Instrument introduction for pre-school
THE right chord was struck for pupils at one pre-school as a three-week music project saw children clapping, singing and dancing along to instruments they had never seen before.
Pupils of the Kingfisher pre-school group from Acorn House have been working with some of the senior pupils from Ladies’ College as part of the project, which aims to allow the pre-school children to experience and be introduced to a variety of musical instruments.
Listening to Wheels on the Bus and If You’re Happy and You Know It played on a guitar, several children danced and stamped their feet as they sung along and enjoyed the atmosphere created by the instrument.
Evelina Pates, 3, said she liked one sing-along in particular.
‘I really liked Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,’ she said.
‘It’s been fun and I got to sing too.’
Some of the children had never heard some of the musical instruments, which included drums, guitars, trumpets and a flute, which were on display, let alone seen them played in front of them.
Edward Wilson, 3, said seeing the guitar had been good.
‘I really liked it,’ he said.
‘We made animal noises for Old MacDonald Had a Farm, that was fun.’
The pre-school follows the Early Years curriculum, which recently introduced a curriculum for music, with the initiative coming about as a result of this.
The interest arose from an Early Years workshop conference titled A Joyous Childhood which curriculum leader Anne Liu and another member of staff attended earlier in the term.
‘It seemed like a great idea to get the pre-school children involved, having participated in the workshop at the conference on music,’ she said.
‘I was really inspired to initiate these opportunities for them to see and listen to real musical instruments.
‘The children have really enjoyed it, I think they particularly liked the drums and some have even had a go with the bow on the cello.
‘They have been so animated and embraced it completely and who knows, some of them may even go on to become musicians in the future and all from something like this initiative giving them that opportunity.’
