Friday 5th June is World Environment Day. This year’s focus is on caring for nature (on social media use the hashtags #WorldEnvironmentDay and #ForNature). Our music-making this week is all about sounds in nature – choose some of the activities below to have a go at.

Spend time outside, listening to the sounds around you. What sounds can you hear? Can you copy any of the sounds? Have a go. Use ‘owl ears’ - pretend to scoop up water using your hands as pretend cups. Tip out the water and then put the cups behind your ears and listen. This is how owls, rabbits and deer hear.

Listen to birdsong and animal calls (recorded or live). Can you recreate any of these sounds using your voice or instruments? Can you identify different bird calls? You can download an app to help you identify which bird is singing!  Many people find birdsong very relaxing. Sit back, close your eyes and listen to the YouTube video below. How does it make you feel?

Look around your garden or another quiet outdoor space.  What can you use to produce sound with?  You might scrape a tree trunk, or tap sticks together, for example.  Can you make a loud/quiet/fast/scraping/silly/calm sound?

https://www.rspb.org.uk/fun-and-learning/for-kids/kids-stories/ - This website has audio stories and stories you can read yourself, about nature.  Can you use instruments or natural resources to add sounds to these stories?  Can you create your own sound-story?

Can you write a song about the sounds you can hear, or the nature you can see? 

To write a song, you could start by writing down a few words that spring to your mind (for example grass, trees, flowers, bees).  Sing or chant those words, repeating them as many times as you like.  You could clap your hands to create a pulse to sing or chant to.

You could extend your song by making sentences from the words.  For example:

I can feel the grass.

I can see the trees.

I can smell the flowers.

I can hear the bees.

You can then compose a melody (tune) to sing these sentences to, or continue to chant them rhythmically.

You can keep your song very simple, or continue to extend it, with more lyrics (words), and maybe a chorus.  

Please send us a video of you performing your song!