Happy Top Tuesday, music lovers! Today’s activity will involve a game using the hand drum. Here is a picture of my favorite hand drum.
This one is available through Amazon.com for purchase (click HERE to view it on Amazon), though you can feel free to use any hand drum that you have.
The Activity
The activity is suitable for preschoolers or elementary school students, because any young child will benefit from learning about rhythm and fine tuning listening skills.
The parent should create a beat on the drum for the child to listen to and instruct their child to make their feet move in the same way the drum does. A fast beat may mean a child should run. A slow or quiet beat can inspire a child to tippy toe. A loud beat may mean to stomp. Or, a fast swinging beat may produce skipping. Whatever the case, the child’s feet should be following a pattern, and they should be working towards moving their feet in the same way the drum is playing. When the drumming stops, the child freezes.
Once you have played several rounds of this game, reverse roles. Now the child has the drum and is creating rhythms, and the parent is making drum feet. The child will actively be thinking of rhythms and learning how to make them into a pattern all while having fun.
I hope you have enjoyed today’s top 10 Tuesday music activity. For a complete list of the Top 10 Tuesday musical instruments under $40, click HERE, and for a list of previous Top 10 Tuesday music activities, click HERE. Thank you for stopping by and for helping to instill music in the life of a child. Together, we can bring music education to every child. Don’t forget to visit The Tucson Songstress next week for another activity. Until then, play on!
