Quick and Easy Creative Activities
Previously known as Ten Pieces at 鶹Լ, Ten Pieces Tasters are simple, fun, creative activities for primary age children. The activities are easy to follow and do not require any specialist knowledge or equipment. Each activity is led by an artist or specialist in their field and offers different ways to get creative with classical music.
Ten Pieces Tasters Showcase!
Take a look at some wonderful creative responses made by children across the UK; inspired by the activities on this page.
Capture the ideas of raga and tala within Ravi Shankar’s Symphony with photographer Mahtab Hussain…
This month in association with Asian Network, we’re exploring photography with an activity lead by Mahtab Hussain. Learn about the ideas of raga and tala and get clapping and moving to capture some striking images.
First...
Join Naomi Wilkinson to explore Ravi Shankar’s Symphony – Finale; learning about Hindustani music, the raga (melody) and tala (rhythm) and also the Banjara people who inspired it.
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Photographer Mahtab Hussain challenges you to capture the ideas of raga and tala using your hands, art materials and a camera. Mahtab guides you in embellishing your photographs to represent movement with glitter, shapes and stitching. Get creative with any materials you have available; if you wanted to be extra fancy, you could even use gold leaf like one of Mahtab's examples!
Finally...
Upload your photographs to the Ten Pieces website for a chance to feature in our online showcase.
Write a rhyming couplet and turn it into a work of art with writer and artist Angry Dan...
Taking inspiration from Kerry Andrew’s No Place Like, Angry Dan guides you in creating art work influenced by the theme of "home". Take on both poetry and art in this newest Ten Pieces Taster activity.
First...
Watch Lemn Sissay as he explores Kerry Andrew's piece No Place Like using facts and insight, beautiful animation and footage from the heart of the Ten Pieces Children's Choir.
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Angry Dan shows you how to create a rhyming work of art on the theme of “home”.
Finally...
Upload your artwork to the Ten Pieces website for a chance to feature in our Ten Pieces Tasters online showcase.
Write a letter home from space with the National Space Centre...
Find out about life as an astronaut and write a letter home from space inspired by Hans Zimmer’s epic piece Earth.
First...
Naomi Wilkinson introduces Earth, written especially for Ten Pieces by the world-famous trailblazer Hans Zimmer. Hans talks all about what has inspired him to write this piece.
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Claire Medhurst from the National Space Centre talks about the life of an astronaut and challenges you to write a letter to Earth from space.
Finally...
Upload your letter to the Ten Pieces website for a chance to feature in our online showcase.
Craft Nutcracker inspired paper chains with artist Julia Deering...
Let the music of Tchaikovsky and the story of The Nutcracker inspire you to create paper decorations for the home or classroom.
First...
Join Lemn Sissay as he explores Tchaikovsky's music from The Nutcracker with beautiful animation.
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Follow along with artist Julia Deering as she demonstrates a Nutcracker inspired craft activity. You will need: paper, colouring pencils, scissors and some imagination!
Finally...
Upload a picture of your paper people for a chance to feature in the Ten Pieces online showcase.
Explore beginnings with Beethoven...
This activity is all about beginnings and Beethoven with one of the most famous motifs in musical history!
First...
Join Barney Harwood in exploring the music of Beethoven and one of the most famous motifs in musical history. (It has even been used in pop songs!)
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Doctor Who composer Segun Akinola explores beginnings and sets a creative challenge based on Beethoven’s famous opening and the start of the 鶹Լ Proms.
Finally...
Upload your creative response to the Ten Pieces website for a chance to feature in our online showcase and on the 鶹Լ Proms website.
Get moving and create turntable inspired choreography with Sadler's Wells…
Using movements and gestures inspired by Gabriel Prokofiev's ‘Concerto for Turntables and Orchestra’; join dancer Jordan Douglas, in association with Sadler’s Wells, in creating your own table-top dance!
First...
Join Clara Amfo and Gabriel Prokofiev as they take a ride through Gabriel's mind to see how he composed his Concerto for Turntables and Orchestra!
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Learn a table top dance sequence with dancer and choreographer Jordan Douglas and create your own gestures inspired by turntables.
Finally...
Ask an adult to help you upload your dance performance for a chance to feature in the Ten Pieces online showcase.
Create a news bulletin with the help of C鶹Լ's Newsround...
Write and present a news bulletin about the life and work of composer Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges using tips from C鶹Լ Newsround presenter Hayley Hassall.
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Discover the music of Joseph Bologne, the first classical composer of African ancestry. Naomi Wilkinson explores the extraordinary story of a composer who took Paris by storm.
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Using these handy journalism tips from Newsround's Hayley Hassall; write and present a news story about Joseph Bologne’s life and achievements.
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Ask an adult to help you upload your news story or broadcast for a chance to feature in the Ten Pieces online showcase.
Write your own story inspired by a mythical creature...
Children’s author Ivan Brett guides you in conjuring up your own story and mysterious character. Let the music of Mason Bates, played by the 鶹Լ Symphony Orchestra; inspire you in your writing.
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Learn about Mason Bates’ A Bao A Qu from his Anthology of Fantastic Zoology! Author and broadcaster Lemn Sissay explores how his music can inspire creative ideas and powerful pictures in our imaginations.
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Join Ivan Brett as you imagine your very own mythical creature and story alongside the 鶹Լ Symphony Orchestra. What does your character look like? How do they move? What problems do they face?
Finally...
Ask an adult to help you upload your story, artwork or book cover for a chance to feature in the Ten Pieces online showcase.
Learn and perform Cuban rhythms inspired by Bernstein's 'Mambo'...
Learn Cuban rhythms, create a kitchen percussion section and perform along to the lively ‘Mambo’ from 'West Side Story' with percussionist Stephen Whibley from the 鶹Լ Concert Orchestra.
First...
Watch Pixie Lott as she explores romance and revenge in Bernstein's Cuban-inspired piece Mambo from West Side Story.
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Join 鶹Լ Concert Orchestra percussionist Stephen Whibley as he shows you how to create a Cuban Mambo in your kitchen!
Finally...
Get an adult to help you upload your percussion extravaganza for a chance to feature in the Ten Pieces at 鶹Լ online showcase.
Illustration inspired by Stravinsky's 'The Firebird'
Create a picture inspired by the mythical firebird alongside author and illustrator James Mayhew and the 鶹Լ National Orchestra of Wales.
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Watch Claudia Winkelman as she discovers the magical story that inspired Stravinsky’s soaring music.
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See how illustrator James Mayhew uses Stravinsky’s dazzling music performed by 鶹Լ NOW to inspire him to draw – watch what he does and then create your own fantastic illustration.
Finally...
Ask an adult to help you upload your artwork to the Ten Pieces website for a chance to have it featured in the Ten Pieces online showcase!
Create your own 3D sculpture...
Get arty with Amy Leung as she shows you how to create your own 3D sculpture inspired by Anna Clyne’s Night Ferry!
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Watch Doc Brown as he plunges into the darkest depths of the ocean with Anna Clyne's stormy Night Ferry. Discover how she composed her music by picking up a paint brush instead of writing music notes on paper!
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Using materials you might find around your home, follow artist Amy Leung's step-by-step guide on how to create a sculpture using Night Ferry to inspire shapes, patterns and textures .
Finally..
Ask an adult to help you upload a photo of your sculpture to the Ten Pieces website for a chance to have it featured in the Ten Pieces online showcase!
Things are getting dramatic!
Become a mythical warrior and practice your acting skills with a drama workshop inspired by Ride of the Valkyries from Wilhelm Richard Wagner’s opera Die Walküre.
First...
Watch the Ride of the Valkyries introductory film and find out more about Wagner’s epic opera and the mythical Valkyries with Christopher Eccleston.
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Explore the character of a Valkyrie and use the music to inspire your own dramatic theatrical performance. What will your Valkyrie look like? Where will they live?
Finally...
Upload a photo, video or picture of the character you have created. Ask an adult to help you share your work using our Uploader for a chance to have it featured in the Ten Pieces online showcase!
Sing with the 鶹Լ Singers...
Learn to sing the beautiful melody from Jean Sibelius’s epic piece Finlandia. Members of the 鶹Լ Singers will teach you the tune line by line and then sing with you in a virtual choir performance. You can hear the 鶹Լ Singers performing on Radio 3's Afternoon Concert every day this week!
First...
Watch the Ten Pieces introduction film. Naomi Wilkinson explores Sibelius's ode to the vast, majestic landscape of Finland and it's national pride with facts, insight and animation.
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Learn and perform the hymn-like theme that appears towards the end of the piece with the 鶹Լ Singers! This is the tune to one of the most important national songs in Finland. You might want to pause and rewind parts of the video to practice each line.
Finally...
Upload your performance or share the words you have written for a chance to have it featured in the Ten Pieces online showcase!
Draw a portrait and write a musical memory...
Join Naomi Wilkinson and create a piece of art and writing to connect with someone you love. Draw a picture and share a memory with a friend or family member to show you are thinking of them. This activity is part of the initiative.
First...
Watch the Ten Pieces introduction film about Elgar’s Enigma Variations. Elgar wrote the variations about his friends, using music to describe people’s characters and creating musical portraits.
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Join C鶹Լ’s Naomi Wilkinson and take inspiration from Elgar’s musical portraits. Draw a picture of someone you miss and write about a piece of music that reminds you of them. Send your artwork and music selection to your special person to show they are in your thoughts. You can download the template or use a blank piece of paper.
Finally...
Share your picture and musical memory. Ask an adult to help you share your work using our Uploader for a chance to have it featured in the Ten Pieces online showcase! If you want more ways to use music to connect with friends and family visit the .
Tell a story with your very own body percussion music...
Join presenter Lucy Drever and members of the 鶹Լ Scottish Symphony Orchestra as they guide you in building your very own minimalist piece of music. Get creative with body percussion and storytelling, using Steve Reich's Music for 18 Musicians as inspiration.
First...
Explore Music for 18 Musicians with C鶹Լ's Naomi Wilkinson and discover the short motifs, beats, pulses and repeating patterns that make Steve Reich’s music so exciting. You can see the 鶹Լ Scottish Symphony Orchestra performing his music alongside students from The National Youth Orchestra of Scotland and The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
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Get your hands, feet and imaginations ready as we compose our own piece of minimalism! What does the piece remind you of? Can you conjure up a storyline using the music as inspiration?
Finally...
Share your drawing with us! Or perhaps you've made something like Lucy suggests in the video? Ask an adult to share your work using our handy Uploader below for a chance to have it featured in the Ten Pieces online showcase!
Write a poem inspired by a journey with Simon Mole...
Get playful with poetry! Join emcee and poet Simon Mole in creating your very own journey themed poem inspired by Hector Villa-Lobos' music and his train ride through the hot countryside of Brazil.
First...
Delve into the musical travels of The Little Train of the Caipira; a piece of music written by Heitor Villa Lobos. His music describes a shuddering, juddering steam train chugging through Brazil and carrying the ‘caipira’ or ‘people of the countryside’ off to pick berries in the fields.
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Let your imagination run wild as you follow Simon Mole's step-by-step guide in creating your own poem.Where will you go? What will you see? Who will you meet?
Finally...
Share your poems with us! We'd love to know what your imagination has conjured - whether in writing or being read aloud! Perhaps you've drawn a map like Simon mentioned in the video. Ask an adult to share your work using our handy Uploader below for a chance to have it featured on the Ten Pieces website!