Do you use colorful scarves in your preschool music classes? I’ve never met a child who doesn’t love to play with scarves.
Why should you throw scarves into your preschool music lessons? Let me count the ways!
- Gross Motor Skills: Your kiddos work on their coordination as they wave them around!
- Imagination: Scarves can morph into anything – from magical wands to superhero capes. Let creativity run wild!
- Beat Keeping: It’s an easy (and quiet) way for young children to work on keeping a beat while having a blast.
- Sensory Wonderland: Those vibrant colors and soft textures are a sensory delight that tickles every learning style!
- Safety: Super lightweight and soft, these scarves are as safe as a feather. No bumps or bruises to be had!
You can incorporate scarves into almost any preschool music activity, but here’s an example of an activity that works well with scarves. It’s from my new Scott Joplin Music Lesson Plan, part of my music composer lesson plan series.
First, find a recording of “The Cascades” by Scott Joplin that you can stream to your bluetooth speaker. There are many options for streaming Joplin music performed by various artists; I suggest “30 Greatest Scott Joplin Ragtime Piano Pieces” found on most streaming platforms.
Give each child a scarf and encourage them to wave it in time with the music, mimicking Joplin’s flowing melodies. Have them experiment with high, low, fast, and slow movements, following the musical cues.
That’s it! Such a simple way to get your children to engage with the beautiful music of Scott Joplin!