The Music One-to-One project is developing ways of working in music with parents and carers and their under two-year-olds with particular emphasis on playful, communicative activities. Practitioners try not to take a strong, controlling lead; the sessions are informal, with lots of free play, chat and discussion.
The Music One-to-One practitioners have spent a lot of time collecting a wide range of interesting resources to bring along. Although we have some special items of musical equipment, we also show how simple, everyday items can become valuable playthings and encourage parents to observe how their children play with these simple things and what they are gaining. See the Music One-to-One website for video clips of typical activities at www.education.ex.ac.uk/ music-one2one.
For a session using the well-known idea of treasure baskets, shakers were made from mineral water bottles and small boxes filled with beans, rice or beads. There were also small bells, windchimes and seedpods that rattled.
Baskets were themed - for example, one was filled with a collection of wooden materials that rattled or knocked against each other, including eggcups, wooden spoons, rattles, pods, curtain rings and small shakers and maracas.
Proving very popular have been two large plastic water-cooler bottles.
These have been a quarter filled with water and sparkly sequins. Toddlers can roll them, sit on them, squash them and play them as tom-toms. The bottles resonate when tapped, thumped, squashed and rolled. The sequin water inside adds a swishing sound and interesting visual effects.
* Music One2One is funded by the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation and Youth Music.