Over the next term I’ll deliver a community music project to a class of reception aged children in Burley and Woodhead Primary School. This project is based around the book “Hello Spring”, using storytelling and soundscaping to immerse the cohort into a world of creative music-making. Exposure to music during these early years “enhances brain development, language acquisition… and overall cognitive function”, with this project’s creative and “enriching environment”, nurturing their “holistic development” (theearlyyearsnetwork.co.uk, 2023). “Hello Spring” explores emotions such as friendship, frustration, resilience and anxiety. By combining music-making with a book including a wide variety of emotions, the confidence and resilience of this class will increase throughout this project, encouraging the development of their social and emotional skills.
Project Logistics
This project will be run by three musicians and take place over seven weeks, concluding with a 20 minute performance. The first weeks will include two intervention sessions before the main group, taking place in a different, smaller room. This primary school has available musical equipment, such as wak-a-tubes, samba drums, xylophones and smaller percussion boxes, for our use. We’ve also arranged a weekly evaluation session with our mentor, to evaluate each session and any changes needed.
Aim 1
This project has three main aims.
The first is a performance of the book and different soundscapes to the students’ parents and other classes.
Music performance arguably creates the “experience of direct social bonding” and this sense of communal pride and spirit encourages an “intimate connection with the other people involved” (Turino, 2009: 111). These connections support teamwork within the class, vital skills for them to explore and develop during their early years.
Aim 2
Building the children’ s confidence through musical activities.
As each soundscape will be built on ideas and improvisation from the class, it’s vital to create an atmosphere where they’re “free to make as many mistakes as (they) like” (Merrick, 2022). Accepting all sounds as valid, and allowing creative freedom within these soundscapes will support their self-esteem, independence, and confidence. Creating two smaller intervention groups will also support this. A predictable, smaller, and safe environment for more tentative children will help them to process new information and feel comfortable in the main group.
Aim 3
Helping the children manage and express their emotions.
By choosing a book with such a wide variety of emotions, we can explore a multitude of feelings and intentions, using music to identify and regulate these. “Labeling and validating” emotions will help the children to recognise them in the future. (Silkenbeumer, Lüken, Holodynski, Kärtner, 2024). Acknowledging feelings such as anxiety and worry in the book, then creating music around this, will help further their “emotional regulation” whilst encouraging the use of music as a therapeutic tool later in life to “help alleviate (this) stress and anxiety” (Engel, 2023).
Project Benefits
Burley and Woodhead Primary School’s curriculum is split into three primary aims: communication and language, personal, social and emotional skills, and physical development. After conversations with our mentor, we decided to cater this project around these aims. Engagement with music, especially in a group setting “increase(s) communication, coordination… and even empathy between in-group members” (Miendlarzewska, Trost, 2014).
Consistent musical exposure is beneficial for a child’s “auditory perception”, with their response to different musical features, such as pitch, articulation and dynamics, later translating into a “better ability to distinguish sounds in speech” (Miendlarzewska, Trost, 2014). In order to develop the classes communication and language skills I’ll emphasise these different features in games during the warmups and highlight them when creating different soundscapes.
Incorporating soundscapes with varied themes will benefit the children’s development of empathy. When playing and listening to music “people often connect what they have heard to their thoughts and emotions” (Wu, Lu, 2021). One soundscape will focus around the Spring Fairy’s frustrations at spring not having arrived yet. By first identifying these emotions with words, then thinking about what this might sound like, and finally improvising and creating the soundscape, they’ll be able to connect these feelings to sound. This connection is a vital skill for young children to develop as it supports them understanding the “intentions and emotional state of others” (Wu, Lu, 2021). It’s the development of this empathy that will help them regulate their own emotions and establish positive future relationships.
Capabilities Research
Research about ‘ music in early childhood Research about ‘ music in early childhood devNatalie Sarrazin’s research on “music in early childhood development” lists appropriate abilities and goals for children aged 4-5 (Sarrazin, 2016:176):
- “Organise sounds that express a story”
- “Have the ability to step to beat”
- Identify sounds as being “high-low, loud-soft, fast-slow” and “smooth-disconnected”
Sarrazin also suggests our age group may need more “opportunities” to match “pitches and order direction” and play instruments together (Sarrazin, 2016:176). During rehearsals I’ll use repetition of musical ideas and incorporate starting and stopping as a group into games to help combat this.
A child’s physical development is split into fine and gross motor skills. Gross skills involve “walking, running, jumping, and throwing”, whereas fine skills involve the “precise movements of small muscles” such as the “hands and fingers” (Li, Wu, Ye, Zuo, Liu, 2025). Combining movement into different musical activities will help improve these motor skills whilst also ensuring a higher level of energy and engagement within the group. Research shows that “repetitive movements” and “rhythmic physical activities” has a positive impact on the “mobility” of 4 to 5 year olds, with musical activity having an increased development compared to “general physical activity” (Zhao, Deng, Song, Zhu, Sun, Li, Yan, Liu, 2024). Within this project I’ll include a variety of different activities, such as walking around the space to music and keeping in time with the beat. To support the class with this I’ll count the beats of the bars out loud, adding claps and jumps on different beats to combine their fine and gross skills. Developing the physical skills of younger children is vital for their emotional wellbeing and embedding of active habits for the future.
Project Planning
When planning the delivery of this project, it was evident a child-centred approach and integrating movement was vital to allowing the class to experience music, rather than just learn it. This delivery style is reflective of Carl Orff’s Schulwerk, which suggests this experience is reliant on “imaginative and improvised activities” (Zhang, Talib, 2023). Improvisation will be the foundation of each soundscape. Having the children explore what they think each section of the book sounds like and then building a collective, coherent idea will help to develop both their individual “musical skills” and “social and emotional skills such as collaboration… and self-expression” (Zhang, Talib, 2023). Orff Schulwerk also has an emphasis on “movement and playfulness” encouraging children to experience music and rhythm by exploring the space around them (Jiang, 2025). This project will be based around Orff’s three-stage process: imitation, exploration, then improvisation. These project sessions will start with body percussion call and response or movement activities, before introducing instruments. This allows the class to develop listening skills before experiencing different music sounds. Our main activities will then involve improvisation, with a focus on any musical skills we addressed in the imitation and exploration sections of our warmups.
Research on violinist Shin’ichi Suzuki has shaped the environment I’ll create throughout this project. Despite Suzuki focusing on instrumental pedagogy, his use of “repetition” and following the “unique pace” of each child is vital for this project (lauderdalesuzuki.org.uk, 2025). Suzuki argued that children learn best through demonstration and imitation, with a focus on learning music by ear. Encouraging “play(ing) from memory” meant that Suzuki’s students could focus more on “musicality” (britishsuzuki.org.uk, n.d). Throughout this project, ensuring the children are holistically experiencing music, rather than just learning and reciting, is vital for their social development, something the application of Suzuki’s principles support. Suzuki also encouraged playing and learning in “larger groups” (britishsuzuki.org.uk, n.d.). This communal practice is beneficial for children’s self-expression, encouraging them to freely explore music without judgement and subsequently improving their communication skills.
Suzuki’s Principles
(lauderdalesuzuki.org.uk, 2025)
- “A positive and musically immersive learning environment”
(londonsuzukigroup.co.uk, 2026)
- “Character development as the primary goal”
(britishsuzuki.org.uk, n.d.)
- “Playing in public”
- “Group practice”
Intervention
The project will include an hour of intervention, split between two groups, for the first three weeks. These sessions are designed to help more reserved students become familiar with us, whilst consolidating any learning from the sessions. This additional support will take place in a smaller room next to their main classroom to provide a distraction-free, safe place for discussions and music making. Studies argue a smaller group encourages students to “actively participate, ask questions, and collaborate with peers”, something they may not feel confident to do in larger settings (learningcubs.co.uk, 2024). To help their progression, the first intervention will act as a stepping stone into the main group, to introduce them to music-making and how our project will run. One goal of the remaining sessions is to break down any existing content and practice musical ideas to improve confidence in the main sessions. Another aim is to build a trusting relationship with the students, achieved by encouraging and positively reinforcing their contributions.
Data and Evaluation
The effectiveness of this project will be measured through a variety of questionnaires. We’ll ask the students to complete the same questionnaire before and after the project, to hopefully see an increase of confidence and musical skills. After receiving feedback on our project, we’ll also use parent and teacher questionnaires. These will provide insight on how the project has impacted the class’s overall personal development. I’ll also evaluate the project after each session through discussions with my mentor. Ensuring the class is engaged and the sessions are child-centred is vital for this project. In each meeting we’ll discuss how to adapt delivery and if any information needs to be repeated.
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