Music Playdate

Recently, we hosted October playdate #2, a music themed event. This turned out to be one of those gatherings that I wished I had done most everything a little differently. Thankfully, I have forgiving friends that are willing to go with the flow and kids that don't really know the difference, so it overall turned out okay.

We started out with a super cute snack that Samie brought-- drums (fruit cups) and drumsticks (pretzels with marshmallow tops). So creative! 

Abbie can' t wait to dig in!

Jaden particularly liked the snack, and even polished off Cody's uneaten portions.

 Then, we had what was supposed to be music exploratory time. All the kids brought along a favorite instrument or two from home, and we gave them some time to play each other's instruments.

Jaden and Cody try out the boom whackers on the xylophone.

Kenzie and Abbie play the piano and the pipe organ.

 Most of the kids weren't really very interested, though, as the instrument playing lasted all of two minutes. We abandoned ship when Cody started whacking people in the head with his boom whacker...

This next station, however, captured the kids' interest much more. Who doesn't like to bang on water glasses with spoons? :)

The rainbow-colored water made this instrument even more fun! All the kids were very careful, and we only had one minor spill. (hooray!)

After this, I should've gone straight to the instrument-making craft, but it appeared as though the kids needed to get some energy out. So instead, we played a little musical freeze game. I played part of a song for the kids on a CD, and when it stopped, the kids had to shout out, "Freeze!" Then, I gave them directions on how to move around or dance (tiny steps, crawling, waving their arms, clapping, jumping, etc.).

Micah, Abbie, and Kenzie take GIANT steps!

As you can tell, only half the kids got into this game. Jaden and Cody refused to leave my side. Afterwards, I thought it would have been smarter to make the instruments first, and then let the kids do this activity with their homemade instruments. They probably would've been much more excited that way. At least these 3 seemed to have fun! Kenzie watched me especially carefully and followed every direction with enthusiasm. She was super cute.

Finally, at the end of our time together, we made several instruments. We made drums (out of beans and styrofoam bowls), shakers (with rice and small plastic cups), tambourines (using paper plates and bells), castanets (using posterboard rectangles and buttons), and the popular kazoos from wax paper and TP tubes. The kids used markers and stickers to decorate their instruments.

After the fact, I wished that I had pre-made most of these instruments, rather than just gathering the supplies. It was a bit too much to make these instruments with the kids and help them with the marker caps and sticker backs at the same time. Some of the kids (especially Jaden and Cody) got a little restless. As you can see, we made a mess of supplies!

Our two littlest musicians, Hannah and Wes, happily observed the action.

Cody shows off his completed drum... and his guitar shirt. Yes, mommy purposely planned the musical outfits! ;)

 Even though the instrument-making was a bit crazy, the kids all loved their final products! Unfortunately, Micah and Ryder had to leave early, but the rest of us had a final closing concert. Each of the kids picked out a favorite new instrument and then happily played and danced around.

If any of these kiddos turn out to be concert musicians, we'll know where it first began! :)