Enjoy music at home with your preschooler using items around the house. You’ll feel like a rockstar for making something fun out of something ordinary and your child will love making music while learning new skills.
Musical Parenting Tip:  Create a Kitchen Ensemble for “Trot, Trot, Trot!”
Why? Ensemble play helps your child practice keeping a steady beat.
A steady beat coordinates sounds and movements in time.  Developing an internal sense of steady beat helps children develop in many areas of learning, including music, movement, language, and mathematics.  It’s at the core of what gives us the ability to walk effortlessly, speak expressively, and regulate repeated motions like riding a bicycle, dribbling a basketball, hammering, writing, skipping, dancing, and running.
How? See how many ways you can move to the beat for Walking in the Green Grass!
Find sound-making items in your kitchen, and give one to each member of the family.
Play along with ‘Trot, Trot, Trot’ (from the Around the Farm CD) Can everyone keep the beat, together?  Will you  play the whole song together, or take turns?  Are you using wooden sounds, shakers, metal sounds, or scrapers? Want to add some pitches to your steady beat?  Fill 5 water glasses with differing  amounts of water.  Line them up, from  left to right, with the most full on the left, and the least full on the right.  Label the glasses (left to right) with numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.  Create your own 5-note melodies and add them to the ensemble.
Want to Learn More? On our blog:  find ideas for practicing the steady beat, right at home!
Check out these fun videos of water glass performances:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fL6YwPazc8Ihttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdoTdG_VNV4

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Juli Wright
Voice & Kindermusik Teacher