Of course, IT IS POSSIBLE, and I strongly believe in enhancing learning through fun. While a student has fun, and the learning process is seen as a game, the pupil acquires certain skills without noticing. Playing an instrument is not easy, but with proper guidance can be very rewarding.
During my class, I take advantage of many extra-musical resources, adapting them to each child.
Next, I am going to list and explain some of them (this could be endless, because it is all up to our imagination, there is no limit): Using toys, drawings, and other things that we have at home... putting on some creativity, we can set wonderful scenarios for music-making to be the highlight of the day!
It is not JUST playing, for fun. Everything has a goal. Everything has an intention. It is planned.
First thing to take into account is, planning ahead makes daily music-practice easier. Depends on the adult to prepare an appealing "stage".
It is up to us, as adults, to anticipate what is going to happen during the practice time. Prepare the things we are going to need to make it fun. Beside having fun, we can make sure that the pupils are getting benefits, and that we are allowing the different musical skills develop, at the same time.
Of course, we have to be aware that, children's ability to stay focus is limited. How much time can they pay attention on one task depends on the age, gender and personality traits. I would say, among the youngest ones (2-3 years old), it might last up to 30 seconds, while the older ones could be concentrated for longer periods of time (oscillating from 5 minutes to 10-12 minutes in one go). Anyway, attentiveness can be trained: the more we enforce it, the longer time they will manage to be focused.
So, the drills, exercises, games and other tasks I use during the lessons and practice sessions, are tailored to their individual needs and attributes.
For example, I use regularly Lego Duplo blocks:
I prepare a staircase that leads to a box, a door or a window. There, I placed an award (it can be a candy, a sticker, a little toy...). I set as many steps as drills I want to go through during the study time, and I normally let the kid choose the doll/puppet that will climb up.
An alternative option is to set a route. Another possibility is to add a slide at the end... There is a huge range of variations, all is up to your imagination.
Other useful ways to hold their interest are listed below:
- with stickers
- with stamps
- connect the dots drawings
- recently, "Super Zings" are the trend among kids (the last serie is called "Super Things")
- Pokemon
Music-making time goes by quickly, without noticing! You just have to intersperse "serious work" with game/story.
Every task the student accomplishes, you can add a sticker or stamp in a paper... Or you can pile up a bunch of boxes, see how tall can you make it! They love this kind of challenges.
It may seem that all this things will break the continuity, but it is the opposite: it helps introducing music lessons as a very fun moment and they will engage in everyday practice without complains.
Once in a while, we can prepare a special set-up for the practice time:
- stuffed animals acting as audience
- playing in a different room of the house
- covering their eyes with a piece of fabric and play in darkness.
Every now and then, you might want to leave to chance the order of the drills. Then, you can try one of the next suggestions:
- "Dinosaurs' World". Every dino is holding a secret message (the message is the drill/exercise/game/piece to do or play). The pupil will choose one and together we can see what is the assignment.
- "Superheroes". We can dress up like one of those superheroes: we will need a mask, a cape, and other accessories (a helmet, a whip, a bow and some arrows...). Every piece of the costume has a note with it. The note will point out what he/she must do next to get that piece.
- Surprise eggs.
Inside them you can place messages or drawings that indicate the assignment.
And, maybe, one of those surprise eggs has THE special surprise of the day :)
- Popsicles sticks with a few words (telling the scale, the articulation, the piece... that has to be done).
- A bag, a box, or a small container where you can put little pieces of paper with the assignment.
It is important to make it attractive. Then, it will be easier to get the students into the game.
More random even, some of the games I will name (and I use them occasionally):
- Folding an origami like this one.
- Ladder game like this one. You can paint it yourself, or make a list with the numbers and its reciprocation.
- Goose game, musical version. Also, you may need to stay one night preparing it (but it is worth it, and for other days, you have it already ready!).
- You can use dices to establish how many times to repeat a drill, for example.
- Download any APP like "Tiny Decisions" (they love pushing the bottom and looking how the wheel spins)
I hope you enjoyed reading this post. If you want to share your ideas, please, go ahead and write in the comments below.
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