Child’s Play Music is permanently closed due to ill health, and we are no longer able to take bookings. We thank our many former clients for their support over the last 25 years.
What happens in a typical education support incursion?
Each incursion is a program of fun, excitement & learning!
Every child will play every instrument and we guarantee we can keep your students focused and learning for the whole program.
Generally each program lasts one hour, but we recognise that for very young children or children with more serious additional needs a slightly shorter program may be appropriate. We are flexible, and we will liaise with you about selecting the best program time and structure for your students needs.
We set up all the drums and other un-tuned percussion up outside in your playground and the tuned instruments inside one of your rooms.
We liaise with you to ensure that our set up is appropriate for your students. We can arrange our instruments to make them fully accessible by children in wheelchairs or walkers. We also consider the children’s abilities and if necessary we can remove instruments that are too challenging for your particular students. We want to provide the widest range possible but we also want to ensure that every child experiences the joy of success and achievement.
The program begins with a brief and entertaining introduction where I show how some of the instruments can be played, make an instrument from scratch in one minute (amazing!), and set some ground rules about sharing and behaviour. I include brief information about recycling and sustainability, and the cultural background of the instruments, many of which are based on ethnic instruments.
The introduction is flexible – we will consult with you and tailor it to your student’s abilities and development.
Then I split the class, half to go outside to explore the drums and other un-tuned percussion, the other half inside with the melodic instruments.
This is pure free play! Children can choose which instruments to play, how to play them, when to move to another instrument. I’m going around helping kids explore, modelling playing techniques, answering questions and supervising their exploration. It’s loud, it’s fun and it’s totally hands-on!
After 12-15 minutes we swap the groups over, for a whole new set of challenges and instruments to explore. When the children have thoroughly explored all the instruments it’s time for more structured play and intentional teaching!
I bring all the children inside and conduct them as an orchestra – this is so much fun! It can include starting and stopping, loud and quiet (forte & piano), getting louder and softer (crescendo and diminuendo), fast and slow (allegro and adagio), and rhythm activities while I sing a song.
The orchestral activities are flexible – we will consult with you and tailor them to your student’s abilities and development.
Then it’s time for reflection, discussion and questions. Children reflect about their experience, and they can ask about anything we have done, about how I make the instruments, how they can make their own instruments, about recycled materials … whatever they are interested in, I can help.
This section is flexible – we will consult with you and tailor it to your children’s abilities and development. For some children reflection and discussion may be more appropriate than questions (questions can be hard!), but many children will ask spontaneous questions throughout the program.
Remember! Child’s Play Music is also perfect for your school’s fair day, sports carnival, or any other whole of school activity day. See our community events page for information about our free-flow programs.
Child's Play Music 