Music Activities for 3-Year-Olds

Tape ribbons or streamers to a stick and dance with your flowing wand while music plays — circles, waves, and figure eights through the air.

Draw simple rhythm patterns on cards using long and short lines, then clap them out — a visual way to introduce musical notation to preschoolers.

Explore dynamics by making sounds quiet as a whisper and loud as a roar — your toddler will love the contrast and learn about musical volume.

Tell a story while your child adds musical sound effects — stomping for a giant, shaking bells for magic, drumming for thunder. Stories come alive with sound.

Play different music tempos and have your toddler move like animals — stomp like an elephant to slow music, hop like a bunny to fast music.

Gather every noisemaker in the house — shakers, pots, bells — and march in a musical parade from room to room while singing a marching song.

Play a cooperative version of musical chairs where everyone finds a spot — no one gets out! Perfect for teaching listening and movement transitions.

Play different music clips and ask your child how each one makes them feel — happy, sad, scared, excited? A powerful way to connect music to emotions.

Play different styles of music while your toddler paints — watch how fast music leads to big strokes and slow music leads to gentle ones.

Build a drum set from upturned pots, boxes, and containers of different sizes — then learn to play simple beats on your very own kit.

Make high sounds and low sounds with your voice and instruments, then have your child guess — is it high or low? A pitch awareness game that trains the ear.

Dance wildly to music, then freeze into a creative statue when it stops — whoever holds the silliest pose wins! Builds listening and body control.

Staple two paper plates together with dried beans inside and decorate with stickers — then shake your homemade tambourine along to music.

Play music from different cultures — salsa, African drums, classical waltz, Bollywood — and try dancing in each style. A world music exploration through movement.

Your child waves a baton and controls the family band — louder, softer, faster, slower! A leadership game that teaches musical dynamics through play.

Sing a catchy cleanup song while tidying up toys together — turning a dreaded task into a musical game with a beat that motivates movement.

Wave ribbons or streamers to music, creating flowing patterns in the air.

Take a familiar story and sing it instead of reading it, making up melodies for each page.

Walk at different speeds matching the tempo of music — slow, medium, and fast.

Stretch rubber bands over a box to make a simple guitar and strum songs.

Wear jingle bell bracelets and dance to make music with your movements.

Match pairs of containers by the sounds they make when shaken — a listening memory game.

Wave colorful scarves in the air while dancing to different tempos and styles of music.

Make a simple kazoo from a comb and wax paper, then hum your favorite songs.

Build a rainstick from a paper towel tube, filling it with rice and nails for a soothing sound.

Tap rhythm sticks together in patterns, following a leader or creating your own beats.

Walk around chairs while music plays and sit when it stops — a classic party game.

Fill glasses with different water levels and tap them to hear different pitches.

Sit in a circle and drum on buckets, boxes, or pots to the beat.

Lead your toddler through stomp-stomp-clap patterns using their whole body — a high-energy activity that introduces simple rhythm sequences.

Go around a circle and sing each person's name in a fun way — clap the syllables, change the melody, add a rhyme. Everyone gets their own musical moment.

Build a rainstorm using only body sounds — rubbing palms for wind, snapping for raindrops, clapping for rain, stomping for thunder. A group favorite.

Sing classic finger play songs like 'Itsy Bitsy Spider' and 'Five Little Monkeys' while acting out the hand motions together — building fine motor and memory.

Sing a short phrase and have your child sing it back — a call-and-response game that builds pitch awareness, memory, and the joy of making music together.

Clap a short rhythm pattern and ask your toddler to clap it back — a listening and memory game that's as fun as it is developmental.

Use your body as an instrument — clap, stomp, pat your thighs, snap fingers, tap your chest — to create layered beats without any equipment at all.

Act out a story through song and dance, moving like animals, weather, or characters.

Create and repeat stomp-clap patterns, building rhythmic memory and sequencing.

Sing songs with movements like Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes or If You're Happy and You Know It.

Use clapping, stomping, snapping, and patting to create rhythms using only your body.

Turn on music and dance with your toddler. No materials, just fun and movement.