Musical Guessing Game
Make homemade instruments and then play a related listening game

Introduction
In the Maya & Miguel episode “Papi Joins the Band,” Miguel, Theo, and Andy form a band for a talent show. Santiago offers to play guitar and guide the band. At first, Santiago, a.k.a. Papi, is a welcome addition. But, Miguel and friends soon tire of Santiago’s musical advice, and want to form their own ideas and musical skills.

In this activity, your child will use listening and thinking skills to show his/her understanding of sounds made by homemade musical instruments. Movement and English, Spanish or your own native language will be used to communicate funny commands.

Materials:

• 1 plastic and 1 metal coffee can
• small boxes
• food cans or containers
• ingredients/objects for filling containers: rice, beans, small rocks, sand, buttons, marbles, crumpled up foil, water, sticks, straws, keys, coins, etc.
• tape for securing lids

Directions:
This musical guessing game will help reinforce listening skills. The goal is for your child to make some simple musical instruments, name them, play with them, and then be able to tell them apart by their sounds.

• be creative, combining ingredients and items in whatever way you choose
• tape lids securely so ingredients won’t come out
• name, decorate and label each instrument
• list what ingredients or items are inside each instrument
• play each instrument and become familiar with its sound

To play the musical guessing game, take turns blindfolding each other and playing the instruments. Keep score on who can correctly guess each instrument’s name and sound. The fun thing is that the ingredients can be emptied and new instruments can be created at any time using different containers and ingredients.

Talk About It: Ask your child to tell you how he/she knew each instrument’s sound. Ask your child to share his/her thoughts about playing a real instrument.

Take It Further: Invite your child to use his/her listening skills in other ways!

• Clap your hands to tap out a rhythm. Have your child listen then clap the same rhythm back to you. Do it different ways: slow, fast, loud, soft. Now invite your child to clap some rhythms for you!
• Take a walk and stop for some quiet time to close eyes and listen to the sounds around you. Invite your child to tell you what sounds he/she hears. Talk about how “city sounds” might differ from the sounds in a park or zoo.

With a Group: Play Monkey See, Monkey Do!
Invite immigrants and new language learners to join in and feel right at home with your group by taking part in these silly commands. Even if they are not fluent English language learners or speakers, they can imitate these motions by watching others. As each command is given, ask children to repeat the command in English. Then ask new language learners to say the command in their own native language for everyone to repeat.

• Stand on your right foot and scratch your left ear.
• You are a bird. Spread your wings and soar in a circle.
• Salute and march like a soldier.
• Twitch your nose and hop like a bunny.
• Gallop like a horse.
• Do the chicken dance.
• Skip forward. Skip right. Skip left then skip back to return to your starting place.
• Grab your heels and walk like a monkey.