Just because you’re stuck indoors, doesn’t mean you can’t explore the world! Use your imagination to adventure to faraway places, imagine exotic animals, and turn yourself into fun characters.
Watch and listen as Inside the Orchestra’s very own flutist, Valerie Johnson, takes you on a musical adventure.
Carnival of the Animals is a short 14-movement suite by French composer Camille Saint-Saens. It was composed in 1886 and, when it was written, audiences would have found it to be pretty funny- it is full of musical jokes that listeners would have instantly recognized. Each movement is about a character, mostly different animals.
This piece is an excellent jumping-off point for imagination-based interaction. You can hear the different animals so clearly in each movement.
Let’s start the imagination fun with our littlest ones. There are so many ways to engage young children with this piece.
No-Prep Activity:
Some Prep Activity: Gather just a few supplies and make some masks and headbands for some of the animals in the suite. Each of these can be easily adapted based on the supplies you have, so don’t be afraid to get creative!
This no-prep multi-disciplinary activity will engage many facets of your older child’s creativity and imagination. Have them listen to Carnival of the Animals as they write a story based on the following prompt:
Write a story about a group of friends that goes on an exotic safari adventure.
Not digging that prompt? Have them choose another one from the great list on this website.
Used this playlist as you engage in the imagination activities. You’ll hear the entire Carnival of the Animals suite, the full pieces of music that our wonderful flute player played excerpts from, and some more music we love to listen to as we imagine and daydream.
