Spring is in full bloom here and in light of recent events, I designed a listening to nature activity for the students. We listened to “Garden Pond” on the “Relax Melodies Premium HD” app on the iPad ($2.99). This was a time for students to relax and work on their listening skills. For preschool students, they listened, told me what they heard, and I drew a class picture. The elementary students drew their own pictures while listening.
It was wonderful to observe how the students listened, identify what they heard, and where their imagination went while they were listening. Our pictures emerged with bird, fish, frog, water, flowers, trees, caterpillar, sun, crab, deer, mountain, whales, and the wind. The app only played five different sounds: frog, water, tree, bird, and wind. They had great interpretations of the sounds: “The tuna fish is swimming.” The bird is making a nest.” “The bird is flying.”
This listening activity was good for active listening and developing students’ auditory skills. The students sat still, were present, and enjoyed listening to the sounds of nature. In such a busy world, we do not do that as often anymore and it is something we need to take time out of our day to do. And to teach our children how to do it.
After spending several minutes of listening and drawing, students were calmer and more relaxed. This was a good release for the students who have been working hard on the musical and doing testing all week.
Music Therapy Moves 