Drum Sparks!

What is the shape of a drum?
What sounds can a drum make?
What are the people in the picture doing?
Can you play your drum and dance and sing at the same time?
What colors are the people in the picture wearing?
How many drums do you see?
Can you make a high drum sound and a low drum sound?
Can you make a quiet drum sound and a loud drum sound?
Can you count with your drum? Try counting to four again and again. Try counting to three again and again. 
Some songs go by threes and some songs go by fours -- can you think of a song that goes by threes? One that goes by fours?
How many different ways can you hit your drum with your hands? Knuckles, fingertips, palms? 

Drum Activity!

Method 1 (Virginia)

You will need an empty coffee can with both ends gone. You'll also need two fabric circles, some string or yarn, Tacky glue, some Modge-Podge or some other stiffening glue, a paper bag, and markers or paints. 

First, cut out a strip from the paper bag to cover the outside of the can. Decorate it with markers and stickers, crayons, paint, whatever! Make sure to use lots of D's! Stick it on to the outside of the can with tape or glue or even mounting squares, making sure that it is firmly fixed all over. Cut two circles from your fabric, using the top of the coffee can as your guide. Leave three or four inches of room around the can so you can pull the fabric down over the sides. Don't worry about making a perfect circle -- just draw a circle bigger than the coffee can, and cut it out. 

Now, run a bead of glue around the top of the can. Stretch the fabric over the top of the drum and press it into the glue and hold for a few seconds. Now, stretching the fabric as tight as you possibly can, wind the string around the can to hold the fabric down firmly. We used black cotton string. Once you have about eight laps of string on the can, glue down the end and pull the fabric taut again. It's good if the glue is still wet, so you can get it very tight. Do this to both sides. Next, get your Modge-Podge and paint all over the drum head and down around the yarn. Let dry!

To make mallets, get some Sculpey or other bake-able modeling clay. Make round balls on the ends of two short dowels. Bake according to the directions, and there are your mallets. Paint to match your drum! 

Make LOTS of drums so you can have your friends over for a drum circle. Mommy loves it when you hit the drum very hard in a consistent rhythm for a solid hour, so go for it!

Method 2 (California)

You will need a wooden cannister. Cut a muslin square to make the drum head. The first order of business is decorating the drum head.  First, with sharpies - the kids draw shapes and letters, and the mamas quirt rubbing alcohol onto the ink to make the watercolorish kind of stuff.  Decorate the bottom of the drum however you like, with cool african animal stickers if you have some! Next put in some rice to make a cool sound, and glue the fabric onto the drum. After the glue dried, fussy cut some animals from some groovy animal fabric and have the kids place the animals where they want them. After the placement of the animals, modge podge the heck out of the drums. 

Now take a nap! :) By the time Irene woke up, the modge podge had dried and her drum was READY to test out. Irene thought it was pretty great - although she didn't let me take any pictures of actual drumming...we'll try again later.  She DID decide after some drumming that the stickers should be on the TOP not on the bottom. Hopefully they will stay there - we'll see.  Might have to modgepodge the drum again.

Drum Journal!

East Coast Branch: Norfolk, VA

Benny and Jordan got started immediately with their drum construction, and it still took over two hours to finish! We took  time to write D on the chalkboard and with markers, and we also played a lot! While the mallets were baking, we sang songs and played other drums and marched around. It was a fine time.

Wait, you WANT me to hit something? Well okay!

West Coast Branch: Rohnert Park, CA

So, today the Rohnert Park group took a little field trip to the San Rafael Campus to make drums with Miss Rose Myers and her mama.  Unfortunately, Kristen didn't bring her digi cam and had the wrong lens for her regular camera - but she DID take some pictures.  Rose's mama, Tanya, took 2 pictures w/her digicam before the batteries sadly conked out.  But we had LOTS and LOTS of drum fun! Before we even started making the drums, Miss Rose found the canister and did lots of taking off the lid and putting it back on.  Then Miss Irene started drumming on one part and Rose drummed on the other part. The girls had fun drawing with the sharpies on the fabric that we decided to use for the drum head. The mamas put a Big D and a little d on the drums and we talked about the sound that D makes - dddDRUM!  Mama Tanya had some cool African Animal stickers, so the girls put them on the bottom of their chosen drums.  They did a great job at sharing (not easy for a 19 month old and a 26 month old) the stickers and putting stickers on one another's drum. We all took a lunch break and talked about our drums and what we were going to do with them and how we could beat the drums when everything was all done. The mamas put some rice into the drum base for a fun "rain" sound, then tacky glued on the colored fabric and then we let the girls put the fabric animals wherever they wanted to on the drums.  Again, lots of sharing ensued.  Mamas Tanya and Kristen were very proud! The drums weren't dry before it was time for Kristen and Irene to leave - but when Irene woke up from her nap, the drum was ready enough for some good drumming and beating. All in all, great fun was had by all.

More Drum Pictures

This week's phonics words are:
BAD
DAD