The OKC metro is full of fun events this spring and this week, I'd like to share with you about the Norman Music Festival! This festival has only been around since 2008 and since my family and I moved in 2009, I hadn't heard of it until last year when I saw it mentioned on the MetroFamily Magazine website. We were going to be in town that weekend, so we decided to check it out and I am so glad we did! My kids have talked about it all year!
What did they love? Pretty much everything! We only went to the family and kids area but we still filled almost two hours trying out everything. There was fun stuff like face painting, crazy hair painting, art projects, make your own musical instruments, chalking areas, hula hoops, delicious food, and of course, lots of music! There were also an area where kids could try out different musical instruments, which is something it can be hard for homeschoolers to get the opportunity to do.
We went on a whim and I hadn't planned anything school-wise to go along with the festival, but it actually worked really well for us as a wrap up of several units we had finished not too long before, so I wanted to share some of them with you in case you'd like to tie this in with what you're learning!
- Beethoven Lives Upstairs: My son did this unit last year (you can find it for free at Homeschool Share) and really enjoyed it. We also tied it in with learning about the ear and doing some sound experiments, too. Beethoven Lives Upstairs was also made into a movie we were able to find at our local library, so if you don't have the time to do the whole unit, you might want to at least watch the movie.
- Berlioz the Bear: Homeschool Share has a unit for this Jan Brett story and it has also been made into a Reading Rainbow episode!
- Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin! & The Story of the Orchestra: Last spring I shared a bit about these great resources for learning about different instruments, so if your kids are interested in some of the ones they see at the festival, these would be a good starting place!
If your children are interested in musicians from our state, you might even want to consider a trip to the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in Muskogee. They even have a fun children's area for your littlest ones. (You can read more of the details here.)
Have a great time!
