A number of years ago I purchased this teaching aid from Rebekah Maxner who has a website entitled ‘Piano at Play’. These ‘puddles and sticks’ represent the space and line notes. And, they help to reinforce the use of seconds and thirds when reading and playing music and of course, the musical alphabet. Many pupils benefit from using these puddles and sticks in a tactile manner.
Thirds for example can be reinforced by jumping from puddle to puddle and in doing so, leaping over the sticks. Or, if they do not wish to get their feet ‘wet’ they can walk on each of the sticks. By placing the puddles and sticks in a vertical line will help reinforce the use of alphabet moving forwards or backwards according to the movement. Seconds require a different movement, one which is smaller considering they are not jumping over sticks or puddles.
