Moving to the music - Video

Moving to the music

Next, ask the children to move to the music, keeping feet very quiet. If you have floaty dance scarves, this is an ideal time for the children to use them to express the graceful musical phrases.

I'll share a secret with you now. When I was a child of this age, we had a radio programme in which we had to pretend to be swaying trees and suchlike. I thought it was daft and didn't realise until later in life that moving to music and doing silly things was FUN. That's why I nearly always join in with the children!

Discussion

After listening and moving to the music, show the video so that the children see the instruments being played - notice that there are two pianos as well as orchestral instruments.

After watching, you might like to respond to the children's own comments and then you could ask, 'What makes this music sound like fish gliding through water?' (Logically, it doesn't - but imagination is a wonderful thing!) Ask for lots of describing words for the music and help the children with including using Elements of Music Words such as tinkly timbre for the high notes on the pianos, and the swishy, gliding sound of the glass harmonica near the end. You can't see it in this video but I suspect that the part is played on a glockenspiel, which will be a bigger version of the tuned percussion instruments with shiny, metal bars that children have in school.

Floaty scarves are lovely to use and you can buy a pack cheaply online.