EXPLORING GOURD SHAKERS!
Today we took a look at gourd shakers and instruments of all kinds, including maracas, banjos, sitars and other musical items made with things like pumpkins and gourds!
Here are a few highlights you can ask your child about:
1. Can you draw the shape of a gourd?
(We did this on the dry erase boards today--we drew a few different types!)
2. Is a gourd a fruit?
YES! It is! Why? Because it has seeds! Yes, all things with seeds are considered fruit!
All of our students explored gourd instruments today, and our younger classes also enjoyed songs with butterfly puppets, peekaboo songs, and other movement melodies.
Our older classes had more in depth discussion of the gourds, what they looked like inside, how gourd instruments made sound, and what varieties there are. They also got a neat opportunity to watch a woman playing a pumpkin banjo and also a fun clip of a foreign film, "The Magic Gourd". (See below for the Youtube clip!) The film is Chinese, and it is a tale of a boy who finds a magic gourd while fishing one day, that grants his wishes. View this short film on youtube! (click here).
I thought it was a fun, multicultural "cherry on top"! :)
