There is so much about Australia that I love, however, I have always been interested in the beautiful art of our indigenous Australians . With this in mind I thought it might be fun for Possum and I to make our own version of the traditional musical instruments called clapping sticks.
Suggested Age: 2 years +
You will need –
- Wooden paint stirrers ($1 each from hardware)
- Paint
- Cotton buds
Completely optional, however, I decided to paint the wooden paint stirrers so that Possum could decorate them with some interesting patterns and markings herself. The colours I chose was a very conscious decision; brown (representing Australian soil), red (representing Australian desert sand) and white (representing clouds), which are colours commonly used in Aboriginal art.
Despite her only being able to paint with three colours, she was still able to have lots of choice in how she went about painting her clapping sticks. For a two year old, simply deciding which stick to paint first was wonderful. LOL
Older children would possibly be interested to learn many of the traditional symbols and meanings behind Aboriginal art. Consider finding looking in books or online for some beautiful Australian Aboriginal art and spend some time finding some of the symbols above.
Possum (aged 2) was interested to get straight into the painting. I encouraged her to use lots of dots and dashes with the paint as I felt that such a request was something that would suit her age. Her enthusiasm was wonderful!
The cotton buds became a great tool to paint with, Possum’s first experiencing using them in this way. They were perfect for creating dots but also long lines. As you can see, she couldn’t resist finger painting and it was wonderful to see her take this initiative. It was nice to be able to get involved in the activity along side her too.
Once we painted both sides we set them out on the grass to dry in the hot Australian sun.
Making music with our decorated clapping sticks
Soon enough the painted sticks were dry and ready to be used as wonderful clapping sticks. The sound of the wooden pieces hitting together makes the most terrific sound and perfect for keeping a musical beat.
Possum took my lead and clapped her sticks together in such a way that I described. Fast, slow, quiet, loud were great words that I chose to help build her understanding of language and connecting those words to a movement.
Taking the Learning Experience Further
I wanted to take Possum’s learning experience further and explain, after having made the sticks, how clapping sticks are used in various Aboriginal dancing ceremonies in Australia as a way to keep a beat.
I quickly found a great YouTube clip that demonstrated how clapping sticks are used and it was wonderful to see Possum decide to dance and clap her sticks along with those featuring in the video clip.
Overall I feel this was a wonderfully successful craft activity that evolved into so much more.
Do your children love to make music?
Wait! Are you following me other ways?????
What a rich activity for children. There is so much to learn about culture, art, music.
I love this, and thanks for including the Indigenous art symbols.
I adore this idea. I think it’s so significant and inspiring to teach children about different elements of cultures. This is such a great simple activity to introduce young one’s to Aboriginal Australian culture. Thank you for sharing the Aboriginal symbols. I’m pinning that one for reference!
Do you have some links to music I could show my kids when we make the clapping sticks? Thanks
Lindsey I’ve been looking online for some sample music links for the hour for you and I’m struggling to find anything that I think would be appropriate. It seems that you might have to go through iTunes or run music from YouTube and just turn off the imagine so you are left with the sound. Best of luck with this. Sounds like you have a great day planned for the kids. 🙂
I love this idea and am planning on using it in my art room with pre-schoolers. Thanks for the informative post and the great reference to the aboriginal symbols and their meanings!
Thanks Martha! So thrilled you find my post helpful. I’d love you to send me a picture of what your children make, if you have time. laughingkidslearn@gmail.com
I appreciate you taking the time to comment. 🙂
How adorable! Thanks for sharing this, my little one will surely enjoy making this. I also love the symbols 🙂 Nice article!