Creative Music Activities for Preschool

Sing

• Have preschoolers sing old favorites that are easy to learn and remember, including "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," "Old MacDonald" or "I'm A Little Teapot." Promote memorization with educational songs that teach children as they are sung, such as the "ABC Song" to learn the alphabet and "Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" to learn the parts of the body. Make up your own song to teach preschoolers, such as a days of the week song, which is sung to the tune of "If You're Happy And You Know It."

Learn

• Create a learning environment for preschoolers with creative music learning activities. Use coordinated movement exercises to help preschoolers discover beats, rhythm and tempo. Play music with a steady beat and have students follow along by clapping to the tune of the song. Begin to play music that speeds up and slows down once children get the hang of following the beat.

Dance

• Encourage movement through music with dance activities. Have preschoolers dance interpretively to a song and then freeze when the music stops. Try to have them hold the position, then start up the music again with a different song. Children may sit or stand in a circle for classic song-and-dance games such as the "Hokey Pokey," "Ring Around The Rosy," "Skip To My Lou" or "London Bridge."

Create

• Use art to have preschoolers create their own instruments through innovative craft projects. Create musical shakers by filling a jar, tin can or plastic cup with buttons, uncooked rice, coins or other small objects. Have preschoolers experiment with their musical shakers and explore the different sounds made by the tin, glass and plastic. Turn your preschoolers into a band of drummers with wooden spoons for drumsticks and pots and pans as a set of drums.