Make your own musical instruments and your own music -- loud and soft.

Materials:

• Bells from a craft or sewing store
• Elastic or yarn

Directions:

Some of the children may be able to help you to lace the bells onto elastic bands or pieces of yarn to make simple musical instruments. Give them a chance to shake the bells and see what kind of sounds they make. Then you can suggest:

• Shaking the bells hard for loud sounds
• Shaking the bells softly and quietly
• Shaking the bells as fast as they can
• Shaking the bells along with a song or rhythm that you clap

You can play a favorite record or provide other music and see if the children can play their bells to the rhythm of the songs. You might want to talk about the importance of being able to stop when it is time to stop. Children might want to take turns being the "conductor" who tells the group when to stop and start, or how fast or slow they should play.

After making noisy sounds, there might be an opportunity to talk about the value of quiet time. You might begin by talking with the children about a time when you felt you needed to be alone and have some quiet time by yourself. Where did you go? What did you do? See if the children can tell you what they do when they want some quiet time, such as telling a grownup it's too noisy or finding a quiet place in the room.

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