Children and their carers can explore the materials in the box with Melody Monkey and her friends Crotchet Crocodile, Octave Owl and Forte Frog. The music box holds a selection of percussion instruments suitable for little hands, together with a collection of songs for young voices, musical stories, games and puppets. As well as giving children the chance to make music, the activities help them develop a wide range of skills, including listening, co-ordination, language and number skills.
All the material in the box is accessible for people with no formal musical training. All the songs and stories are included on an accompanying CD, making it possible to learn and use them without having to read music. Musical notation is provided for those who wish to follow.
If you are interested in receiving further information about borrowing a box, or would like to purchase a box at £185 + VAT + postage and packing, please email info@humber-music4u.com or contact Music4U on 01904 632220.
If you are interested in receiving training on how to use Melody Monkey's Marvellous Music Box, please contact us on 01904 632220 or email info@humber-music4u.com.
The new Melody Songbook is now available. The book contains 20 new songs and 5 new stories.
"Melody Monkey really brings story time to life and is great for circle music time too. It is a good stimulus for listening skills and role play. The children loved it and had lots of fun." Tested by Hazel Mansfield, Headteacher at Whitehall Nursery & Infant School, Uxbridge, Middlesex for Nursery Equipment Magazine and received a 5 star excellent rating
"Youth Music is delighted to be associated with Melody Monkey. We have found that it is simple and effective as a resource for early years staff in a wide range of settings and environments. It is also a fun way of introducing music making to children and their parents and carers who are perhaps shy or who feel a little uncertain about making music with their children." Hopal Romans, Youth Music
Creative music technology is being used with local nursery children in an imaginative new project taking place in the Humber Region.
The project, known as ‘All Aboard!’, was piloted with children aged three to five years old in nurseries in the East Riding of Yorkshire, Hull, North and North East Lincolnshire.
All Aboard! uses MIDIcreator to translate movement into musical sounds. This is used in conjunction with sensors and switches, which are embedded into brightly coloured soft play equipment, creating opportunities for young children to make music.
The pilot project offered local nurseries a series of three workshop sessions exploring themed musical sound worlds including the Wild West, a magical train ride and an undersea adventure. Even the smallest movement can produce a drum roll, a trumpet fanfare and a host of other musical sounds.
The workshops were co-ordinated by Andrew and Tracey Cleaton and delivered by a team of local community musicians who are graduates from the 2004 Music4U Community Practitioners Training Course.
One of these musicians, Sue Murray, who led workshops at the Leap Frog Day Nursery in Beverley, has been impressed by the engagement of the children. She elaborated: "All children, no matter what their music skills, can communicate. Even those who are inhibited after just a moment of watching want to have a go."
Sue also noted how easy the equipment is to use both for herself and for the children: "First they learn how easy it is to make a sound and then how to control and interact with the music they are making."
Playworkers at the Let’s Play Nursery in Hull where musician, Steve le Vogeur, ran All Aboard! sessions, were also impressed by the project. They were particularly pleased that very young children had the opportunity to engage with a professional musician. One playworker also noted that the children learnt the value of patience and waiting their turn, as well as building their confidence, speech and communication skills through taking part in the workshops.
The All Aboard! pilot project ran until May 2006. Following the success of the pilot, Music4U then rolled the programme out across the region.
This project has been funded by BBC's Children in Need.
Hopscotch is a new pilot project from Music4U, the Humber Region Youth Music Action Zone, which will focus on encouraging and revitalising Playground Songs & Singing Games in primary school playgrounds across the region.
The project will train and support children as song leaders with their peers and younger children as well as supporting schools and their staff to continue the playground singing activities after the project.
Hopscotch fosters enjoyment, singing experience, confidence, leadership, social skills and healthy exercise within children and helps schools benefit from a boost to playground and social activity and from new play ideas and musical resources.
The project features 5 one-hour playground singing workshops taking place in each school with a group of up to 20 children either at lunchtimes or after-school. Crucial to the development of the project is the importance of school staff involvement in the sessions so that progress can continue into the future.
Music4U's Hopscotch project was inspired by Ex Cathedra's Singing Playgrounds projects, originally piloted very successfully for Youth Music in Sandwell 2003-5, and by Humber region music leaders' collecting of songs from a rich tradition of East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire children's playground singing games.
Over the past five years and more these games, rhymes and songs have been collected by individual musicians and through intergenerational projects including Firebird Trust's 'Heard it in the Playground' (2002) in Cherry Willingham, Lincs and ArtsAway's 'Sing for Your Life' (2004 - 7) in Goole. The project has also benefited from the experiences of Cathryn Dew, Early Years Education Consultant, working for Music4U who piloted a similar project in Worcestershire through her organisation Singworks.
Children and their carers can explore the materials in the box with Melody Monkey and her friends Crotchet Crocodile, Octave Owl and Forte Frog. The music box holds a selection of percussion instruments suitable for little hands, together with a collection of songs for young voices, musical stories, games and puppets. As well as giving children the chance to make music, the activities help them develop a wide range of skills, including listening, co-ordination, language and number skills. 
The All Aboard! pilot project ran until May 2006. Following the success of the pilot, Music4U then rolled the programme out across the region.
