Inspired by an activity in Multiple Intelligences in the Elementary Classroom: A Teachers Toolkit by Susan Baum, Julie Viens and Barbara Slatin. Take a square box (or die) and put 4 of your child’s FAVORITE multiple intelligences on the sides
Dancing Outside the Box
Adapted from several online resources, including ArtsWork. When many of us picture ourselves dancing, we think of movements inside a small box (prom-style)–or moving side-to-side with small arm movements close to our bodies. And even for kids that have attended
Sing Like a Bird
Pop Quiz: How many cereal brands can your child name? How about fast food restaurants? Now ask him/her to name all the birds s/he can remember. There are probably just as many bird species in your neighborhood as fast-food brands,
Kine-Simon
Do you remember the old My Simon game that was a family favorite back when we were kids? (Need a memory jog? Play the video at the bottom of this post.) Update that concept with Kine-Simon for some active family
The International Language
Play a song in a language that your child doesn’t know in a style that appeals to him/her. What does it sound like the singer might be talking about? What is it about the music that makes him/her think so? The
Summer Reading Recommendations for the “Music Smart” Child
All ages: Story of the Orchestra : Listen While You Learn About the Instruments, the Music and the Composers Who Wrote the Music! By Robert Levine. The book is divided into two major parts: composers and their associated musical periods,
Using Personality Type to Enhance Music Education
Bonnie TeVelde wasn't always a music school director—she started as an accountant and business operations consultant that helped clients develop their businesses. She was frustrated and started a music education on the side to fill her soul in a way
Personal Soundtracks
I don’t know about you, but my favorite cassettes and CDs as a kid were the movie soundtracks. They were the ones that best “put me in the mood” for whatever it was I needed to get accomplished…or however I
Skillful Singing
For most adults, recalling the alphabet goes hand-in-hand with singing the tune, as do many of the concepts we learned in school. For musical kids, this effect is even more pronounced. Chat with your child about some of the language
Hearing in Color
Using a pitch pipe, have your child picture different colors as you play each note on the scale (e.g. red for C, orange for D, yellow for E, green for F, aqua for G, blue for A, purple for B).