“Where words fail, music speaks.”
~Hans Christian Andersen~

Music is at the heart of every emotion- inspiring poets, writers, and artists.

I use music to inspire my preschoolers to paint.  Oh boy, do I ever!  First I bring in my record player, which instantly becomes the coolest, newest piece of technology children have ever seen.  I take ‘forever’ to show children how it works.  Rubbing the needle under the arm to make a big sound silences children.  They are in awe.

Then, I pull out a record album, something they have never seen, and I tell children, “This is the music.  I’ll put it onto the record player.  Just watch.”

Oh, they watched with wide eyes.

The first piece of music I always play is Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, because the music starts slow and quickly builds to a crescendo.  Again, children are just flummoxed.

As the music plays I become as excited as the music, and I tell children, “Here’s what happens; the music goes into your ears and then into your brain.  Then it shoots out of your fingers like shining stars.  It helps you to paint.”

And that’s how music helps my preschoolers to paint and feel inspired.  We’re painting in earnest, as we prepare for our annual Art Show.  Oh, Beethoven is only one of the many record albums I play.  After all, it takes many kinds of music to inspire many kinds of children.

From classical to rock to Broadway, I play it all.  This year I’m playing Doin’ The Twist by Joey Dee and the Starliters.  Maybe we’ll practice the ‘one two three kick, one two three jump.’

Honestly, Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and Handel’s Water Music are just what children need to listen to as they paint.  After all, we’re preparing for our annual Art Show in April.

Jennie

P.S.  We begin to paint this week, with real artist’s paints in tubes, squeezed onto a palette.  Stay tuned!