For our last R is for Rocks theme activity we explored the sense of hearing and made our own “rock” band.
We gathered our rocks and a few different containers from our recycling bin and around the house. I tried to find containers that were made of different materials, and I also made sure most of them had lids that attached securely.
We started by practicing being very quiet. Then the kids each chose a container and a rock, and we listened as each person dropped their rock into their container. We talked about the different sounds we heard.
Next they spent some time freely exploring with the different containers and rocks. At this point I had not shown them the lids to the containers, so they were focusing on the sounds they heard. I loved hearing them compare the different noises. Their favorite was dropping small pebbles into our aluminum water bottle. They said it sounded like rain.
After a while they moved onto filling up the containers completely, and then I introduced our next step.
I told the kids to choose one container that they wanted to use to make an instrument. Then they added a small handful of rocks to their containers, and we put the lids on. (For safety reasons we did not use the glass container pictured in the second picture above as one of our instruments.)
The kids spent quite a while making music with their instruments. They also ended up making more instruments with all of the containers that had lids. After a while they were really getting into some good beats!
You can find more activities and ideas for teaching kids about rocks on my Pinterest boards. Even though our R is for Rocks series is over, I will continue to add more rock ideas to my Pinterest boards for use in the future.
What “instruments” do your kids use to make music?
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jode@mummymusingsandmayhem
I love this idea and your photos tell a wonderful story…they look so engrossed with their ‘job’. Rocks truly are magical aren’t they? We love them here too! Featuring you on my Kid’s C0-Op post this week…thanks for sharing!http://mummymusingsandmayhem.blogspot.com.au/
Shaunna
Thank you! They were really intrigued by the whole process. So many different ways to explore rocks!
Ann @ My Nearest and Dearest
You have included really fantastic activities in this unit, Shaunna! So much fun and learning in such a variety of ways. Love all the R is for Rock posts!
Shaunna
Thanks, Ann! I seem to say this about all of the activities we do, but we really had a lot of fun with the whole unit. I loved that we were able to incorporate so many different kinds of learning and play. So glad you enjoyed the series!