Nursery World - EYFS activities: Breaking down sound

Hayes Greenfield explores how making sound engages children’s executive function skills in his new book Creative Sound Play

You don’t have to be musical to play with sound, says Greenfield PHOTO Adobe Stock

I have never met a child who didn’t absolutely love and adore making sound. Have you? Sound is communication, language, dialogue, expression and listening. Silence is the quiet empty space around sound where a sound ends and another begins, a place to pause, take a breath, or emphasise sound through absence.

Just think of all the things that we can do with sound! We can make it high or low in pitch, loud or soft in volume, long or short in duration, and anywhere in between. We can make sound alone or collaborate with others. We can blend all kinds of sounds and timbres together in a myriad of different ways. We can conduct sound by gesture, draw a picture that serves as a road map for how to sound it out, or simply discuss how we want the sounds that we make to overlap and interact with each other as they unfold through time. And none of these activities requires any special skills or abilities.

Register now to continue reading

Thank you for visiting Nursery World and making use of our archive of more than 35,000 expert features, subject guides, case studies and policy updates. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits:

What's included