Friday, June 7, 2013

Rhythm Sticks In The Classroom

By Lora Jones


When considering a learning tool that is inexpensive to obtain and easy to use in numerous ways, it is tough to beat the advantages offered by rhythm sticks. Including them in any classroom setting will result in many activities that you and your students will all love. All educational environments can benefit from having them available.

If you would simply like to purchase sets of rhythm sticks, then you will find that it is very easy to come by them. Educational supply stores and music stores alike often keep them in stock, both in online and physical locations, so you are sure to find a spot where they can be ordered or just picked up. This is a good option if you need large numbers quickly, and may not have the time to assemble them yourself.

If you would like a project that involves a little more creativity, it is also very easy and inexpensive to make them for yourself. To get started, you will only require the sticks themselves and whatever you want to have available for decoration. The sticks are simple wooden dowels, stocked at any hardware or craft stores, and paint or other simple decorations will be more than enough to suffice for the other part of the project.

When assembling your own custom set, you may want to have the children who will be using them do most of the work so that they can be proud of the end result. Kids will love choosing their favorite colors and patterns to come up with a unique result. Involving them in this step will make them feel special every time they are used for an exercise.

If you would like to have a few sets that sound just a little bit different, you can vary the basic assembly a bit to achieve this effect. The dowels themselves can be cut into slightly different lengths and widths to produce various different tones when they are struck, and you can also wrap cloth around parts of them to change their effects. Try a few varied combinations and see what you can come up with.

After the assembly of this project, rhythm sticks can be used in multiple different types of exercises. Many of the uses you will find for them will, naturally, be musical in nature, but they will have the added benefits of improving and testing pattern recognition and memory. For instance, you can start by tapping out a simple rhythm and asking them to play it back to you.

Playing basic musical tracks can also be effective, as students will love to tap along with the beat. You can also supply different safe surfaces that they can tap on to hear the different effects that are produced. This can be a great way to introduce musical instruments to the group, and perhaps to get some of them interested in trying one that is a bit more involved.

The simplicity and usefulness of rhythm sticks in the classroom make them a perfect tool for teaching. The uses discussed here are only the very beginning of what they can bring into the educational environment. As instruments of learning, their true functions are limited only by your students' imaginations.




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