new shaker
Step 1: Selected a favorite book or story 
Step 2: Read or tell it to your child as normal
Step 3: Read or tell the story again, but this time encourage and/or help your child shake their shaker whenever the main character of the story is mentioned. 
*Challenge: See if your child can make a different sound with their shaker for each character

Happy Noise-making!