Ocean Drum - 8in (20cm) diameter, painted

The ‘Ocean Drum - 8in (20cm) diameter, painted’ makes a sound just like waves breaking gently on the beach. Relaxing to listen to and easy to play, it makes for a great learning tool for fine motor control and coordination.

Children love to touch, move and feel the vibration of this ocean drum. This 8in (20cm) double-sided drum has metal and plastic beads inside to produce the ‘ocean waves’ effect.

The ‘Ocean Drum - 8in (20cm) diameter, natural’ is also available, which is plain with no motifs painted on.

We have included two 8in (20cm) painted versions in our ‘Nursery Shaker Kit - 15 instruments’ collection, and a 16in (40cm) painted version in our ‘Big Stuff Kit - 14 instruments’ collection.

These drums can help with all aspects of EY development, including:

Sensory and/or physical needs

* Self-played:
Playing this instrument up high, whilst looking through the skin to see the little beads scampering across the surface, can exercise the shoulder
muscles in a different way than is usual. Also, the head is tipped backwards and eyes raised, requiring varying degrees of shoulder and arm exercise and control.

Be aware to shorten the time span if played this way.
* Practitioner-facilitated play:
Sit facing each other and steer the ocean drum like a car steering wheel.
Swap leader/follower as you go along. Do the same action with a rowing back and forth motion. Repeat with shaking, up and down motions.

Social, emotional and mental health

It can feel wonderfully liberating to be led and then become leader yourself in an activity.
Feelings of self-esteem and self-confidence can arise from being acknowledged, trusted [by your follower] and liked [by your activity partner] through this activity.
Knowing, liking and trusting are essential qualities which can help when presenting more challenging activities in the future.

Communication and interaction

The body can experience communication through different actions. Pulling, pushing, tugging, lifting, lowering, are all communicating something and we are always interpreting what these actions mean to us, then we adapt and interact in order to form our own communications either in response or as an initiatory act.

Cognition and learning

Looking up through the skin of an ocean drum teaches simple light and shade perception and playfulness.
Can help improve eye-teaming skills along with eye-ear integration.

N.B. For SEN settings: When you purchase this product you get free access to a wide range of downloadable SEND teaching resources. Please visit our SEND resources page to see the range - free resources have a purple "FREE" label alongside.