Gross motor skills are movements that help children develop large muscle control in arms, legs and the entire body. As a toddler, it is important for young children to keep exercising these muscles to enable them to run, jump, throw, climb, etc. To target this skill, your little one participated in a gross motor activity that helped them learn the notes on the piano!

For very young children, music has power and meaning that go beyond words. First, and most important, sharing music with young children is simply one more way to give joy and receive joy. Music and music experiences also support the formation of important brain connections that are being established over the first three years of life.

Because note reading is not typically introduced until the elementary school years, our class uses a color system to delineate between different notes. For example, middle C is red, D is orange, and E is yellow. Before starting the gross motor portion of our music class, your budding pianists played around with these three notes, experimenting with the different sounds that they made. They then used a bean bag that they tossed onto a piece of butcher paper. A staff, complete with notes C. D and E, were drawn, and students had to use their “big” muscles to throw the bean bag onto the correct note.

Two-, three-, and four-year-old children need an environment that includes a variety of sound sources, and opportunities for free improvised playing.  An exploratory approach, using a wide range of appropriate materials, provides a rich base from which conceptual understanding can evolve in later years.

A variety of individual musical experiences are important for children at this age. As a result of their experiences with music, young children should initiate both independent and collaborative play with musical materials, and they should demonstrate curiosity about music. To continue our exploration of sound, we experimented with pots and pans.

Using rhythm sticks and pans suspended from the bars outside, we practiced making noise! As they banged happily, your budding musicians learned that sound changes. In addition to this open-ended play, Miss Carrie initiated and call and response game. Using our listening ears, we listened to Miss Carrie play to rhythmic phrase on our new instruments. We then repeated this sequence!

By doing so, students accessed a variety of developmental skills. By watching their teacher, they practiced reading visual and verbal cues. By creating their own  sounds, they experimented with cause and effect. Lastly, by collaborating, they enjoyed the social benefits of performing as a group.