It's amazing what you can do with a wooden spoon

In these days of being at home with your children, it may be challenging to find new ways to keep them interested. I have added a few items to my music teacher's  toolbox - a pair of mittens, a silk scarf, a plastic cup and homemade percussion instruments (a pot and wooden spoon will do) - to heighten the children's music making experience with sights and sounds.

Colorful scarves make moving more fun, while colored mittens become a way for children "to show and tell" something about themselves.

Homemade instruments introduce children to the unique sound quality of the percussion family while, at the same time, developing children's fine motor control as they bang, shake and scrape their instruments.

In my online music classes, I used a plastic cup to teach the children a number of rhythm patterns. Then, we perform the patterns with recorded instrumental music such as Leroy Anderson's Sleigh Ride. (This is not an original idea ... there are many examples on Youtube that incorporate cup patterns with recorded music.) Who knew a plastic cup or a wooden spoon could be so much fun?

Image from publicdomainpictures.net