Disney Music Storybooks

We were sent 3 new Disney Musical Exploration Storybooks for the purpose of review.  As a musical family we love sharing products we love, especially when they feature our favorite Disney characters!  All thoughts and opinions are our own. 

Guest authored by the creative stylings of Mr. JD Denton (aka the husband), general music educator and master percussionist. 🙂 

I teach music as a profession. I’ve noticed though that several of my students who thrive in my music classes come from households where music is alive and expressed through multiple family members.
Some of my favorite memories with my sons have been making up our own songs, taking time to dance, and spontaneous jam sessions on pots, pans, and whatever cardboard we have laying around.
If you are looking for fun music based activities for kids, try the new Disney Musical Exploration Storybooks.  Disney and Hal Leonard have teamed up to feature your favorite Disney characters and stories in a series of Disney music storybooks and online content to help young children develop their musical skills and knowledge through creative play.

In Mickey’s Found Sounds you’ll be creating your own “found sound” jam along with Mickey and his pals. Found sounds are percussion objects that you would use for another purpose. Try filling metal bowls with water to create a sloshy gong sound. Using old coffee cans and wooden spoons to create drums and even blowing over the top of glass or plastic bottles to create a flutelike texture.  This storybook is filled with even more ideas to make music with everyday items found around the house.  Simple instructions lead children through a story while engaging in imaginative play, while crafting their own instruments to experience a rang of sounds.

Stories can also be a great way to introduce music at home.  In Tangled: It’s Better When You Sing It join Rapunzel on a musical adventure!  Your child will be creating music and exploring their own voice alongside one of their favorite Disney Princesses.

The Disney Explore Musical Exploration books are a fantastic resource for this type of musical play. They feature everything from “found sounds” to vocal exploration.

My favorite is the Moana: The Beat of Your Heart musical exploration book because it combines all the fun of musical play with world music and pre-literacy graphic notation. These are skills that not only prepare a child for a lifetime of music making but also for decoding higher-level thinking.  Kids will develop their sense of inner pulse by playing along with the drums of Motonui on percussions instruments they craft themselves!

Don’t be afraid to start making music in your home; even if you don’t consider yourself a musician. You never know what path your kids will take and music can only open more doors for them.