5-piece Drum Set

Product Description

Sensory 4

Skills

• Drumming can increase the proprioceptive input a child receives from his body. This has a direct impact on attention and learning and can help bring a child who is aggressive back to a calm state.
• Children can work on monitoring the amount of force they use through playing the drums loudly and softly.
• Children can work on auditory sensitivity safely when they are in control of hitting the drums and making the sounds. 

Play Ideas

• A child who is deaf or hard of hearing can feel the vibrations of the drums. This is a way he can learn about rhythm and beat.
• Have a child close his eyes. Then have another person play one of the four drumming parts and have the child guess which percussion instrument it was. This works on auditory processing and listening skills as well as memory and recall skills
• This set can be used to introduce different sounds to children.

Adaptation Ideas

• For children that are easily distracted or have more difficulty processing external stimuli, use only one of the drums separately.

Communicative 4

Skills

• Music assists in communication because as children create rhythm and sing along, they are learning to listen (receptive language) and verbalize (expressive language).
• Children learn to share and communicate together as they play simultaneously; one child can sing or play another instrument while the other plays the drums.
• Children can increase their concentration and focus using the drum set. It can help develop communication skills and encourage children to talk and listen to each other. 

Play Ideas

• Use the drums to represent feelings; have a child play out the way he feels.  This is one way for a child to communicate feelings he may not be able to verbally explain.
• Have two children sit together and take turns playing a rhythm.  Have one child play and the other reply once the first has finished her “tune”.  This kind of turn taking introduces the idea of conversation:  listening (receptive language) and replying (expressive language).
• Singing songs promotes speech and language development. Have a child sing a familiar song, such as “B-I-N-G-O” while playing the drums to the rhythm.

Adaptation Ideas

• Limit the number of drums presented to a child. Gradually increase that number as a child’s abilities and frustration levels permit.

Cognitive 4

Skills

• Cause and effect learning is reinforced or learned through playing the drums. When a child hits the drum, it elicits an auditory response.
• Drumming is a great form of stress relief. It also contributes to expression of feelings, leading to mood elevation.
• Drumming can assist with eye-hand coordination by using the sticks to hit the different drums and cymbal. 

Play Ideas

• Turn on your own favorite music. Have a child play the drums to the beat of the music. Increasing a child’s attention span can be encouraged depending on the length of the songs chosen.
• Count out beats by hitting the two drum sticks together.
• When children play the drums, have them play and label concepts/opposites such as loud and quiet, hard and soft, and fast and slow.

Adaptation Ideas

• Limit the number of instruments on the drum set presented to a child. Gradually increase that number as a child’s abilities and frustration levels permit.