Composing with Kids – Space Cat Songs

Right now, in your studio, there is a future songwriter.

Composing music can be a wonderful way for children to express themselves creatively and develop their musical skills. Whether they are writing songs, creating melodies on an instrument, or experimenting with different sounds and rhythms, composing can be an exciting part of your music lesson.

Composing music encourages children to think creatively and use their imaginations, and it can also help them build important skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, and teamwork. And who knows, perhaps some of your students will grow up to become great songwriters themselves one day!*

There are MANY different activities to empower your future songwriters.

Space Cats is a First Song Adventure from the book Songs and Studies for Kids! Introductory A. (🇦🇺 AU book here) This song introduces singing descending triads and following the piano/vocal score. This simple melody with the Space Cat theme is a favourite for many students! The piano backing track can be used with some of the activities below!

Flashcards are an engaging, hands-on activity that assists in memorization and learning. The mini cards are perfect for singing activities at a desk and for take-home activities (trust me, the kids will want to take them home!) and the medium-sized cards can be used on a bulletin board.

Download these space-themed cards (AU/NZ cards here) to enhance your Introductory A lesson plans and to expand the music reading and writing activities.

Singing Major Scales

1. Place the cards on a table and ask students to assemble an ascending or descending scale.
2. Have students sing (and sign) the scale patterns without assistance from the piano. (Students can sing and sign. However, these cards do not have hand signs, so practicing them first makes a great warm-up exercise!)

Triad Songs

1. Using triad patterns only – have students compose a song using only DO, MI, and SO (You will need several pages of cards printed for these exercises)
2. Have students recreate the melody of Space Cats using flashcards.
3. Students can create a new triadic melody and sing it with the accompaniment from Space Cats.