Ever since Little Bee was a baby, I involved him in "Music Together" classes and exposed him to classical music at home. Unfortunately, I can not play an instrument and that saddens me. However, I was involved in choir throughout high school and college. My husband plays the guitar and also enjoys singing with me. Although my musical background is limited, I still plan to do my best to awaken a love for music in Little Bee's heart. My hope for him is that he will surpass his parents and excel in the musical world. This post is part of the 12 Months of Montessori Learning series and is an introduction to Montessori inspired music for young children.

Music Shelves

On our Montessori shelves this week we have an array of musical instruments to play and learn about. Little Bee has a child-sized guitar, musical bells, CD player, symbols, wooden zylophone, wooden frog, and several rhythm sticks.

Musical Hand Bells

I bought these beautiful Rhythm Band 8 Note Metal Hand Bells on Amazon and this amazing felt educational musical notes set from the "Happy Felt World" Etsy shop. I set up the felt notes on the music mat and encouraged Little Bee to match the colored bells to the matching felt notes. He enjoyed ringing the bell and then matching it to it's corresponding colored note. Although, he can't read the letters of the notes yet, this activity still gives Little Bee a visual image that correlates with a sound because of the matching colors. As Little Bee gets older, we will build on this foundation. To learn how to make your own musical note mat and for more ideas on how to use these hand bells - please visit, Preschool Handbells from the blog Imagine Our Life. 

Rhythm Sticks

Little Bee enjoys playing with his musical rhythm sticks. There are so many fun ways to play rhythm sticks and create different sounds, especially if there is one smooth stick and one ridged stick. Here are a couple YouTube videos as inspiration for playing the sticks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLfEW3SwpdI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aohQFZhihLA

In the photos below, Little Bee is using his sticks to create different sounds. He drums them on the ground, plays them like a violin, rubs them together, gently taps them behind his back, plugs his ears (I'm not sure what sound that makes - LOL!), and vigorously taps the sticks together in front of him.

Comparing Sounds

Little Bee loves to play his guitar just like Daddy does. He enjoys sitting down with his guitar and plucking the strings. We talked about the sound the guitar makes - kind of a "plung" sound. Then Little Bee played his wooden frog and it made a deep "croaking" sound. Next he played the wooden zylophone and it make a light "clacking" sound. Finally we played the loud "clanging" cymbols. We had fun comparing the sounds of the different instruments and attempting to explain what they sounded like in words.

MP3/CD Boombox

I bought this Axess MP3/CD Boombox from Amazon for Little Bee to enjoy playing different CDs that he loves. (Side note: I can honestly give this boombox 5 stars because it has already survived a near death experience from the toddler dumping an entire cup of water into the top of it! Yep! It still works! Little Bee has learned that nothing goes into the "cool" black box except CDs. He is respectful of that now after a long talk.) I gave him a few CDs that I wasn't worried about if they got scratched. I also plan to burn several CDs with classical music for him to pick and choose to listen to as he desires. I want to see if he will develop a preference for a particular sound of music.

Little Bee is able to easily open this CD player and close it. I taped an orange arrow on the front pointing to the play button so that Little Bee can remember which button to push to play his CD. He also knows where the volume on the CD player is. I encourage him to keep the volume at an enjoyable level and not too loud. This is still a work in process! LOL!

Piano

This darling mini piano was what I plunked on as a child. My mother played it beautifully and it holds special memories for me. Now I have inherited it and Little Bee is carrying on the tradition of "plunking" on the piano. I colored coded the notes on the piano keys to match our lettered felt note set that was used with the hand bells. It may not mean much to Little Bee yet, but one day I hope this will be a hands-on visual guide for him. He really enjoys "plunking" on the keys for now. 🙂

In the future, my plan is to join Little Bee when he starts piano lessons. I want to learn to play along side my little boy. I think it will be a challenging and amazing experience that I look forward to tackling!
Thank you for your visit! Please make sure to visit all the other amazing blogs listed below for more inspiration on ways to implement Montessori music in your home.

Follow Mama's Happy Hive's board Music Learn & Play on Pinterest.

Natural Beach Living ~ The Natural Homeschool ~ Living Montessori Now ~ Planting Peas

The Kavanaugh Report ~ Mama’s Happy Hive ~ Study at Home Mama ~ Child Led Life

Every Star Is Different ~ Grace and Green Pastures ~ The Pinay Homeschooler