Exploring music in the kitchen with water and glasses

Do you remember that scene in the movie Miss Congeniality where Sandra Bullocks character is dressed like a Bavarian cream puff playing glasses filled with water? I was always fascinated by that scene. I would wonder 'Is that just a Hollywood trick or can you really play glasses filled with various amount of water like that?' While I don't have the musical skill to set up something as extravagant as what was in the movie, I did get to thinking about how we could try something similar but keeping it at a basic level. Something that would be easy for my 3 year old to understand and enjoy.












Here is what we ended up doing for our musical glasses experiment.


What we used
food colouring 4 various colours
a jug of water
4 glasses of the same size and shape
1 teaspoon
1 measuring syringe that you use for measuring 5ml of medicine for children.(usually comes in a box with Panadol or Nurophen 

  To start this musical experiment we started by using the syringe to fill the glasses with different amounts of water. By using a measuring tool we could record how much water made what sound. We could test how many more milliliters of water was needed to make a noticeable difference in sound between two glasses. If I has a guitar tuner I could measure small amounts of water in order to create specific notes, but unfortunately mine is in Australia.  Something that precise might also be better for older children to explore rather than my 3 year old.

Between filling the glasses with different amounts of water we would play the glasses to test the difference in sounds and if we were able to achieve different notes.  We found that there was not much difference between 25 mls and 50 mls but there was a noticeable difference between 25 mls and 100mls. In order to remember our findings we made a quick note about how many measuring syringes we used for every glass. This could be something older children could do themselves. 

 

Once we had our desired notes we coloured each glass with a different colour using food dye. The reason for doing this was this...

By having different colours you could write a piece of music, well not in a technical sense, but by following the colours your child would be able to play a simple song. Ours is for Mary Had a Little Lamb.

I think the beauty of this activity lies in its educational value. There is so much maths involved. 

• Counting out how many times you've squirted water in each glass.
• Comparing different amounts
• Following patterns
• Recognising colours

It is also a very lovely kitchen science experiment that costs close to nothing, just a bit of food dye. The experiment could be extended by using different materials to tap the glasses with. While I don't have a photo of it, we also used a wooden spoon to tap the glasses which gave us a totally different sound quality. Using different size or shaped glasses also affects the sounds produced, something for us to try and experiment next time.

Even if you are not interested in its educational potential this activity does seem to involve the two things toddlers and preschoolers love best. Water play and hitting things to make music. I know my daughter enjoyed herself immensely. I hope you get to try it too!

Until next time, happy playing.