A Yearlong Music Curriculum for Kids

I try to post about a variety of subjects here to inspire different kinds of learning with kids, but I think this is the first time I’ve posted something about music.

Every Star is Different shares her yearlong music curriculum, and I really like her ideas. All her kids are learning piano, and she has a musical concept to focus on each month (such as scales, opera, marching band, etc.) and a musical for the kids to watch each month (starting with Newsies, so you know it’s going to be good).

I love this idea even if you aren’t developing a full curriculum for your kids. It’s a great idea to mindfully introduce them to different kinds of music, different styles — though this is mostly classical — and a range of musicals to help them understand the range of music that is out there.

Do you do anything to teach your kids about music? We listen to jazz on Sunday mornings, but that’s about it. I’d love to hear your ideas.

[Photo via Every Star is Different.]There are lot’s of music learning resources available online too. Check out these Music games and Learning tools and Music Learning Flash Cards.

When my daughter was younger she had a ton of LEGO bricks, and I’m honestly a little sad we got rid of most of them because there are so many fun things to do with LEGOs outside of the kits you bought them in.

I love seeing all the ideas people have for LEGO building challenges, and I have shared some ideas for LEGO games before, but I saw one on Pinterest the other day that I felt was worth a mention.

This one is for those ’80s and ’90s kids who spent sick days home from school watching “The Price is Right”: LEGO Plinko!

For those who don’t know about Plinko, the original was a giant peg board set up at an angle and the contestant would drop a flat disc at the top of the board. As it moved down the board it would hit the pegs and change the way it moved, and there would be different prizes in the slots at the bottom where the piece would land.

This version from Play Party Game works on the same principle, using LEGO bricks to make the game board and marbles in place of the Plinko disc since your game board isn’t flat.

You can really use whatever bricks you have for this build, and while it shows all the pegs the same size and evenly spaced, you can play with different configurations and see what happens. It’s engineering and a game!

And while you’re playing with your LEGOs, make sure to check out this post from Kids Craft Room that includes minute to win it style games you can do with LEGO. From speed sorting to tower building as fast as you can, these ideas are sure to get you thinking about different ways to play with LEGO.

And if you need even more ideas, check out my post with LEGO building challenges you can print out for kids (and adults!) to try.

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