The music activities and free printables in this post have been created to help the kiddos relate to music concepts in other ways, making them easier to understand.
Sometimes thinking about music in other terms, is the best approach to take, especially with a Montessori-inspired flare.
Dinomite, Bulldozer, and Princess know how to read notes on a staff, when given a control.
They know how to play through a piece of music.
However, they struggle with pitch identification, rhythm, tempo, and dynamics.
These music activities have been the perfect way to help the kids learn these concepts!
Montessori-inspired Music Activities with Free Printables
Red Light, Green Light with Music Signs
Understanding signs in music can be a bit difficult for some.
I decided to relate double bar lines and repeat signs to traffic lights.
When you play through a piece of music and see a double bar line, it means it's time to stop.
If you see a repeat sign, you continue to "go" or play.
To help the kiddos visualize what to do, I've added a mini match box car, and am treating the line of music as if it's a track for the car to drive in.
The kiddos dip the car in paint and drive across the line of music, depending on the final music notation, they'll either stop, or continue to drive back to the beginning of the piece, and repeat the "race" again.
Kiddos may need to dip their car in paint several times along the way. Bar lines make great "pit stops."
I had so much fun selecting sheet music for this activity. Because I am only teaching the concept of repeat signs and double bar lines, it doesn't matter how complicated the piece looks.
Source: I created the printable for this activity. The Music Activities Printable Pack 1 is a Subscriber's Only Freebie. For your free copy, follow the directions at the bottom of this post.
Music Dynamics Sorting Activity
My kiddos know the difference between loud and soft, but to remember the words forte and piano, along with their symbols is a bit more difficult.
Perhaps it's because they only see the words used in music. In this activity I apply the words to sounds outside of music.
The kiddos will sort objects, placing them under the correct dynamic marking.
Control cards are provided so they can check their work.
Objects that make loud sounds have labels bold faced. Soft sounding objects are not bold faced.
The cards can be used in place of objects if they aren't available.
Source: I created the activity for this printable. The Music Activities Printable Pack 1 is a Subscriber's Only Freebie. For your free copy, follow the directions at the bottom of this post.
Music Tones in Nature
Dinomite and Princess struggle with identifying pitches as low and high.
Sometimes they confuse pitches with dynamics.
Other times they mix up pitches, thinking low is high, and high is low.
I've introduced bells to them, trying to help them understand the sequence of pitches, but they struggled A LOT.
Bulldozer on the other hand did amazing and seems to have close to perfect pitch.
This activity is designed to encourage them to forget about the piano and bells.
Instead they'll think and listen to various natural sounds and determine if they are low, medium or high. Once they remember the natural sound pitch labels,
I'm hoping it will help them identify correct labels while playing various musical instruments.
The kiddos will look at the cards and imagine the sounds they might hear in the pictures.
They will listen to corresponding sounds on the sound machine as a control.
Then they will place the picture cards under the correct label.
We will do this together several times before they complete the activity on their own.
The boys use the sound machine every night to help them sleep and love the various sounds.
It is very easy to distinguish low versus high pitches on the machine.
Source: I created the printable for this activity. The Music Activities Printable Pack 1 is a Subscriber's Only Freebie. For your free copy, follow the directions at the bottom of this post.
Music Conducting 101
My kiddos love watching conductors and have asked if I could teach them the skill.
Without hesitation I graciously agreed.
Conducting is a fantastic way to teach kiddos about rhythm and tempo.
It involves movement of the body, listening skills, and provides a natural control, whether conducting a group of people, or trying to conduct using a metronome.
In this activity the kiddos will learn the value of a quarter note as one beat.
Using the Wittner 903014 Taktell Super-Mini Metronome, Black
, they will practice conducting two beats per measure, then three beats, and finally four beats.
, they will practice conducting two beats per measure, then three beats, and finally four beats. The metronome allows them to conduct at various tempos, first slow, and then faster over time.
A mirror is provided as a control for their movements.
The kiddos are so excited to try this out.
I was hoping to find a conducting baton that was their size to add to the tray, but none of our local music stores carry them anymore. Oh well.
Source: I created the printable for this activity. The Music Activities Printable Pack 1 is a Subscriber's Only Freebie. For your free copy, follow the directions at the bottom of this post.
Fractions in Music
My kiddos may not understand note values, but they LOVE fractions.
Why not apply math to music, to help them better understand things?
This activity can be done in two ways.
First, the kiddos will sequence note values from biggest to smallest, using the Learning Resources Fraction Tower Activity Set
as a control.
as a control. I'm hoping this will help them understand how each music note received it's name.
Once the kiddos feel comfortable with their sequencing abilities, they'll create a note value chart with the fraction pieces.
This will come in handy as they start to understand and analyze beats per measure in the future.
Source: I created the printable for this activity. The Music Activities Printable Pack 1 is a Subscriber's Only Freebie. For your free copy, follow the directions at the bottom of this post.
Divisions of 4 with Montessori Beads: Understanding Time Signatures in Music
The kiddos may be a bit young to understand time signatures and how different note combinations can make up four beats in a measure, but they're not to young to come up with their own number combinations, especially when using Montessori Checker Board Beads
.
.When choosing this activity, the kiddos will lay out several yellow bead bars representing the number four. Each bead bar represents one measure of music.
They'll place a tooth pick in between each yellow bead bar to represent bar lines.
Then they'll create different bead bar combinations that add up to four, using the yellow bead bar as a control.
Eventually they'll be ready to label and write rhythms they've created and play them on various percussion instruments.
Music is a combination of all subjects.
When students are struggling to understand specific musical terms at the piano, or while learning any other instrument, sometimes the best thing to do is to teach musical concepts in other terms, using different subject areas and interests.
It not only will enhance their understanding, but will teach them that music is everywhere.
This article is part of the 12 Months of Montessori Learning.
For more Montessori music ideas, be sure to visit the links below.
Amazing Blogs involved in the 12 Months of Montessori Learning Series
Natural Beach Living ~ Living Montessori Now ~ The Kavanaugh Report ~ Mama’s Happy Hive ~ Child Led Life ~ Grace and Green Pastures ~ The Pinay Homeschooler
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If you enjoyed this article, you may also like the resources below.
.jpg "6 Tips When Combining Music and Montessori in the Classroom")
or 
, he's choses this activity first everyday, completing it himself without any help. 
. Inside the book there is a a picture on each page. Below is a line for the kiddos to write the name of the object in the picture. If the kiddos are unsure of the proper spelling of a word, they can use the blocks to create the word they need.
. 
. The kiddos can create and visualize each number. As they create numbers, they present them verbally to me so I know they understand how to pronounce them. They're getting better and better at this.
