Get groovin' in the kitchen with a few simple instruments that will help your child to find the beat and hear the different sounds of percussion.

What You'll Need

• Items found in the kitchen made of metal and wood (wooden spoons, a wooden cutting board, metal skewers, pots and pans) and things that can serve as a drum, such as an empty oatmeal container and a plastic bowl
• A small metal spoon to use as a mallet
• Any recorded music that has a strong beat

Here's How To Do It Help your child to find one instrument in the kitchen from each of the percussion groups: woods, metal and drums. You'll also need to find something to use as a mallet for the instruments that require one (like the pots and pans, plastic bowl or cutting board). A small metal spoon works well as a mallet.

Put on some music with a strong, steady beat and play along, helping your child to find the beat. Switch often to different instruments to hear the various sounds, and experiment with how and where you strike the instruments. Tap and scrape to find new sounds as you and your child march around the house in your own kitchen band parade!

Paul Bakeman is a music teacher in Virginia and Teacher of the Year award-winner.

Updated March 2008