Using picture books
to teach music in key stage 1
By Mrs Schneider

Why not use some of the
wonderful picture books
found in our classrooms
to teach music?

In the Dark, Dark Wood
With this book I used
wooden instruments
to illustrate the
“Oohs” and metal
ones for the “Ahhs”

Mr Little’s Noisy Car
The children picked
percussion
instruments to create
the sound effects Mr
Little’s car made.

So Much
You can use this book
to investigate “me” -
‘“doh” interval, ( the
third and the first
note of the scale) to
represent the “ding
dong” of the doorbell
and to sing the
refrain “so much”

Storm Boy
We used the words in
the story - “Welcome
stranger, welcome
stranger, son of a
chief from above” to
create rhythms to
play on the
boomwhackers every
time the Whale Gods
appeared. We also
added an ocean
drum.

The Smartest Giant in Town
In the lesson we had
been looking at pitch
and singing up and
down an octave in
steps. We took the
song the giant sings
and sang each line
starting on a different
step.

Using picture books is a great way to reinforce
some of the learning objectives in a different
context.
There are many good quality picture books
commonly found in classrooms that you could use.
Let us know any favourites that you like to use