Handmade Instruments

I just started my first year teaching elementary music, and I have had so much fun helping the students discover the many avenues of music. Each day we sing songs, listen to music, play instruments, and dance on the dance floor. We learn the basics of music theory and music history, and I've realized that the more fun I have, the more fun the students have.

The most recent project we've accomplished is making our own instruments. All grades K-5 took part in this activity, and the success rate was higher than the average homework turn-in rate! Yay for music! With our handmade instruments we sang and played along to "Old MacDonald Had a BAND!" We marched around the classroom. We played a rhythm guessing game, and we did some rhythm sight-reading. The kids loved it, and the noise was worth the experience!!

The guitars were pretty dang creative. We also had some awesome drums and shakers. Above you saw a harp as well. Below is a finger piano made out of bobby pins on wood. My favorite was an instrument called a drumbone. It was something the Blue Man Group would have on stage. Sorry I don't have an awesome picture or video to go with that.

Below is a sneak peek of things to come- my most incredibly professional-looking project ever!