Instrument Petting Zoo

Library program for ages 2 through 8 years old.

1. Gather the children in the center of the room for storytelling/book reading.
2. Do a movement song together.
3. Stations:

Craft station: Create jingle plates. Punch two holes in a paper plate. Thread 2 to 3 jingle bells onto a long pipe cleaner. Thread the pipe cleaner through the two holes on the plate and secure by twisting pipe cleaner ends together. Decorate the plate with streamers and other materials.

Math station: Sort pictures of musical instruments in sorting circles. What is the same about these instruments? What is different?

Science station: Use glass jars filled with various levels of water tapped with wood pencils or sticks to make different tones. Children can change the water levels to create different sounding tones.

Instrument station: Invite area music teachers and Kindermusik teachers to your program with musical instruments that the children can touch and feel and ask questions about.

Notes: The real instruments that children could touch went over well. The children and parents asked great questions. The drums that the Kindermusik teacher brought were the biggest hit. We almost did not have enough jingle bells because some people were taking too many bells. A staff person or volunteer should hand out the bells to insure this does not happen again. The math sorting station was a flop. The children just were not interested in the paper pictures of instruments. This might go over better with miniature instrument figurines. This was a fun program!