Drumming patterns

Ages 6 to 8 Read together, then try alone · about 20 minutes

Read together

A pattern repeats. Boom, clap, boom, clap.

Music is built from patterns of loud and soft, long and short.

Do it

1. Make a drum from a pot, a box or a tin with a rubber-band skin. Use wooden spoons as sticks.
2. Play a pattern: boom, boom, clap. Ask your child to copy it.
3. Make up a new pattern and teach it to the family.
4. Play together at a steady beat, then soft and loud.

Talk about it

• Can you play my pattern back?
• What pattern did you make?

For the grown-up

Rhythm links music and maths. Drumming in a group builds listening and turn-taking. Protect hearing and keep the volume comfortable.

Mark as done

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Where this comes from

• World Health Organization, Make Listening Safe initiative, guidance on safe listening levels
• Kodály Institute, pedagogical materials on rhythm and singing in early music education

Written with AI assistance and checked against the sources listed. Please read it before sharing it with a child.