Hang a few old pots and pans where a toddler can reach them, hand over a wooden spoon, and you have made an outdoor music wall. It costs nothing, it uses things already in the kitchen, and it turns a patch of garden into a place to bang, clang, and experiment with sound. A windy day adds its own music as the pans knock together. Ages 1 to 3.
What you need
- An assortment of metal pots, pans, and utensils. A whisk, a metal sieve, and a couple of pan lids all make good, different sounds.
- String.
- Something to hang them from. A clothes drying rack works well, or a washing line, a fence, or a low tree branch.
- A wooden spoon or two for beaters.
Setting it up
Tie a length of string to each pot, pan, and utensil and hang them from your frame. Use different lengths so everything sits at a different height and the pieces do not all clatter into each other. Try to get the heaviest pans low and within easy reach, and leave a lighter utensil or two up high for stretching. That is the whole setup.
How it plays
The first discovery is the best one: hit a pan and it makes a sound. From there a child works out that the big pan and the little pan sound different, that a metal whisk clinks while a heavy pot booms, and that hitting harder makes more noise. All of that is early cause-and-effect and sound exploration, and the swinging, reaching, and whacking is good gross motor work for the whole body too.
If your child is wary of sudden loud noises, this is a gentle way to meet them on their own terms, because they are the one in charge of every sound. Leave the music wall up and the wind will keep it playing softly between visits, and a quiet clang from the garden is a lovely thing to hear.
For more activities that get the whole body going, our gross motor flower number line mixes movement with counting, and our animal balloon herding is another easy way to burn off energy outside.