Making Music

Making Music

18 April 2019

Music is a valuable learning experience for children of all ages.  Research shows that children who are actively involved in music (playing, singing, or listening):

  • do better in reading and math when they start school
  • are better able to focus and control their bodies
  • interact better with others and have higher self-esteem

Music enables children to express themselves creatively, gain language and listening skills, practice co-ordination, and through movement gain motor skills.  These are some of the reasons that Nurtured at Home subsidises Educators to attend a community Mainly Music group.

We can encourage children to engage with music by creating a “steady beat” using our hands to clap, banging on a drum, stamping our feet, or tapping rakau, all in time to music. Music is both an art and a science, and music and science are closely related. Both use mathematical principles and logic, blended with creative thinking and inspiration to arrive at conclusions that are both enlightening and inspirational.

Here’s some music ideas you can create in your home:

  • Castanets (using cardboard and bottle tops)
  • Maraccas (using recyclable bottles)
  • Cardboard box guitar
  • Rakau (can also make these from paper towel rolls)
  • Damru drum (using wooden spoons and beads)