00WHAT THE GUIDANCE SAYS

Tap, bang,
keep time.

A small wooden toy drum with two beaters, a shaker and a little xylophone on a soft rug in a sunlit playroom — AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

Small children love to make a noise on purpose.

England's early years guidance treats that as the start of music. It describes a path from exploring sound makers as a baby to keeping a steady beat by school age, and research suggests children drum more accurately when a real person drums with them.

DRUMtogetherUpdated 16 October 2026

Check an age

01Principles

Explore the sounds
Play loud and quiet
Keep time together
Simple play, early music

02THE SHORT ANSWER

Rhythm grows
with play.

The guidance builds rhythm up step by step.
Research adds one tip: drum with them.

FOUND SOUNDS

Anything can be a drum

Development Matters suggests offering instruments and 'found objects', such as tapping a bottle on the table or running a twig along a fence.

Ideas to try

TOGETHER

A partner helps the beat

In a study of 36 children, those who drummed with a person kept time more accurately than with a drum machine or a speaker.

See the study

STAGES

From noise to a steady beat

Babies make rhythmical and repetitive sounds. By reception, adults are asked to notice and encourage children to keep a steady beat.

Check an age

03A QUICK AGE CHECK

What might
your drummer do?

Pick an age band to see what England's early years guidance says children will be learning in music. The bar shows how much control over rhythm is expected.

Based on Development Matters and the EYFS statutory framework (Department for Education). Every child develops at their own pace; these are broad guides, not tests.

Age check

Choose an age bandBirth to 33 and 4-year-oldsChildren in receptionEnd of reception

Birth to 3Explore sounds

Make rhythmical and repetitive sounds, move and dance to music, and explore a range of sound makers and instruments, playing them in different ways.

3 and 4-year-oldsGrowing control

Listen with more attention, remember and sing whole songs, and play instruments with increasing control to express their feelings and ideas.

Children in receptionA steady beat

Explore music making and dance alone or in groups. Adults are asked to notice and encourage a steady beat, whether tapping knees, dancing or playing instruments.

End of receptionMove in time

At the expected level, children perform songs and rhymes with others and, when appropriate, try to move in time with music.

Sources: Development Matters (Department for Education, updated 2023), Expressive arts and design; EYFS statutory framework, ELG Being Imaginative and Expressive.

04TWO NUMBERS WORTH KNOWING

Drumming is
a social game.

One figure from a drumming experiment,
one on where music sits in the early years.

2.5 years

Youngest age that matched a partner's tempo

Children aged 2.5, 3.5 and 4.5 drummed with a person, a drum machine or a speaker. With a person, even 2.5-year-olds adjusted to a tempo outside their natural pace, and all ages synchronised more accurately.

JOINT DRUMMING · KIRSCHNER AND TOMASELLO 2009

7 areas

Areas of learning in the early years

England's early years framework sets out seven areas of learning. Music sits in Expressive arts and design, one of four specific areas alongside literacy, mathematics and understanding the world.

EYFS · DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION

A follow-up study by the same researchers found that 4-year-olds who made music together were afterwards more spontaneously cooperative and helpful than children in a matched game without music.

05FOUR WAYS TO PLAY

No band needed,
just a beat.

These ideas come from the early years guidance and the drumming research. A toy drum is lovely, but a pan and a spoon do the job.

Make a found-object kit
Tap a bottle on the table or a spoon on an upturned pan, and try different ways of playing each one.
Play with contrasts
Drum loud and quiet, fast and slow. The guidance lists dynamics, tempo, pitch and rhythm as things to explore.
Drum with them
Sit opposite and keep a beat together. In the study, a live partner helped children keep time better than a machine.
March to the drum
Try movement games where each sound means a move, such as marching to the drum or creeping to the maraca.

An upturned saucepan, a wooden spoon and a plastic bottle on a kitchen floor, ready to be used as a drum kit — AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

06SOUND AND QUIET

Make room
for the music.

An adult's hands and a small child's hands tapping together on a round hand drum resting on a wooden floor — AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

Development Matters says babies are born ready to enjoy and make music, and suggests songs for routines, action songs from different cultures and live as well as recorded music.

It also advises minimising background noise and not having music playing all the time, so babies and toddlers can pay attention to the people talking to them.

07Questions

Questions people ask

When can children keep a beat?

It varies. In one study, children as young as 2.5 adjusted their drumming to a partner's tempo. England's guidance asks reception staff to encourage a steady beat, and by the end of reception expects children to try to move in time with music when appropriate.

Do children need real instruments?

Not necessarily. Development Matters suggests a mix of instruments and found objects, such as tapping a bottle on a table or running a twig along a fence.

Is drumming with an app or speaker as good as with a person?

In the 2009 study, children of all ages synchronised more accurately with a human partner than with a drum machine or a drum sound from a speaker.

Does making music together do anything else?

A 2010 study found that 4-year-olds who made music together were afterwards more cooperative and helpful than children in a matched activity without music.

Should music be on in the background all day?

Development Matters advises minimising background noise and not playing music all the time, because babies and toddlers need to hear what adults are saying to them.

08Sources

Tap, bang,
keep time.