The Sounds of Peru
Peru is a beautiful country full of diverse landscapes: mountains, rainforests, plains. Let’s learn about Peru through the sounds of the country.
The Rainforest
Watch this video to hear what it sounds like inside the rainforest.
- Have your children write down or draw pictures of what they hear.
- Ask them:
- What sounds are familiar?
- What sounds have they never heard before?
- How do the sounds make them feel?
Rainstick
After listening to the sounds of the rainforest, bring them into your home or classroom with a rainstick instrument DIY.
Check out this rainstick tutorial from Buggy and Buddy.
For each rainstick, you’ll need just a handful of materials:
- A cardboard tube, ideally a paper towel tube
- Pipe cleaners, tin foil, or wire that can be twisted and put inside the tube to help make the sound
- Uncooked rice, beans, beads or another small, hard object
- Tape or glue
- Materials to decorate your rainstick – paint, markers, string, etc.
The Mountains
In addition to the lush rainforest, a large part of Peru is covered by mountains: the Andes Mountains. The mountains run through central Peru. Watch the video to learn a bit more about the culture of the people in this region of the country and then learn more facts about the landscape.
- The lowest point of the Andes Mountains are in Peru.
- Peru also has the highest concentration of snow peak mountains in the Americas.
- There are many volcanoes in the Peruvian Andes mountains.
- Along with the mountain peaks, the Andes mountains has many plateaus. In Peru, these plateaus are often home to grazing cattle.
Mountain Percussion
Create your own mountainous percussion sounds with this simple maraca tutorial from Babysits.
Take inspiration from the rugged mountains of Peru by making your own mountain-shaped maracas. Decorate them with fun colors and textures (inspired by the textiles in the video above) or color them to look like snowy mountain peaks.
Once you’ve created them, use them to make up and perform rhythms with your child(ren).
Birds of Peru
It’s no surprise that with all the vibrant landscapes of Peru, the country is full of many different wildlife species. Peru is particularly known for its bird species.
- There are over 1800 species of birds in Peru.
- There are 110 species of birds that are only found in Peru and nowhere else in the world.
- Peru is home to one of the largest birds on the planet, the Andean Condor. The Condor has a wingspan of over 10 feet. The Condor is a special symbol to the people of Peru.
- The national bird of Peru is the Andean Cock-of-the-Rock, the orange bird seen here.
Bird Sounds
Mimic the sounds and songs of birds with these tutorials.
Make your own drinking straw pan flute with this easy tutorial from Deceptively Educational.
Play Along
Now that you’ve learned about the sounds of Peru and experimented with creating those sounds, use your instruments to play along and create the Peruvian rainforest in your home or classroom.