Celebrate 4th of July with Music Smart Activities

Ahhhh, summer vacation. Your kids have only been out of school for a few weeks. You had great hopes that this summer would be different. But somehow, the kids are already bickering and complaining, “I’m bored.” Thank goodness the 4^th of July is coming soon.

Multiple Intelligences: Music Smart

Lucky for you, there are many fun activities that you can do with your children that enhance Multiple Intelligences. One of the eight multiple intelligences is Music Smart. With the 4^th of July coming soon, Music Smart can add fun to your 4^th of July celebrations.

Characteristics of Music Smart

• Loves to listen to music, sing, hum, whistle, move to rhythm, create & replicate tunes
• May show sensitivity to surrounding noise
• Speaks or moves in rhythmic way
• Awareness of melody
• Creates melody & rhythm

Activities to Develop Music Smart

Kylie’s New Rain Stick

• Let’s get patriotic. Sing-a-long with patriotic songs on YouTube. You and your kids may be unfamiliar with old traditional songs that your parents and grandparents learned in school. Try America the Beautiful; My Country ‘Tis of Thee; God Bless America; Halls of Montezuma; and Yankee Doodle.
• Don’t forget the popular country song God Bless the USA by Lee Greenwood. One of my favorites is Coming to America by Neil Diamond played at full blast.
• Create songs to remember new things (or use familiar tune with new words)
• Perform sound and vibration experiments: i.e. fill glasses with different amounts of water (school age)
• Expose to different kinds of music & instruments. A rain stick is one of my favorites (photo)
• Play nature “music.” I buy souvenir CDs of places I visit, such as The Sounds of Yosemite; The Living Desert; The Sounds of the Grand Canyon
  

  Khloe and Kylie Dancing

• Dance with music; make up a dance, dance silly, do the Macarena, the Twist, Chicken Dance, and Electric Slide
• Provide long ribbons or scarves for children to use while dancing (photo)
• In the car, sing along to a wide variety of music via radio/satellite/CDs
• Use pots and pans to teach rhythm and tones
• Make homemade musical instruments
• Have a parade with homemade instruments and/or rhythm band instruments

Additional Resource

• Blog: Zipper Songs, Monkeys and Bees

Image source: American flag [Pixabay.com]