Kindergarteners Explore Musical Instruments

Last week in Kindergarten music, we had one of my favorite types of classes--an instrument exploration day.  Set up like centers or stations, students travel from one part of the room to another for free play/exploration with instruments that are set up in some logical way (by what they're made of, but how you play them, etc.)

To be sure, these classes are loud ones.  But they are less chaotic than you might think--the funnest part of these days is to watch when the students take the instruments at each station and organize an impromptu piece.  I heard Kindergarteners counting each other off, making rhythms for each other to echo, and examining and reexamining unfamiliar instruments to see the best sounds they could create.  When given the opportunity to make a racket, Kindergarteners will.  And just like every other novelty, it shortly wears off and the students begin playing in a way that mimics the work we do during class.  

This video is a minute long and includes still photos from that class.