To explore sound and music actively and to develop individual responses to what they feel and hear, children need to have continuous access to appropriate resources. Through long-term planning of children's learning in a music and sound area, practitioners can ensure that they are offering all children a range of opportunities and high-quality experiences on a daily basis.
Possible learning experiences In addition to the obvious focus on music, this area offers rich opportunities for exploring early phonics, as children begin to listen attentively to and distinguish between sounds. Here, children can:
* explore their own voice
* listen and respond to music
* handle and play instruments
* discriminate between sounds - vocal, environmental and instrumental
* experiment with making and changing sounds
* sing favourite songs and experiment with alliteration and rhyme
* use instruments to accompany singing, dance and marching activities
* count beats
* recognise and reproduce simple rhythms by stamping, clapping and tapping their fingers
* make up own songs and rhymes
* use sounds and music to express ideas and represent experiences
* be sensitive to the mood of music and express own feelings through and in response to music
* record sounds and music on tape
* make marks to represent their own ways of recording notes on paper.
Organisation
* Sounds soft and loud will be made in the music area. So, position the area in a part of the setting that is quiet enough for children to hear soft sounds clearly and where any loud noises will not distract children engaged in other activities.
* Make equipment easily accessible to children (open-shelved units are ideal) and label storage boxes clearly.
* If some equipment is to be provided on a rotational basis, plan how to organise the rota and where to store resources when not in use.
* Plan regular adult focus time in the area and ensure that staff are available to respond spontaneously to children's needs and interests in the area.
* Invite musicians to visit the setting and plan for parents to share their musical talents with the children.
* Set up a music and sound area in the outdoor space. Focus on providing opportunities for children to be physically active in their learning and to work on a larger scale.
Resources
* Listening centre, headphones.
* CDs of, for example, music from different genres, cultures and periods, nursery rhymes, environmental sounds (for example, rainstorms and traffic) and blank tapes.
* Musical instruments such as drums, tambourines, castanets, triangles, cymbals, shakers and maracas, chime bars, xylophone, sleigh bells, rainsticks, electronic keyboards.
* Plastic film canisters containing beads, teaspoons, bunches of keys.
* Song and rhyme books.
* Pictures of musical instruments and musicians.
* Clipboards, pencils and paper.
* Outdoor resources: a frame or fence on which to hang objects such as pans, lids, metal trays, small drums, cymbals, whistles, large metal drums (cleaned and made safe), large cardboard tubes, plastic drainage pipes, metal ladles and wooden spoons (as beaters), wind chimes.
Adult role
* Teach children songs and rhymes.
* Make up songs and rhymes with children.
* Explore and experiment with instruments alongside children.
* Model the use of key vocabulary such as 'loud', 'quiet', 'fast', 'slow', 'rattle' and 'shake'.
* Encourage children to express musical likes and dislikes.
* Spend time observing in the area to assess children's stages of development and to identify their interests.
* Check equipment regularly and mend or replace broken instruments, equipment and tapes.
Medium-term planning
Planning at the medium-term stage involves practitioners reflecting on children's learning over two to six weeks and linking it to a topic, a curricular area or a predictable interest. This planning is in addition to the long-term planning of basic provision and will involve planning activities to take place within the various areas of provision. The following examples show how the music and sound area can be enhanced to support a medium-term focus:
Topic: Traditional stories - 'Three Billy Goats Gruff'
Additional resources
Copy of 'Three Billy Goats Gruff', three toy goats (graded in size), a troll, length of green cloth, bridge, wooden claves, coconut shells, metal thimbles, wooden spoons, wooden blocks, drum
Activities
Exploring instruments; talking about key elements and characters in the story; deciding on sounds to represent the 'trip, trap' sound of each Billy Goat crossing the bridge and the troll's roar; using appropriate vocabulary to describe sounds; using instruments to support story telling.
Topic: Carnival time
Additional resources (preferably outdoors)
Photographs of carnivals, appropriate posters and books, taped carnival sounds, whistles, horns and hooters, metal drums, tambours, tambourines, maracas, ribbons, scarves, lengths of fabric, masks and hats
Activities
Engaging in carnival role play; using imagination to develop costumes; working co-operatively to create a carnival procession; experimenting with instruments and commenting on the sounds made by combinations of instruments; taking turns playing instruments; playing instruments in sequence; making up songs; moving rhythmically; beating a rhythm.
Topic: autumn
Additional resources
Conkers, horse chestnut shells, acorns, dry autumn leaves, twigs, wooden bowls, lengths of thick bamboo
Activities
Collecting additional resources; making sounds by rolling conkers and acorns around in a bowl; rolling acorns down the bamboo tube; scraping twigs against the spikes on horse chestnut shells; shaking and rattling a small acorn inside a large horse chestnut shell; rustling and crunching leaves; counting acorns into the bowl by listening for the sound as each one falls.
Short-term planning
When thorough long-term planning for basic provision is in place, children are able to become deeply involved in experiences that interest them and adults can respond effectively to support and extend their learning.
Planning a focus at the short-term stage clarifies specific learning intentions and enables staff to address the needs and interests of individuals and groups of children.
Case study: Aaron
Observation
During a hailstorm, Aaron was captivated by the sound of the hailstones as they landed on the corrugated roof. He called his friends to watch through the window with him as the hailstones bounced on the ground.
Staff response
Staff responded quickly by taking Aaron and a group of children outside (suitably clad) to experience the hail first hand. They all held metal and plastic trays above their heads and stood under umbrellas listening to the sounds of the hailstones falling. Aaron noticed that the hailstones made a particularly loud noise as they hit the plastic sand tray lid that he was holding. Following this experience, staff decided to plan an extension activity in the music and sound area.
Early learning goals
Respond to what they see, hear, smell, touch and feel
Express and communicate their ideas, thoughts and feelings by using a widening range of materials and musical instruments
Resources
Large plastic, card or metal boxes, large buckets, small wooden beads, lentils, dried beans, commercially made instruments such as rainmakers
Activity content
* Talk with Aaron and other interested children about the hailstorm.
Encourage them to describe the sounds they heard using language such as 'pattering' and 'clattering'.
* Explore the resources with the children and experiment with the sounds that can be made by dropping, for example, wooden beads into plastic boxes.
* Tape the sounds the children make and listen to them again, discussing which materials and techniques most effectively represented the sound of the hailstones.
ABOUT THIS SERIES
This series outlines how settings can 'build' effective long-, medium- and short-term plans around the areas of provision. The approach is not definitive, and practitioners can adapt it to suit their needs.
To implement the approach effectively, settings should:
* make planning a team effort to ensure that staff understand possible learning opportunities and how to support them.
* review their planning regularly in the light of their observations and evaluations.
The series builds on information provided in:
* 'The music area - a guide to resourcing and supporting children's learning', Nursery World, 6 November 2003
* 'All about... Observation and assessment', Nursery World, 6 February 2003
* 'All about...Planning' Nursery World, 6 March 2003
