How to Organize a Preschool Marching Band

While not the most common activity for the four- and five-year-old set, a preschool marching band can be fun and rewarding to organize. The key word here, of course, is organize. As we all know, kids love to make noise. But seeing the delight that your preschool class will take in making noise that actually has some kind of melody and purpose will be well worth the time and energy you put into it and their parents will be thrilled.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Room to perform
• Preschool class
• Instruments

Organize a Preschool Marching Band

1. Choose a song. It should be one that has sheet music readily available. Ideally you will have a recording of it to play for the children.

2. Decide which kind and what number of instruments you'll need. Most bands at this age level don't get more complicated than recorders and slide whistles. If the school doesn't have a big budget, ask parents to chip in and buy their children's instruments themselves.

3. Practice with your band, making sure each student knows her part and no one is left out.

4. Design a parade route. For preschool, the route may just be around the room. But if you want to get creative, you could have them march through the school. It might be too much to ask them to stay in step while marching, but it could be fun for them to try.

5. Encourage them to have fun on performance day. It's much more important for them to have a good first musical experience than to be on pitch. And the pictures and videos will be priceless!

Tips & Warnings

• Before you begin trying to assign instruments and teach your preschool kids to play them, get them excited about the prospect of being in a marching band. Get a copy of the DVD "Tune Buddies: Here Comes a Marching Band" at Amazon and play it for them in class (see Resources below). Kids respond to visual demonstration, and the "Tune Buddies" series is just the thing to get them jazzed about music.
• Start off simple. If this is your first time trying to organize a marching band for a preschool class, chances are you don't have any instruments or music. Remember that a block of wood and a stick can be an instrument. A full brass section might be too ambitious for preschool. Pick a song with a simple melody that most kids already know.

Who Can Help:

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Resources

• Check out this childrens' story about marching bands.