Happy Birthday Mr. Mozart!

     This past week we did a unit on music in honor of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. His birthday is TODAY! January 27th, 1756. This theme was inspired by Robyn's entry in the Creative Curriculum Challenge. Thank you Robyn!
I am a fan of classical music and an advocate of all arts. Even though my preschooler probably won't comprehend the historical significance of Mozart, I knew we would have fun talking about him and doing projects associated with music.

STRAW PAN PIPE CRAFT.
This link to instructions for this super easy craft was fun to do with Marley.  She was happy to help and have an instrument to hold and play. The sound was not what I'd hoped but the project was simple, fast, and enough to capture Marley's attention.

TRASHIN' THE CAMP was SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS!
I took the girls to DISNEYLAND this past week for Homeschool Day and while we were there, I decided to use the Disneyland resources to enhance our music unit.  We went through Tarzan's Treehouse and both my girls had fun playing the musical instruments at the end of the attraction.  I pointed out the instruments and had Marley help me name them. We also stopped to listen to The Pearly Band in Fantasyland.  We love hearing their covers of all our favorite disney tunes.  I like to ask Marley to name that tune.  She listens carefully and usually guesses them pretty quickly. Listening to music and identification is a fun way to get kids exercising that part of the brain that aids audio recognition.

MUSIC APPRECIATION.
I asked Marley what instrument she would like to play if she could play any instrument. She said the violin. I pulled up this video of Hilary Hahn (a very talented violinist), and showed it to Marley. It was a beautiful piece! Marley watched the whole video attentively and when it was over, she said "She did really good!" I adore watching her love for the arts grow.  So special.

WRITING PRACTICE.
I like to write a word out on our chalkboard easel each week and Marley will trace the word as best she can to help her fine motor skills and letter memory. We also review each letter and sound a few times per week.


WRITE YOUR OWN MUSIC.  This is a cute one that young children enjoy.  I took a few feet of butcher paper and drew 5 equally spaced out (about 4 inches apart) lines across, to create the look of blank sheet music.  I then printed several copies of music notes and cut them out.  Then I squeezed white glue all over the butcher paper and let Marley "write her own music." After she was finished, I tried to play her song out on the piano. It sounds silly, but it is fun and made my daughter giggle to hear her unique song played out.