Learning how to play the tambourine is simple and requires minimal effort. Both adults or teens who have never played an instrument before, and young children, find the instrument easy to handle. Players don't need to hit the tambourine in a small, confined area to hit the right note. Primarily there are two different areas to strike with the palm of your hand: the center or side cymbals. Some tambourines also offer a clicker style option, wherein users hold a handle and simply slap the ends of the instrument together to the rhythm of the music.
A recorder is slightly trickier to learn how to play, versus an instrument like the tambourine or bongo drums. Students must memorize specific notes and their corresponding holes along the top of the instrument. After getting familiar with the notes, students must then learn how to follow along on the music sheet, matching the necessary notes with the holes on top of the recorder. If a holiday is around the corner, engage kids to learn how to play the flute by providing them with fun seasonal music.
Bongo Drums make a distinctive, fun sound and are small enough to be passed around easily at circle time. Encourage students to hit the drum in various areas on the top, to hear how many different sounds the leather can make. Likewise, holding the drum tightly between your thighs, versus setting it down flat and upright on the ground, also results in varying sounds. Play a song on the CD player while engaging in the lesson, and encourage students to copy the notes and beat they hear with the Bongo drum.
Engage students to pay attention to the music lesson and learn how to play their instrument by spending craft time constructing them from scratch. Hold a recyclable materials collection drive in your classroom for a month prior to this activity. Request that kids bring in tissue boxes, cardboard paper towel and toilet paper rolls, bottle caps, plastic cups and paper plates. Rubber bands, glue, paper clips, feathers, scissors and tape are also necessary. Add decorative fun details like glitter or stickers, and write the children's names on their instruments with a glitter pen.