Happy Tuesday, music lovers! It’s time for another Top 10 Tuesday musical activity, and today we will be playing a game with the hand drum. Before we start, you will need a drum. Here is a picture of my favorite one.

You can find it by clicking HERE and viewing it for purchase on Amazon.com.

This activity is fun for preschoolers or school-aged children through 2nd grade.

To begin the activity, leave the room for a moment while your child hides an object. When you come back into the room, begin to walk around looking for the object. As you get closer or “warmer” to the object, your child should play the drum louder, and as you get further away or “colder,” your child should play the drum more quietly. The volume of the drum should eventually lead you to the hidden object. Once you have completed a round of the game, switch roles. Now the parent is hiding the object and playing the drum, and the child is looking for it and listening to the sounds of the drum for direction.

This activity will musically help your child in two ways:

1. They will learn how to play an instrument subconsciously using dynamics. If they ever learn to play an instrument, this will be a useful skill.

2. The activity will help your child fine tune their listening skills. As a musician, it is important to be able to hear fine nuances within music in order to perfect it. Listening skills are so important in this field.

I hope you have enjoyed today’s Top 10 Tuesday music activity! For a complete list of the Top 10 Instruments under $40 that will help promote music education in the home, click HERE. For an archive of all of the previous activities, click HERE. Don’t forget to check back next Tuesday for more great musical fun, and until then, play on!