In the office where I work, in the closet by my desk, I discovered a massive collection of various instruments, and one captured my attention.
It was my first time seeing an instrument made of gourds. It has a large "head" covered with a net of beads that creates sound as you shake the instrument or as you move the beads. While researching this instrument for this post, I discovered it's called Shekere, and it's coming from Africa.
We had a school class coming to visit the library, and I was helping a children's librarian with the kids, so I decided to use this instrument to get their attention.
The class was split into two groups. One group was with another librarian, who was reading a story in a different room. The second group was with me and my colleague, reading independently, and we were helping them. After 30 minutes, we exchanged the groups. Shekere worked like a charm! The moment I shook it, the kids looked at me and came close. I put the instrument in front of them and played with the beads, and the kids were hypnotized. Everybody wanted to touch it and play with it. So I gave them a chance to touch it and make sounds, but I was also walking and told them to follow me. And they did!
Whenever I wanted to get their attention, I just had to make a sound, and they would come to me. It was so powerful! :)
There are more instruments in the closet, so I can't wait to discover and experiment with them in the future.