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This video clip follows a musical conversation between a young toddler and a teacher. They are experimenting with sound, using two drums and a stick. When the child first approaches the teacher, she assumes he is asking for her stick, when in fact he is asking her to stop playing (00:29). She understands his request and obliges. The child proceeds to explore different sounds on different parts of the drum. The teacher carefully imitates the child as way to encourage a dialogue (00:35). When the boy shifts to the drumhead from the rim, so does the teacher. When the other children join and the rhythms become more energetic, the boy in the grey shirt feels he must express this heightened energy by dancing as well as beating the drum (00:54). He switches drums from the blue to the white and decides to make slower beats (01:05). This could be the result of the lower tone of the white drum, but at any rate, we are impressed with his deliberate change of meter. Around (01:30) he bangs his spoon on the floor and makes a noise of affirmation to someone off camera. One might speculate that he is saying, “The drum is not the only place I can make a noise with the spoon.” At the end of the clip, the child “names” the sound, calling out, “Boom.” This initiates a whole new game and dialogue with the teacher. What other non-verbal dialogues do these toddlers display? Watch the Videatives title, “Non Verbal Play with Nesting Glasses” for another glimpse at how non-verbal dialogue between a young child and an adult can proceed.

Length of video clip: 2 minutes 38 seconds
Keywords: Ones, Child-Teacher, Drums, Sound, Communication