"Imagine and Create" is a brand new resource by SIOW Music to encourage creativity and different ways of responding to sights and sounds.

What is Imagine & Create?

Imagine & Create is a brand-new digital music education resource developed by our hub, acting on feedback from schools and SEND settings to inspire creativity in young musicians. The idea came from conversations with SEND settings who wanted ideas for composing and creating musical ideas, but it can be used in all kinds of environments from Early Years to older children.

Each "Imagine and Create"  includes a 5 minute video based on a theme, with different sections matched to different pieces of music that combine engaging soundscapes with striking visuals, each themed around familiar classroom topics. Designed to spark imagination, these videos invite children the chance to improvise, move, explore and compose music in a playful, accessible way.

How to use Imagine & Create:

Each video has an accompanying teacher’s resource pack which features different starting points to explore the video with children, from drawing and moving, to oracy and language work, to composing and improvising sounds. The resources offer practical guidance, ideas, and activities on how to make use of the resources and help embed music-making into everyday classroom learning. These resources are linked in the description of each video.

The music in the video can be faded to be in the background, with the children putting in their own sounds, or it can be used as a focus for physical response or for playing along (the tracks are in C).

The resource document is just a starting point and we would love to know how you have used the videos and to see or hear any of the responses that your children have made.

What Imagine & Create themes would you like to see?

We are planning two "Imagine and Create" videos each term. So far we have "Train Journeys" and "Fireworks" available. "Space" and "Ocean" are in the planning stages for the Spring Term. Are there any themes that you would like us to explore? Do get in touch via music@siowmusic.org

Imagine & Create

Access the Imagine & Create videos on our YouTube playlist

Playlist

This week’s 10 Minute Sign & Sing teaches you the makaton signs, body percussion and lyrics to an original song written by our fantastic music hub composer Jo Downs.

‘The Wheel of The Year’ is about folklore and the different traditions within the British Isles that happen throughout each year and with the changing seasons, including May Pole Dancing and Equionox. It was written for the Mardi Gras, so it fuses folk music with some Latin rhythms!

You can find this 10 Minute Sign and Sing in our SongBank, along with many other songs and 5 Minute Rhythm & Rhyme videos, via the button below and on our youtube channel!

The Wheel of The Year

Learn the Makaton signs and lyrics with Vicky and the body percussion with Tom!

10 Minute Sign & sing

Our yearly Christmas Songbook, composed by Jo Downs, and its accompanying resources are now available for you to use!

This year after listening to feedback from teachers we have focused our songs around the nativity story. Each song will tell the Christmas story sequentially and features varying styles and genres of music. Sign and sing video resources for each song have been be added to our YouTube channel to support this.

The songbook consists of 3 Original Songs for KS1 and 3 Original Songs for KS2. For each song resource there is a guide track including vocals, a backing track and a pdf of the vocal score along with a lyrics document for printing and a powerpoint for easy display and learning along with the signing videos.

You can find the songbook and the full resources on our website here.

Illustrations by Mabel Thompsett

We are so excited to have collaborated with local artists Shannon B and producer Sera Bless for 2024’s Black History Month song!

2024’s Black History Month song is based on a theme of Reclaiming Narratives; showcasing untold stories, correcting historical inaccuracies, challenging the narratives that have often overlooked the contributions and achievements of Black individuals.

The song ‘Retelling our Stories’ is now live in our Songbank. To accompany the song, we have made a KS2/KS3 music curriculum resource.

This resource includes outlining the topic, researching the themes and writing your own verse to fit with the existing chorus and example verse.

Find the song and curriculum resource in our songbank via the button below.