Reception Music

Autumn Term

Autumn 1 - Exploring Sound

To explore our voices to make a variety of sounds.

To explore how to use our bodies to make sounds.

To explore different sounds and think about tempo.

To explore the sounds of different instruments.

To experiment with tempo and dynamic when playing instruments.

To identify sounds in the environment and differentiate between them.

To use musical vocabulary when describing environmental sounds .

To identify and describe familiar nature sounds and differentiate between them.

To use voices to imitate natural sounds. 


Autumn 2 - Celebration Music

Learn about the festival of Diwali and respond to music through movement

Learn some of the dances and instruments from the festival of Hanukkah

To take part in a traditional call and response song

To find classroom objects to use as drums and play in response to African music.

To learn about traditional Christmas music.

To take part in a group song involving singing, voice sounds and playing instruments.

To suggest appropriate actions to match song lyrics.

To sing and move to Christmas songs.

Spring Term

 Spring 1 - Music and Movement

Learn why songs have actions and some simple Makaton signs to accompany a song.

Explore the beat through body movement

Learn to recognise and react to different tempos in music

Learn to express different pitch and tempo in music through dance

Perform two movement and movement songs.

Spring 2 - Transport

Exploring the sounds of different types of vehicles

Exploring and mimicking the sounds of a train.

Exploring sounds heard on and around boats

Interpreting symbols to reflect a cars journey

Demonstrating simple rhythms on an instrument



Summer Term

Summer 1 - Musical stories

Listen to the lyrics and melody of  the 'Teddy Bears Picnic' and follow instructions to move to the music, changing their movements to reflect the tempo, pitch or dynamic of the piece

Use actions to tell the story of 'The Sleeping Princess' before singing and performing a group song based on the story.

Children are divided into small groups and allocated a section of the story 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt' with corresponding instruments to play.


To create a musical story based upon a familiar routine.


To create a musical story based upon a familiar routine.

To use instruments to represent moods or actions.

To play an instrument as part of a group story.

Summer 2 - Big Band

To discuss what makes a musical instrument

To use recyclable materials to create a simple musical instrument.

To learn what an orchestra is

To learn about the four different groups of musical instruments

To copy and follow the beat

To follow a beat using an untuned instrument

To experiment with playing tuned and untuned instruments

To play in time to familiar songs

To choose appropriate instruments to represent different parts of a song.

To perform a practised song to a small instrument.