Body & movement
Pots-and-pans band
- Builds: Rhythm and copying
- 10 min
- Ages 1–4
- Energetic
- No mess
From the house
- Pots, pans and plastic tubs (tubs are quieter)
- Wooden spoons
- A lid as a cymbal
How to play
- Set up the drum kit on the floor.
- Bang together: loud, then very quiet.
- You tap a pattern (bang-bang-tap) and they copy it.
- March around the room banging along to a song.
Fit it to your child
- Easier: Give them one pot and a wooden spoon and bang along to a song: any banging counts.
- Harder: Make the patterns longer (bang-tap-tap-bang), or only bang on one word of a song they know.
Words to use
- loud
- quiet
- bang
- fast
- slow
Why it helps
Copying a rhythm they hear makes their arms follow a pattern in time, which builds rhythm, timing and coordination.