16 Piano Inspired Music Activities for Kids

Fun music activities for kids inspired by pianos. These musical games are perfect for toddlers and preschoolers.

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As a piano teacher, I have a weakness for clever music activities for kids, especially if they are piano related. Sadly, there's not that many piano crafts and activities for kids beyond traditional music theory worksheets and actual piano lessons. And usually they are geared towards school aged kids and up.

So what about fun piano inspired activities for little ones like babies, toddlers, and preschoolers?

Well, I found 16 awesome piano inspired music activities for kids, including crafts, gross motor activities, sensory play ideas, and lots of free printables! Your kids are going to love learning about the piano with these fun music activities. And meanwhile, I can add these fun ideas to letter P of the ABCs of Music for kids series.

16 Ways to Play & Learn with Pianos {Music Activities for Kids}

1. Giant Chalk Keyboard - A musical twist on hopscotch, this giant chalk keyboard is the perfect outdoor gross motor activity for kids!

2. Piano Loom Bracelet from Loom Love - If the kids are up for a challenge, then try making this gorgeous piano loom bracelet!

3. Piano Quiet Book Page {Free Printable Pattern} - Perfect for babies and toddlers, this piano quiet book page is a great way to expose little ones to the piano.

4. DIY Silent Mini Keyboards from Color in My Piano - Could be a great craft for the kids to make themselves, but it's also a great way to encourage pretend piano play.

5. Tape Resist Piano Craft from House of Burke - Even the smallest of hands can enjoy this beautiful little piano craft.

6. Craft Stick Piano Craft from Tami Baird - It looks like the original idea is from Tami's Piano Studio.

7. Homemade Glowing Floor Piano - Great for gross motor, sensory input, and imaginative play, this giant homemade glowing floor piano is a lot of fun!

8. Music Play on the Overhead Projector - Playing on a vertical surface like we did sure is fun way to learn about piano keys and encourage gross motor and imaginative play.

9. Spell a Keyboard Game {Free Printable} from Color in My Piano - Practice spelling words and find keys on the piano with this simple game.

10. DIY Craft Stick Piano from Deceptively Educational - Explore the science behind the different sounds of various piano keys with this simple DIY project.

11. Animal Keyboard Clothespin Matching Game {Free Printable} from Susan Paradis Piano Teaching Resources - A super cute fine motor activity to help your kids learn the names of the piano keys.

12. Black Key Group Sorting Keys {Free Printable} from Color in My Piano - Let the kids build a piano keyboard with this free printable that I use a lot with my beginner piano students.

13. Piano Inspired Music Sensory Bin - It's set up initially to look like piano keys, but it won't stay that way for long because this sensory bin is just plain fun!

14. Letter P Piano Craft from No Time for Flashcards - This craft is great for working on fine motor skills!

15. Large Free Printable Keyboard from Color in My Piano - Make a giant floor piano with the kids! The kids could also assemble it themselves just like a puzzle.

16. Cover the Keys {Free Printable} from Susan Paradis Piano Teaching Resources - A simple game to practice finding and naming the keys of the piano.

Other Ideas You'll Love

50+ Music Activities for Kids

11 Ways to Encourage a Love for Music in Kids

20 Ways to Play & Learn with Drums

F is for Flight of the Bumblebee (The ABCs of Music for Kids)

Music activities for kids inspired by "The Flight of the Bumblebee."

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"The Flight of the Bumblebee" is one of those amazing pieces of classical music that a lot of people can quickly identify.  And if not, they can probably hear how it sounds like a buzzing bumblebee.  However, a lot of people think it is a stand alone song.  It's not.  It is an interlude for an opera by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov called The Tale of Tsar Saltan.

That's all fine and dandy, but most toddlers and preschoolers aren't going to care that it's from an opera.  So here are some suggestions of how to study "The Flight of the Bumblebee" with little kids, including two free printables!

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience.

1. Combine music and art to make this adorable bumblebee craft.

You can see how we made this craft here.

Here are some other cute bee crafts that you could try making while listening to the music:

• Paper Plate Bumblebee (Teach Preschool)
• Bumblebee Craft (Teach Preschool)
• Free Printable Bumblebee Craft (Learn, Create, Love)
• Queen Bee Handprint Craft (Craftulate)
• Paper Plate Bumblebee (Craftulate)

2. Make a composer craft stick puzzle using an image of the composer, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. 

I used an image of Rimsky-Korsakov that I found here.  I also wrote the composer's name on the edges of the craft sticks to add a literacy component.  However, the literacy component is optional.  I made this puzzle the same way that I did the greeting card puzzles.

3. Explore the sound of bees with this simple buzz basket activity.

Read this bee book about a bee who loses his buzz.  Then have the kids use their ears to pick out what makes a buzzing noise.

4. Fly some pool noodle bees to mimic the music.

The boys and I flew our pool noodle bees around while listening to a recording of "The Flight of the Bumblebee" from this cd.  I encouraged the boys to mimic the music while flying their bees (e.g., flying high when the music went higher, matching the tempo of the song to how fast they flew their bees, etc.).

You can also do this activity using a bee pouch cap finger puppet (from Lalymom) or while wearing a bee headband (from Things to Share and Remember).

Or try playing a game of "Freeze, Bees!" using the pool noodles bees.  Ashley of Momma Doo shared this adorable Freeze, Bees game.  Simply fly the bees around when the music is playing, but stop when the music stops. 

5. Make a bee themed craft stick and write some song inspired words in the salt tray.

Since J is reading, I offered him some of my printable Flight of the Bumblebee music word cards and set up the salt tray.  The words range from music to opera to bumblebee.  They're words that relate to the type of music and or title and composer of the song.  Then using the bee themed craft stick (I just colored stripes and a face onto a yellow craft stick), J practiced his writing and reading skills.  I also played a recording of "The Flight of the Bumblebee" from this cd while he drew in the salt tray.

You can download the free printable here.  There are simple and more complex cards included to accommodate different ages and abilities.

If you have a younger child, then you may wish to encourage them to write letters with the bee stick instead of the words.

I would have loved to use cute bee cards like Suzy Homeschooler did here.  Or, as an alternative to a salt tray, try this sight word smack (also from Suzy Homeschooler), using the music words instead of sight words.

6. Trace bumblebee flight patterns using this free printable.

Grab the free printable and encourage your toddler or preschooler to trace the bee's flight patterns.  You can again pair this activity with a recording of "The Flight of the Bumblebee" from this cd.

After J traced all the lines, he wrote the word "bumblebee" on a piece of paper.  And this was from memory since the word was no where in sight for him to copy!

Be sure to grab the free printable here!

7. Explore tempo and learn about different instruments by watching YouTube videos of "The Flight of the Bumblebee."

After watching the suggested videos, encourage your child to find the corresponding instrument using either the instruments from the Symphony in B or the Instruments Toob from Safari Ltd.  Doing so will help your child learn to identify particular instruments and their sounds.

• Guitar version.  This particular video is a good video to explore tempo as he is a world record holder for the fastest guitar player and plays "The Flight of the Bumblebee" at progressively faster speeds.
• Trumpet version
• Flute version
• Piano version.  Please note that there is a clip of a pole dancer at the beginning of this video.  And the kids might particular enjoy this version as it's played by a kid!

8. Listen to "The Flight of the Bumblebee" while exploring some bee themed sensory activities.

If you have a younger child, perhaps a baby, then some of the above activities may not be age appropriate.  Well, you can always play "The Flight of the Bumblebee" (I suggest this cd) while they try one of these bee themed sensory activities:

• Beehive Pretend Play with Baby (House of Burke)
• Honey Bee Sensory Bin (Sugar Aunts)
• Bumblebee Felt Board Play (Rockabye Butterfly)
• Bee Sensory Bin (The Good Long Road)

Return to The ABCs of Music for Kids page.

C is for Chord (The ABCs of Music for Kids)

Music activities for kids that focus on chords.

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C is for chord.  Not those cords you use to plug in electronic devices or the short form of corduroy pants or the guy who plays Sam in Glee, Chord Overstreet.  However, he was incidentally named after the musical term so there's your random factoid for the day!  Anyway, chords are made up of three or more music notes.  The most common chords are triads, which are what we focused on.  Triads are three notes that are intervals of a third apart, stacked on top of each other like cute little snowmen, as you will see.

Here are five activities, two of which have free printables, you can do to teach your kids about chords.

1. Use dot stickers to visually show how to play chords, while helping your kids work on listening with their ears.

2. J practiced his spelling and reading of the word chord by building another word for our magnetic music word wall.

3. Build snowman chords using the free printable. 

4. Draw a giant chalk keyboard and encourage your child to jump some chords out.  Jump from C to E and than E to G for some gross motor chord building fun!

5. Use Lego to build some chords using the free printable.

You can find all these and more on my Music Activities Board on Pinterest!

Return to The ABCs of Music for Kids page.

X is for Xylophone (The ABCs of Music for Kids)

Xylophone inspired music activities for kids.

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X may be for xylophone, but I bet you didn't know there were so many different ways to play and learn using the xylophone!

1. Make your very own giant rainbow xylophone from recycled materials.  It's a perfect instrument for the backyard.

2. If you can sew, then you can make this simple xylophone quiet book page.  And trust me, it's an xylophone you will enjoy listening to over and over!

3. Have your toddler practice their color matching with this color matching xylophone game.

4. Draw out an xylophone hopscotch game and help your child learn how to spell their name.

5. Grab an xylophone and some dot stickers so you can introduce your child to music composition with this simple music composing activity.

6. Show your child the different parts of the xylophone and then try out this push pin xylophone activity.

7. Make a rainbow water xylophone.  It's a great way to exploring measuring and how it relates to sound, as well as a great way to explore color mixing.

 7. Listen to some music that features the xylophone.  I particularly enjoy this Super Mario Theme video, but probably because I am a video game nerd.  Okay, it is just plain fun too!  My boys also enjoyed it.

8. Try making xylophone tape resist art.

9. We're making magnetic music word cards to put on our freezer, which doubles as our magnet board.  So we made this xylophone card.  It's a perfect way to practice reading and spelling!

10. Explore math and science with this size comparison activity.

And if that's not enough, check out these other awesome xylophone activities:

• Craft Stick Xylophone (Teach Preschool) 
• DIY Wooden Xylophone (Child Central Station)
• 10+ Xylophone Activities, including puzzles, counting games, and a cool lacing card (Confessions of a Homeschooler)

Return to The ABCs of Music for Kids page.