Tell Us About Your Instruments.

[Meredith Pizzi]

What kind and brand of instruments are you using in your groups with children of this developmental level?

[Victoria Fansler]

I don’t have regular groups of this level yet. I have used scarves and egg shakers with a moms’ group that had several babies this age. I appreciate the recommendation of Jambo chiquitas, because just as you said, the egg shakers have gone straight into several babies’ mouths! I also like the idea of using big, resonant drums for caregivers to play and provide a strong sense of beat for the babies, particularly for the cultural context I work in.

I also have realized that the brand of egg shaker matters. Just today, I broke an egg shaker by leaning on it to imitate a child. I will be getting slightly higher quality shakers in my next order.

[Tori Clark]

In the past, I have used shakers and jingle sticks. I like the timbre and feel of the natural wood mini-maracas by Basic Beat, but I will check out the jumbo chiquitas that Meredith recommended, due the balance of weight she mentioned. I have also used jingle sticks, but I’ve had lots of problems with them. Some of the metal parts can get sharp, and that worries me knowing they will go into little mouths. I like the rattle-style jingles better, where the bells are enclosed and don’t pose a threat. I have never invested in the hand drum/nesting drums shown in the videos, but I definitely want to now after seeing them used in the videos. Also, it’s not an instrument per se, but I’m jealous that I can’t whistle like Elizabeth! I use a slide whistle often for this reason.

[Anonymous]

If you decide to become a Sprouting Melodies Provider Meredith and Beth can help you to in selecting instruments for your program and I believe they also have some connections to help individuals on a limited budget as well.

[Debrah Evans]

Currently, I haven’t worked with any children this age. With the older kids that I work with I stick to egg shakers (because they are old enough to not put them in their mouths), frame drums, and some nesting drums. In the future, in working with children this age, I would definitely invest in the maracas that were mentioned in the video that are both easily washable and weighted, and those with the rounded handle. As for drums, I think small frame drums would be great and maybe some shape drums as well. I think having a smaller set of nesting drums (compared to the big set we have at our facility) would be engaging for the kids. I’m always hesitant to use jingle bells in groups because they often have the cloth handle connecting them and I worry that they can’t be cleaned properly. As far as brand, I think Remo and Basic Beat create sturdy, washable instruments.

[Courtney Kjaldgaard]

I mostly use instruments from brands such as Remo and Latin Percussion. I have mostly Remo drums (big gathering drum, the one with animals around the bottom of it, small and medium frame drums and hand drums, etc.) and I use small Latin percussion mini maracas (plastic) and wooden maracas, as well as tubular shakers. I also have a set of Latin Percussion animal-shaped shakers that are really great for small children – they are big enough that they are not a choking hazard and they are intriguing because of their shape, colour and what they represent (and work really well if you are doing any kind of animal-themed intervention).

[Joanne Van Eycke]

I also really like and use mostly Remo products such as the shape drums, stacking drums and the gathering drum. Their quality is very good as they have been moved around and used often and still look and sound great! I have egg shakers but want to get some chiquitas so I am going to look into the jumbo size that Meredith recommended. Also, I use a guitar with nylon strings as the children like to explore and I feel that it is better for them.

[Janet Buchanan]

I’ve used both the colorful chiquita egg shakers and the natural wooden ones, and they both have good qualities to them. Going along with the other forum topic about stimulation, I think that the wooden ones would be nice for those who tend to get overstimulated–instead of bright reds and blues, they are a lovely brown color and have a nice soft sound to them. In addition to those, I have also enjoyed using instruments made by Basic Beat and Remo, since they tend to be nice-sounding, good quality instruments.

[Peggy Grace]

Through the agency I work with, we have several small rhythm instruments including egg shakers (but not with this age group, chiquitas, maracas, hand bells, shakers, small and large tambourines. We also have 2 gathering drums, ocean drums, paddle drums and sound shapes. Also 3 q-chords, keyboards, scarves and of course, my own guitar. I have some instruments in my personal collection including a djembe, several egg shakers, a guiro, chiquitas and maracas and handbells. I buy most of my instruments from West Music, but I have bought guitars from local instrument stores. Amazon is also a great place to purchase a q-chord as they are sometimes cheaper than what you find at other on-line music sites.

I really liked the suggestion of using the larger chiquitas with the children in this age group. I am going to purchase some of those!

[Megan Neil]

I’m not sure the brand of all of the instruments we have our center but it is a big variety! We have Remo hand drum sets, 2 remo gathering drums a shorter one and a taller one. We have numerous ocean drums but I think it’s more of an unknown brand and I’ve thought of them slightly flimsy. We have some classic paddle drums & a Remo lollipop drum. We have a wide variety of maracas, egg shakers, bells- ones to strap on wrist and animal ones. We also have more instruments that I haven’t explored as much or utilized but I want to!

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