Spring Learning Challenge: Read to the Rhythm

Attention: This post is over 2 years old and the information may be out of date.Attention: This post is over 2 years old and the information may be out of date.

Celebrate the Year of Chicago Music with Chicago Public Library's Spring Learning Challenge.

Make your own instrument, learn about the science of sound, sing a new song with your family or read about musical instruments and musicians.

To complete the challenge:

  • Read (books, ebooks, magazines or websites) for 20 minutes a day for at least five days.
  • Complete a musical activity and share what you discover and create.

Keep track of your progress on the Spring Learning Challenge log (Spanish Spring Learning Challenge log).

Read

Check out our Read to the Rhythm recommended reads on eBooks.

I Got the Rhythm: Explore the sounds you hear everyday! A girl uses all her senses to play and dance with the rhythms she hears on a trip to the park.

Esquivel!: Whiz! Whoosh! Bowm-bowm! Whee-doop-di-doop! Squiddle didly squee! Juan Garcia Esquivel's unique music was inspired by the mariachi songs and street sounds of his childhood. He became a famous composer in the 1950s and 1960s, creating a fun, new type of space-age music that combined a variety of instruments with weird and wacky noises.

Discover and Create

  • Make a simple musical instrument out of string that only you can hear.
  • Grab a pair of sticks and tap along with the librarians at Jbrary in these videos featuring rhythmic chants and songs you may already know!
  • Try coding a dance party with this fun and easy tutorial featuring popular songs.
  • Turn up the music and have a real life dance party at home, and try one of these fun dancing games.
  • You don't have to be able to play an instrument to make up your own song. Come up with new words to a tune you already know or create a sound song using clapping, stomping and other sounds you can make with your body. Write it down and share it with friends!
  • Stream some great new music using Hoopla. Find popular soundtracks, like Frozen II and Moana, or share your favorite greatest hits from stellar kid artists like Raffi and Laurie Berkner.

The Spring Learning Challenge is made possible through the Chicago Public Library Foundation.