Explore our catalogue of award-winning activities and games
Busy Things hosts over 1600 curriculum-linked activities and games for early years and primary aged children. A school subscription also includes lots of features and tools for teachers that promise to save planning time. Take a free trial to have a proper play or book a demo here.
Cog composer
Click or tap in the grid to place a Noisy Thing. It will make a beat when the cog passes over it. Click/tap on it again to change its colour and its sound. Build a rhythmical piece by adding more Noisy Things. In the higher rows cogs are moving faster and so sounds will play more frequently than in the lower rows where the cogs move more slowly.
You can remove Noisy Things quickly by clicking on them and holding (or pressing on them) until they disappear. Change the sounds with the switch in the top right and the tempo with the controls in the bottom left. You can clear the grid to start again with the button in the top left.
In 'Activity settings' you can change the grid size and the number of instruments.
Discussion points
- Can you move your body fast and slow?
- Can you think of things which move fast (like a rocket shooting up to space)?
- Can you think of things which move slowly (like a snail)?
- Can you clap a fast pulse?
- Can you clap a slow pulse?
- Can you combine the two with a partner? What do you notice?
- What do you like about the music you have created?
- Tempo is the speed of music: Can you create a fast and slow rhythm using body percussion?
- What type of music might have a fast tempo?
- What type of music might have a slow tempo?
- Did you know the word ‘allegro’ mean play quickly and ‘adagio’ means play slowly?
Teaching tips:
Use fast, medium or slow in isolation by placing Noisy Things in only one section at a time. See if children can move around the space at a similar tempo; they could stomp, creep, hop or jump. Then mix them together to see the effect of combining the sounds.
Children could be placed in groups with a variety of instruments to explore. Display the words ‘fast’ ‘medium’ and ‘slow’ (or just fast and slow depending on the age and ability of the group), pointing to each one in turn and encouraging children to change the tempo that they play the instruments using control.
Place creatures in just the fast, medium or slow sections to begin with and see if children can replicate the same pulse or rhythm using instruments or body percussion.
Encourage children to put the creatures in patterns within each section for best effects and to start simply and build up layers of instrumental parts.
Explain that each section is a bit like ‘bars’ in written music. These are there to help divide or organise the music into sections and contain notes written on horizontal lines.
Discuss tempo as the speed of music and how many words in written music tell the player how to play and lots of them are Italian. For example, allegro means play quickly or lively, whilst adagio means play slowly. Children could listen to pieces of music which have fast and slow tempos and compare the two. What feeling or mood do they express?
Children could compose a simple piece of music in groups to show changes in tempo. They could share it with the rest of the class, and try and use the terms allegro or adagio when discussing their musical piece.
x
To access the whole of Busy Things take a free trial
Start your free trial now!
No payment details required. No obligation to buy.
Unlimited children in a single nurseryYour free trial includes
- access to 1600+ of fun educational activities and games
- Create an area just for your class (school version)
- Track activities and send feedback (school version)
- Customisable games and activities targeting core maths, literacy and phonics skills
- Creative activities working with colours, shapes and sounds
- Busy Code - a whole suite of activities and guides for teaching children how to code
- A custom phonics and maths worksheet maker
- Curriculum-links and activity search
- Pupil timelines - see what your pupils have been doing
- Set assignments and collate results
- Play on desktop computers, laptops and tablets
Schools
Schools have no limit on the number of pupils that can use Busy Things simultaneously.
