Montessori-Inspired Music Appreciation: My Name is Handel

I’ve had fun finding new ways to introduce music appreciation to young children. Today, I’m sharing Montessori-inspired activities that work well for a study of composer George Frideric Handel.

Here’s the information about My Name Is Handel: The Story of Water Music from Maestro Classics:

When Handel, the brilliant young German composer living in London, needed to get back into the king’s good graces, he had a brilliant idea.

He composed a suite of dances, hired a boat and 50 musicians, and headed down the River Thames to surprise King George I. The music became known as “Water Music,” one of Handel’s best-loved compositions.

Even as an adult, I enjoy learning more about composers, and My Name is Handel is a fascinating introduction to Handel’s life and music. The booklet gives an interesting version of both music and London in Handel’s time. My favorite, though, is “My Name is Handel” with its original lyrics and fun sing-a-long with the orchestra and chorus to the “Hornpipe” from Handel’s Water Music.

In the homeschool music curriculum guides at Maestro Classics, you’ll find a number of ideas for a unit study of My Name Is Handel: The Story of Water Music. Just look for Curriculum Guides under the Education tab at the top of the site! I’ll share some Montessori-inspired activities here for preschoolers through early elementary as well.

George Frideric Handel Table

George Frideric Handel Table

You could place the activities on a shelf or a table. For this unit study, I placed the activities on a “George Frideric Handel table.” The biography on the easel is the free “George Frideric Handel Printable Biography” from Making Music Fun.

Featured Instruments Activity

For any of the Maestro Classics titles, I always like having a featured instruments layout similar to the activity in my Montessori-Inspired Music Appreciation: Carnival of the Animals post. It isn’t essential, but it helps children become familiar with the instruments of the orchestra.

Music-Themed Cutting Basket

Music-Themed Cutting Basket

For this activity, I used a great idea from And Next Comes L for a music themed cutting activity. I used the “Handel – Water Music sheet music for piano” from 8 Notes to prepare an activity where the child cuts between each measure of music. This was very simple to prepare. After printing out the sheet music onto plain printer paper, I just cut apart the lines of music and then used a colored marker to draw lines between the measures.

“My Name is Handel” Practical Life Transfer Activity

My Name is Handel Transfer Practical Life Activity

This is a simple activity for putting a bean on each note head. I used black beans plus a navy bean for the final note. You could add a tweezers, but I designed this as an activity for using fingers to transfer the beans because of the number of beans involved. It’s a great activity for working on the pincer grasp even without using a tool.

This would be very simple to prepare using the PDF for “My Name Is Handel: The Story of Water Music.” and adjusting the print size. Because I used the CD and booklet for preparing the booklet, I scanned in the booklet pages and then used photo-editing software to make the image the size of a regular piece of paper.

Musical Note Practical Life Transfer Activity

Musical Note Practical Life Transfer Tray

For this activity, I used the musical notes from the Musical Note and Symbol Cards ($2.59) from Montessori Print Shop. You could use a traditional layout for 3-part cards, too, but I chose to use the cards with words only. I used small silver glass gems (white would be even better if you can find them) and small blackish gems to place on the music-note heads with a sugar tong from Montessori Services. I used a small hemmed work rug from Montessori Services for the layout.

Musical Note Practical Life Transfer Activity

Baroque Composers Timeline

Baroque Composers Timeline Basket

For this activity, I used the “little composers timeline” from That Resource Site. I kept the activity simple and used a ribbon to place the Baroque composers in order by date of birth.

Baroque Composers Timeline Layout

Musical Composers Layout

Musical Composers Layout

You could also do a complete layout of composers for each musical time period. I show how to prepare this activity in my “Montessori-Inspired Music Appreciation: Swan Lake” post.

England Activities

Because of Handel’s Water Music‘s connection with England, you could add activities related to England. I have some Montessori-inspired England activities.

Montessori-Inspired Music Appreciation: More Maestro Classics Activity Posts

 You’ll find Montessori-inspired Peter and the Wolf activities here: Montessori-Inspired Music Appreciation: Peter and the Wolf.

You’ll find Montessori-inspired Swan Lake activities here: Montessori-Inspired Music Appreciation: Swan Lake.

You’ll find Montessori-inspired Tortoise and Hare activities here: Montessori-Inspired Activities for The Tortoise and the Hare.

You’ll find Montessori-Inspired Carnival of the Animals activities here: Montessori-Inspired Music Appreciation: Carnival of the Animals

 You’ll find Montessori-inspired Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel activities here: Montessori-Inspired Activities for Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel.

You’ll find Montessori-inspired activities for The Sorcerer’s Apprentice here: Montessori-Inspired Music Appreciation: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.

You’ll find Montessori-inspired activities for Casey at the Bat here: Montessori-Inspired Activities for Casey at the Bat.

Learn more about my eBook Montessori at Home or School: How to. Teach Grace and Courtesy!

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