Whether you get snow this winter or not, you can still talk about winter with your young kids and use Vivaldi’s music too. All you need is your imagination (and your children got plenty of it, I bet!)
First, some background.
Vivaldi composed his 4 violin concerti (or concertos) Four Seasons as program music . It is believed that Vivaldi himself wrote 4 sonnets for the concerti describing the mood and events specific to each season.
How to Introduce Vivaldi’s Winter
- Talk about winter season. If your child had never seen snow, find an age appropriate YouTube video with examples of snow as well as people’s and children’s activities on snowy day. Relate to your child’s experiences (being cold; warming up with blanket or hot chocolate, etc.)
- Talk about Vivaldi and his idea of describing each season with music.
- Predict with your child what winter music might sound like (falling snow – soft or loud; shivering with cold – fast or slow, etc.)
- You might choose to share the Winter Sonnet or just invite your child to use her imagination as she listens.
- Invite her to act out or draw what music makes her imagine. Act out and draw with music too.
- Remember: there are no right or wrong answers! I just being told by one of my students that Vivaldi’s Winter reminded her of… marshmallows!
- Most importantly: have fun!
Kids Inspired by Classical Music and FineArt 