Musical Emotions

Tamariki understand the connection between music and wellbeing, and how music can influence our mood.

Music, mood and identity often go hand in hand, whether we’re playing an instrument, performing a waiata, hearing lyrics we can relate to or simply enjoying our favourite songs, genres and artists.

When performed, music can also connect us to others – promoting teamwork, friendship and a sense of accomplishment.

Listening to music can change our mood, and be an easy way to relax, get a quick pick-me-up or feel good.

• How do we feel when we listen to music we enjoy? Happy, ka pai, calm, creative, thoughtful, tired, moved, sleepy, energised, motivated etc.
• What about music we don’t enjoy? Distracted, stressed, sad, anxious, on edge, angry, overwhelmed etc.

Younger tamariki
Might enjoy listening and singing along with:

• The feelings song, from Kids TV
• Feelings, by Dave Matthews and Grover
• A song about emotions, from Sesame Street.

Older tamariki

• Ask students to choose a song they like and to create a poster that features some of the lyrics. Ask them to include words and pictures showing how they feel when they hear this song.
• Another option is to invite tamariki to choose an emotion and write their own song or rap about it.

Learn a new song or waiata
Try a new waiata. Two simple ones to start with include:

1. A Haka Mana; and
2. Tūtira mai ngā iwi.

Or you could have a class sing-along to Happy by Pharrell Williams, ensuring students who don’t like singing or being front and centre can be an important part of the whole, either with musical instruments, or by providing percussion beats.

Try our Musical adventure to explore the connection between music and emotions more.

Music is amazing in terms of inducing feel-good emotions. When music is a shared experience, this is also a big contributor. Try Listen to the Rain and Te Ara Pū Māori for some shared musical fun.

If you think it may be useful for whānau to understand and explore the connection between waiata and wellbeing, simply copy and paste the following 'blurb' into an email or your home-learning programme as an introduction.

In the classroom we've been taking a good look at the many benefits of waiata and music and how it positively impacts our wellbeing. Music, mood and identity often go hand in hand, whether it's playing an instrument, performing waiata, hearing lyrics we can relate to or simply enjoying our favourite songs, genres and artists.

Sparklers at Home has created an at-home version of the Musical Emotions activity we've been exploring in the classroom. It would be great if you could take a look at this activity with your child and have a conversations about music and what it means for your whānau and for you. It will be really meaningful for your child and normalise the importance of waiata, and encourage any music they love too.