Class Structure

Movement or action songs which develop gross motor skills, agility, balance and co-ordination.

Playing instruments.  We use a variety of percussion instruments.  Each child has their own to play and we generally all play the same one at once. This enables us to focus and to learn to play the instrument properly. Playing instruments teaches careful listening skills and develops fine motor skills as children feel the rhythm and beat of the music and try to play in time, which in turn aids counting and mathematical development. Playing also introduces the idea of participating as part of a group at a basic level and children learn to share and swap their instruments and to take turns at using them.

Live and recorded music. It is very good for children to hear music from a variety of sources and in a variety of styles. It is important to use the voice alone when we are trying to develop a child’s sense of pitch and it is important to carefully select songs that are within a pitch range that a young child can sing. We also like to use guitar so that the children can experience live music, and tend to use this when the children can join in by keeping the beat with their instruments, or by dancing with some of our many colourful props. Recorded music has its place too, and we may use it to get the children thinking about how it makes them feel or for simple things like responding to fast and slow or loud and quiet.

Nursery rhymes involve lots of repetitive sounds and words (twinkle twinkle, row row row etc) and they are good for introducing the idea of rhyming words. They are great for language development and for learning basic phrasing, which is vital for both playing music and speech development.

Lap songs, finger plays and counting songs. These are quieter songs which develop fine motor skills, are fun for babies (lots of bouncing and tickling) and introduce numbers and counting to the older children.