Sound Lab
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From strumming crib bars to drumming in a garage band, kids always seem to know how to get a bang out of life. Cultivate your child's curiosity with one of these noisy experiments. All you need is a simple mallet: a drumstick, chopstick, or wooden spoon will work fine, or go to musicrhapsody.com for a kid-friendly selection.
What you'll need
- Drumstick, chopstick, or wooden spoon
How to make it
Gather a dozen or so different objects from around the house -- a metal pot, a plastic rattle, a wooden block -- then line them up and hit each in turn to release its sounds. After you and your child have listened to them all, ask her to cover her eyes (or use a blindfold), and see if she can guess which object you're hitting.
Take a walk around your house or neighborhood and use your mallet to tap on the surfaces you pass. Does a door sound different from a recycling bin? A basketball from an iron gate?
Create a kitchen drum set and let your little percussionist bang away while you get dinner ready. Try pots and pans, bowls and cookie sheets, and, of course, a pair of pot-lid cymbals!
