Peter and the Wolf by Prokofiev is an elementary music staple. What a great story! And what a great way to introduce some of the instrument timbres of the orchestra.
But trying to figure out the best way to teach Peter and the Wolf can be a challenge. What grade level to teach it to? What activities should you incorporate to help introduce the story and its characters?
Let’s explore some fun ways to take your next Peter and the Wolf unit to the next level with some fun activities you and your kids will love.
Meet the Composer – Sergei Prokofiev
I always think it is nice to take a moment to learn a little bit about the composer of a piece of music if you are going to spend a little time on it. Taking a moment to learn about Sergei Prokofiev and the part of the world that his music comes from frames the piece in a broader context that will help it really stick with the students.
Peter and the Wolf Instruments
One of the most iconic parts of Peter and the Wolf is the characters represented by different instruments of the orchestra. No Peter and the Wolf lesson would be complete without highlighting the instruments and the characters they represent.
I love to introduce the students to the instruments first. For me, I tend to do Peter and the Wolf with my second grade students. It is their first deep(ish) dive into orchestra instruments. We will do a whole unit next year in third grade, so this is a really fun way to give them a little introduction.
I show them the different instruments and we get to listen to examples of each one.
Peter and the Wolf Characters
Now you really can’t get too far teaching instruments to Peter and the Wolf without starting to talk about the characters they represent.
I love to introduce them as a game. Students listen and guess which instruments will represent which characters in the story. This is a great way to get their wheel turning instead of just feeding them the information.
Then I give them the answers and introduce them to each of the character themes. Sometimes we even have motions or popsicle stick characters to move whenever we hear the character’s theme.
By the way, if you want something to get started right away, a lot of these activities can be found in my Peter of the Wolf Activity Set. Just print and go!
Peter and the Wolf Story
Picture Book
For our very first exposure to the story of Peter and the Wolf, I prefer to use a book. I don’t want students distracted by too many visual elements. I want them to really focus on the music and the story it tells. Maybe you could even do the music without a book!
One book that I am partial to is Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf. There are tons of books out there. This one just happens to be the one that was gifted to me at the end of my student teaching, and I’ve used it ever since. So I cannot honestly say that I have sampled that many of the variety of Peter and the Wolf story books that are out there. If you have a favorite alternate book that you would like to recommend, by all means, let us know in the comment section below!
Summarizing the Story
After the story, you can earn some cross-curricular points by having students correctly sequence the parts of the story.
Peter and the Wolf Video
After students have heard the whole story, I like to finish the unit by watching the movie. There are several versions that I am aware of. At first, I used the only one I knew, the Disney version from Make Mine Music. I’ve also used the Oscar winning claymation version with older grades. I have to say that I haven’t found one that I am 100% in love with. Again, if you have one that you recommend, please comment below and let us know! I would love to find a better alternative.
Lesson for Peter and the Wolf by Prokofiev
If you are looking for a quick way to get started on a Peter and the Wolf lesson, I recommend grabbing my Peter and the Wolf Activity Set. It has many of the resources I mentioned here, plus more! It’s as easy as print and go!
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