Listen to instrumental classical or jazz music and watch your child's imagination soar -- and arms and legs dance.

Materials:

• Music on CD, tape or radio (musical suggestions: Saint-Seans' "Carnival of the Animals," Fantasia Soundtrack, Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker Suite," Vivaldi's "Four Seasons")
• Streamer, scarf, or towel

Directions:

Play music on a CD, tape or radio and ask your child to listen and think about what kind of animal or feeling the music sounds like. Ask your child to move or dance the way he or she thinks the music sounds. Your child might want to pretend about these ideas with the streamer or scarf:

• an elephant with a long trunk
• the blowing wind
• a butterfly
• a tightrope walker

Play music with a different tempo and feeling and invite your child to dance in a way that matches the new music. Music can sound like romping animals or a soft breeze.

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