Sound Cans
It is important to
have a fairly quiet place in which to do this activity.
Objectives
Children between the ages of 4-5 years will be able to place
objects in order by quality, i.e. sound from softest to harshest Cog. IIIB
and children between 3-4 years will be able to match identical sounds Cog. IIIA
and all will be able to describe the quality of a sound heard; e.g., loud,
soft, etc.
Materials
Pairs of jars (not
glass) or cans containing rice; salt; BBs; pennies; corn; cotton balls; water;
beans; etc.
Procedures
1. Seat children in a circle. Give each child a can and keep the
matching can in a box. Tell children to shake their cans and listen. Let each
child in turn shake the can he/she has and ask about the sounds. Is it quiet or
loud? Which one made the softest sound? The hardest sound? Guess what's in the
can. Rocks? Cotton? Feathers? Bells?
2. One by one, shake each of the cans with matching contents and ask children
to identify the sound that matches theirs. When a child thinks he/she has a
match, have other children listen and decide. When agreement is reached, open
both cans to see if the contents are the same.
3. Choose one (older) child to be the director. Ask the director to place the
other children in a row in order according to the sound of the can they have,
softest to loudest. The director conducts a "sound concert". Choose
another director; let the other children choose different sound cans; repeat
the concert. Variation
Find Your Partner: Scatter the children around the room in a large loose circle. Using pairs of sound cans, pass out one to each child. (If you have an odd number of children, choose one to be the matchmaker.) At the "go" signal, children run around trying to find a partner who has a matching sound can. As soon as two children think they are partners, they bring their cans to the matchmaker who opens the cans to see if the contents are the same. Optional: Partners may be given matching labels to wear -- possibly cards with the contents of their sound cans glued on. (This won't work well with a pair of sound cans containing water.)
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