Me and My Drum

Like peanut butter and jelly, cookies and milk, Winterlude and Beavertails, kids and music are a natural fit. One wouldn’t be quite the same without the other.

It seems like there is plenty of music in our lives already. We did the Baby Mozart thing (or Baby Green Day in our case), and we like to sing and dance around our kitchen when no one is looking, but we’ve figured out that listening to music and participating in music are two very different things.

There are plenty of places to indulge our love for music here in Ottawa, but two deserve special mention.

First, there is Monkey Rock Music, a lively music appreciation class for babies and toddlers in New Edinburgh. Instructor John King plays a mean guitar and his love for music (and kids) shines through everything he does. Learning through play and song is a major focus here, but it’s always about the fun. During a recent class we learned some easy sign language and how to play the spoons. (Did you know this old folk instrument was called “playing the bones” in Ireland? And they actually used real bones?)

For something a little different there’s Baobab Tree. Baobab Tree is an adult and youth performance group that offers drumming classes and workshops in West African drumming, singing, and dancing for ages seven and up.

Percussion is the big draw here (we all know how much kids love to bang and drum and make noise!) and it’s because drumming is ideal for developing concentration, coordination and non-verbal communication skills, and is a terrific way to focus energy. It’s a hands-on way to engage the body, spirit and mind, and as an added bonus, West African music supports all levels of skills.

Baobab concerts are high-energy fun to attend with the kids as well. There are a few concerts coming up, Baobab ROOTS and Cantiamo Training Choir on February 28, and Baobab Youth with Guests on March 7.

It brings new meaning to those classic words: “I don’t want to work, I just want to bang on the drums all day…”