Make Music Day - post

Today is International Music Day!

What is Make Music Day and where did it begin?

Make Music Day (also known internationally as Fête de la Musique) began as a public-music initiative in France. The idea was simple and durable: encourage free, participatory musical events across cities so that amateur and professional musicians alike bring music into daily public life. For child care professionals, the holiday is an opportunity to connect curriculum goals in music, social development, and community engagement.

To support educators who want to integrate musical celebration with evidence-informed practice, consider short preparatory trainings such as Mind's Medicine: Music in Early Childhood Buy Now $16.00 and the broader Early Childhood Education Buy Now $99.00$91.00 course. These courses can help practitioners design developmentally appropriate activities that align to learning objectives and health-and-safety norms.

How can my child care program plan an inclusive Make Music Day activity?

Start by aligning the event to learning goals and the ages you serve. Practical planning steps include: identifying available spaces, checking licensing or facility constraints, preparing materials that are safe and accessible, and ensuring supervision ratios meet state requirements. Design multiple participation levels: passive listening areas for infants and toddlers, guided sing-and-move sessions for preschoolers, and open-instrument stations for older children.

Include routes for family participation and community partnerships; invite local musicians, grandparents, or bilingual parents to demonstrate songs. For classroom-level practice, routines such as a daily hello song or musical transition help children acquire rhythmic awareness and self-regulation skills. See program ideas in related articles such as How can I build a daily music routine that calms and focuses children? and How Does Singing Together Build Community in the Classroom?.

What activities are developmentally appropriate for different age groups?

Match activity complexity to developmental domains. For infants and young toddlers, focus on predictable songs, gentle percussion (shakers), and call-and-response that supports language. For preschoolers, incorporate movement and patterned singing to support phonological awareness and motor planning. For school-age children, plan collaborative performances, instrument-making, and guided improvisation.

Where you introduce cultural repertoire, pair songs with brief contextual explanation and movement so children build cultural literacy alongside musical skills. ChildCareEd articles such as How can child care programs celebrate Latin rhythms and culture with young children? and How can bilingual music transform your early childhood classroom? provide examples of culturally responsive programming.

How do I use Make Music Day to support learning objectives and inclusion?

Use Make Music Day as an authentic assessment and engagement opportunity: set clear, observable objectives (e.g., children will clap a six-beat pattern with 80% accuracy; children will participate in a group song with visual supports). Include adaptations—picture cues for nonverbal learners, quieter spaces for children sensitive to loud sounds, and instrument options that meet fine-motor needs.

Integrate cross-domain goals: social-emotional learning (turn-taking during ensemble play), language (introducing new vocabulary in songs), and executive function (following multi-step musical directions). For curriculum integration and lesson planning that maps to CDA or state competencies, consider the targeted training CDA Subject Area 2 Buy Now $80.00$65.00 which includes arts and music strategies relevant to cognitive and language development.

How can I evaluate whether an event improved program quality?

Collect short, practical data: observation notes linked to your objectives, child work samples (drawings of instruments or songs), and family feedback forms that ask about cultural relevance and accessibility. Use observations to inform follow-up music experiences that scaffold skills across days and weeks. For classroom-level approaches that emphasize sustained practice, see How and Why Does Music Boost Brain Development in the First Five Years? and ideas for movement-based events in Can a Music‑Video‑Themed Movement Day Boost Learning and Inclusion in My Program?.

How can programs involve families and the older-adult community?

Invite families to share songs from home and coordinate intergenerational segments—short joint performances that bring children and seniors together. See practical models in Intergenerational Activities That Bring Children and Seniors Together and guidelines for meaningful grandparent involvement in How can I meaningfully involve grandparents in my daycare program?. These collaborations strengthen social capital and provide authentic language and cultural exposure for children.

Check it out: Make Music (makemusicday.org) — the site lists schedule templates, public resources, and local organizer guidance you can adapt to a child care setting. Use their 'Schedule' ideas (flower-pot music, unknown instruments, rooftop showcases) and translate them into classroom stations and family-participation events. Be sure to check facility and licensing guidance before public events and invite parents and community partners to co-host.

What safety, facilities, and licensing checks should I complete before hosting a public Make Music Day event?

Before inviting community members onto program property, complete a short, documented checklist to protect children and meet licensing and insurance requirements. Notify your child care licensing specialist or local agency about any plans that change hours, public access, adult-to-child supervision patterns, or the use of non-enrolled volunteers. Confirm that your general liability insurance covers events that include non-enrolled attendees and ask whether visiting musicians or volunteers need to be listed on facility insurance or complete background checks. Review and document staff-to-child ratios for each station and any times when children leave the classroom to perform in shared spaces.

Assess facility logistics: identify clear ingress and egress routes, plan for a quiet/sensory-friendly area for children sensitive to noise, and ensure toilet and hand-washing facilities are accessible to visiting families. Prepare a simple emergency plan (first aid contact, designated meeting point, staff roles) and keep signed parental consents for children who will perform off-site or in an unsecured public area. Finally, collect approvals and retain copies of permits, insurance certificates, and written communications with local authorities and parents so your licensing file documents the event and any waivers or accommodations provided.

Can you share a sample hour-long Make Music Day plan with measurable objectives?

Yes. A brief, measurable plan makes it easier to align the celebration with curriculum goals and to capture program-quality data. Example 60-minute plan: 1) 0–10 min — Welcome circle and visual schedule; objective: 90% of children attend to a two-step instruction. 2) 10–25 min — Station A (shakers and steady beat practice); objective: each child demonstrates a steady beat for eight beats with staff modelling; adaptation: larger-handled shakers for children with fine-motor needs. 3) 25–40 min — Guided sing-and-move with picture cues; objective: children complete a three-step movement sequence with 75% accuracy. 4) 40–55 min — Family/community performance slots (short, 2–3 minute contributions); objective: at least 50% family units contribute verbally or musically. 5) 55–60 min — Closing reflection and collection of one observation per child tied to the day's objectives.

Use a simple tally sheet and one short family feedback form that asks about cultural relevance and accessibility. Record adaptations and which supports were used so you can scaffold follow-up experiences. These measurable targets and brief data collection items convert a single event into evidence that informs subsequent lesson plans and continuous program improvement.

Summary: How will Make Music Day strengthen learning, inclusion, and community ties?

Make Music Day is an opportunity to integrate authentic musical experience with curriculum objectives—language and vocabulary growth, motor planning, self-regulation, and social participation—while deepening family and community connections. With a documented safety review, explicit measurable objectives, and built-in adaptations, programs can create inclusive, developmentally appropriate events that extend learning beyond a single day. Share observations and family feedback with staff to build momentum for ongoing music integration in your program.

Archived from ChildCareEd's Constant Contact Newsletter (archived).

Share your Make Music Day plans and outcomes with colleagues using #Music #EarlyChildhood #Development #Community #Curriculum — these tags help programs find practical lesson plans and research-informed activities.