Each year, World Wildlife Day gives us an opportunity to pause and reflect on the extraordinary diversity of the natural world. In school, it often prompts thoughtful work in science or geography, but it also offers an opportunity for musical exploration.
One of my tried and trusted ways to explore this theme musically is through The Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saëns.
When I use this piece with pupils, I like to begin with a listening and movement activity. The only explanation I give pupils is that I am going to play a series of pieces of music about animals. I play a movement and invite children to listen carefully and see if they can guess what animal the music might be about. But instead of telling me, they have to get up and show me by moving around the room in the style of that animal. I then identify a few pupils who are making interesting movements and we discuss in front of the class what animal they are representing and what clues there were in the music that drew them to this conclusion. It is almost irrelevant whether they guessed the correct animal, the important bit is the musical justification for their choices. Through careful listening and discussion, pupils begin to understand that a composer’s musical choices are deliberate and communicative.
From there, I often move into visual representation. Children are naturally adept at translating sound into shape, but they need careful modelling to do so musically rather than decoratively. As we listen to a short excerpt again, I might sketch a simple line to show melodic contour, or repeated marks to show rhythmic patterns. We talk about how a jagged shape might reflect short, detached notes, while a long sweeping curve suggests sustained sound. Gradually, pupils create their own graphic scores, discovering that notation is not an arbitrary system imposed upon music, but a way of capturing and sharing what we hear. When they compare scores, the conversation that follows – why someone chose a spiral instead of a straight line, or clustered shapes instead of evenly spaced ones – deepens their understanding of notation as a tool for communication.
Composition grows naturally out of this process. Once pupils recognise how Saint-Saëns used tempo, pitch, timbre and structure to convey animal characteristics, they are ready to attempt it themselves. For World Wildlife Day, I like to frame this as composing a short piece inspired by an animal of their choice, perhaps even one that is endangered. The key is to move beyond “make an animal sound” and towards purposeful musical decision-making. What tempo reflects this creature’s movement? Will the piece stay in a low register to suggest weight, or explore extremes of pitch? Even a simple A–B structure can show contrasting behaviours, such as hunting and resting or flying and nesting. With clear expectations and thoughtful scaffolding, pupils of all ages are capable of remarkably expressive and structured work.
What I value most about returning to The Carnival of the Animals each year is not simply its charm, but its clarity. It demonstrates, in miniature, how composers think: how they manipulate musical elements to communicate an idea. World Wildlife Day gives us a meaningful context, but the musical learning must remain central. When we insist on careful listening, precise vocabulary and intentional composition, children do far more than imitate the natural world. They begin to understand how music itself works.
And that, ultimately, is the point.
Dr Liz Stafford, March 2026. Copyright © 2026 Music Education Solutions Limited. All Rights Reserved.
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