World Music Day | EYFS & KS1 Activity Ideas

**Note: This page is for educational inspiration and is not officially affiliated with World Music Day. World Music Day is an international celebration that originated in France as the Fête de la Musique ('Festival of Music'). Launched by the French Ministry of Culture in 1982, it is celebrated annually on June 21st. The day encourages people of all ages to make and play music, celebrating the power of music to unite us and bring joy. It is a day for free, public concerts and for everyone to share their love of music. For official information and details, please visit the Fête de la Musique website: fetedelamusique.culture.gouv.fr.

Sunday 21st June 2026

Understanding World Music Day in EYFS & KS1

Let's clap, tap, and sing along to the rhythm for World Music Day! 🎶🥁🎤

For early years settings, nurseries, preschools, childminders, and Year 1 and Year 2 classrooms, this day provides a wonderfully creative and crucial theme for exploring music and sound, expressive movement, emotions, creativity, and cultural awareness. It’s about empowering children to express themselves through sound and movement, fostering a love for rhythm and song, and helping them understand how music can reflect and influence their feelings. This day offers fantastic planning ideas and inspiration for engaging activities that truly resonate with young minds, making learning about music, self-expression, and listening skills both essential and wonderfully fun!

Why Is Learning About Music Important for Young Children?

Integrating World Music Day and themes of music, sound, and movement into your practice with young children (aged 0-7) is incredibly important for holistic development and fostering positive self-expression.

• Fosters Creativity & Self-Expression: Provides a safe and fun way for children to express their feelings and ideas.

• Develops Listening Skills: Encourages children to listen carefully to different sounds and rhythms in their environment.

• Supports Emotional Regulation: Helps children understand how music can change their mood and express a range of emotions.

• Enhances Coordination & Gross Motor Skills: Encourages children to move their bodies to music, developing balance and rhythm.

• Builds Social Connections: Provides a shared experience of singing, dancing, and playing together, which strengthens friendships.

Engaging Music & Sound Activities for World Music Day (EYFS & KS1)

Let's make some wonderful music for World Music Day with these planning ideas and activities perfect for EYFS and KS1 children. The focus is on listening, creating, and having fun with sound! Many of these early years and year 1 activities can be supported by our dedicated ‘Music and Sound’, ‘Emotions and Feelings’, and ‘Nursery Rhymes’ resources.

Here's some inspiration for celebrating World Music Day in your setting: (Please use your own discretion and knowledge of your children to ensure appropriateness of each activity and safety concerning any materials given and activity undertaken. Emphasise positive messages about trying your best and being a good teammate.)

Creating & Exploring Sound

• Homemade Instruments: Gather recycled materials like plastic bottles, cardboard tubes, and rubber bands. Challenge children to create their own musical instruments. Use the 'STEM - Musical Instruments - Support Pack' for ideas and prompts, e.g. ‘Make an instrument you can pluck.’

• Sound Discovery: Use our resources like 'Making Sounds Game' and 'Onomatopoeic Sound Cards' to explore different sounds and what makes them. You could also take the children on a 'sound walk' and use the 'Listening 'Sound Walk' Sheets - Check List or Tally' to record what they hear.

• Investigating Instruments: Investigate how different instruments make sounds. Discuss the parts of a guitar with the 'Guitar Parts Poster And Activity Sheets'.

• Water Play Sounds: Add some fun to your water play with our 'Water Play - Water Sound Posters' that showcase different onomatopoeic sounds water can make.

Movement & Emotional Connection

• Listening and Moving: Play different styles of music (e.g., fast, slow, happy, sad) and encourage children to move their bodies in a way that matches the music.

• Expressing Feelings Through Music: Use our ''This Music Makes Me Feel...' Emoji Cards Activity' and the accompanying resources, including playdough mats and colouring pages, to help children connect music to their feelings. You could also use 'Emotions - 'This Music Makes Me Feel...' - Mark Making' to express feelings on paper.

• Making Sounds Outdoors: Use our 'Outdoor Play - Sound - Can you make this sound? Prompt Cards' to explore making sounds with your body and natural objects in the outdoor environment.

• Clapping Games: Use 'Clapping Cards' to teach children different clapping patterns and rhythms. You could also invent your own clapping games to a favourite song.

Singing & Performing

• Singing Together: Learn a new song as a group or sing some nursery rhymes from our posters like 'Five Little Speckled Frogs - Words/Lyrics Poster - Colouring' and 'The Wheels On The Bus - Words/Lyrics Poster - Colouring'.

• Singing Contest Role Play: Use our 'Singing Contest Role Play Pack' to set up a fun pretend singing competition. This is a great way to build confidence and performance skills in a low-pressure environment. You could also have a musical 'Fairy Tale Theatre' with our 'Fairy Tale Theatre' Dramatic Role Play Pack'.

• Creating a 'Song Book': Get children to talk about their favourite songs and write or draw about them in our ''Songs I Love to Sing' Booklet'. This can be a great keepsake.

• Putting on a Show: Let children be performers and give them instruments to play. They could put on a mini-concert for another class or for parents, showcasing the songs they've learned and the instruments they've made.

• Explore More: To explore our extensive catalogue of resources on these themes, please visit our ‘Music and Sound’, ‘Emotions and Feelings’, ‘Expressive Movement’, and ‘Nursery Rhymes’ pages.

These activities offer great inspiration for making World Music Day a memorable and impactful experience in your early years and Key Stage One setting, fostering creativity, listening skills, and a lifelong love for music.

To explore ideas surrounding additional early years events, please visit our 'Special Dates Calendar' page.

Printable resources to support teaching & learning surrounding: ‘World Music Day’

Free ‘Music and Sound’ activities and printable resources for EYFS & KS1:

‘Music and Sound’ activities and printable resources for EYFS & KS1:

Please visit our ‘Music and Sound’ page for additional resources.

Please visit our ‘Music & Sound’ page for additional resources.

Additional Pages you may like to explore which cover relevant &/or Connected themes

More Early Years Event Pages for June

Explore special dates (including awareness dates, festivals, celebrations & events) relevant to your EYFS & KS1 children

Browse our ‘Special Dates Calendar’ page using the link below. You’ll find calendars for every month of the year to aid your planning!

Search ‘Little Owls Resources’ Using the following Menu Buttons…

Disclaimer:
This page is for educational purposes only and is intended to support early years and primary practitioners with ideas and resources related to 'World Music Day'. We are not officially affiliated with or endorsed by the French Ministry of Culture, which founded the Fête de la Musique. We do not claim any rights to specific trademarks or official materials associated with this event. For official information and details, please visit the Fête de la Musique website: fetedelamusique.culture.gouv.fr.