Greek Lyre Project for Kids

GREEK COINS
CLAY SEALS
SPINNING
GREEK DISCUS
GOLD BOWL
GREEK LYRE
OLYMPICS
PLAY-READING
HOPLITE SHIELD
VASE-PAINTING

GREEK FOOD
GREEK CLOTHING
GREECE TEACHERS' GUIDE
ANCIENT GREECE HOME

Greek Lyre, made by 6th graders at Laurelhurst School, Portland

People in ancient Greece loved music, which they thought was a way of creating order out of chaos - you could make random rocks into beautiful buildings, you could make random movement into athletics, and you could make random noise into music. You can make a lyre like this one with a coat hanger, rubber bands (or yarn) and a metal bowl. Really the strings should run over the top of the bowl, so that the bowl will work as a resonator to make the music sound louder when you pluck the strings. This student painted the inside of the bowl to look like a turtle shell, as in the story of Hermes making the first lyre out of a turtle shell. Find out more about Greek music.

Activities:

* Olympic games
* Play reading
* Vase-painting

For more ideas for Ancient Greek projects, check out these books from Amazon.com or your library:

Hands-On Ancient People, Volume 2 : Art Activities about Minoans, Mycenaeans, Trojans, Ancient Greeks, Etruscans, and Romans (2004) For kids ages 9-12.

Ancient Greece!: 40 Hands-On Activities to Experience This Wondrous Age (Kaleidoscope Kids), by Avery Hart, Paul Mantell, and Michael P. Kline (1999). Gives ideas to get kids thinking, rather than step-by-step instructions.