Submitted by Marcia Working, Portage, Michigan
Idea posted June 5, 2002
Our local orchestra does an Instrument Petting Zoo. They have four docents (volunteers) that come in. They have five stations set up: woodwind (piccolo, flute, clarinet); brass (trumpet, horn, trombone); string (violin, viola, cello); percussion (bongo drums, snare drum, various small percussion instruments); and an activity table with games and such.
When a class comes in, the students are already divided into five groups with different colored stickers. Each of the five stations has a sticker. This is where the students will start after the introduction.
The symphony has an introductory tape with examples of each of the instrument families. While each very short example plays, one of the docents demonstrates the instruments by pretending to play them. The tape reminds them to be careful with the instruments as they break easily. The tape takes about five minutes.
There is a table for each station. Along with the brass and woodwind instruments, there are two mouthpieces for everything except flute and piccolo. They have a bowl with a sponge set in it, and it is filled with Sterisol. As a student plays one mouthpiece on the instrument, the other one is soaking. Then they wipe off the clean one and put in the other. (Does this make sense?) For the clarinets they have plastic reeds. The flute and piccolo are sprayed with the Sterisol after each use and wiped off.
The Symphony provides four volunteers. The music teacher from the school is the fifth helper, and they ask for two to three parent volunteers. They set a timer for 5 to 7 minutes - depending on the length of your class. When the timer goes off, the students rotate to the next station. The Symphony has this SO organized. It's a great experience for the students.