Hollow tubes and empty cups

Both of my boys love hollow tubes (toilet paper or paper towel rolls are cheap and ubiquitous). In part it's their dad's propensity to make everything and anything into a musical instrument. Remember we have evolved over millions of years to favor our hands and voices for communication and entertainment. With that much working for us, we might as well have fun.

This game develops their motor skills, both gross and fine, their auditory acuity, and the supporting cognitive mechanisms that underly all of this activity. Take a tube or an empty cup or plastic container, anything with a hollow cavity. Put it to your mouth, and make a sound. You can even use your cupped hands over your mouth. Move the object closer or further away as you make a sound. Your child will be delighted at how the sound changes with and without the object (which serves as a resonant chamber), altering the sound by its own acoustic properties.

Try different objects, some plastic, some cardboard, some metal or wooden. Each shape and each material will affect the sound in different ways. Let them play with the objects as well. You'll likely find that they enjoy the game from the start, and that they quickly become adept at finding other appropriate objects. If you see your child picking up things and holding them out to you, they may want you to make a sound into it. This is a fun and easy game, which can be adapted to just about any place or circumstance.