Grades 1–3
Instrument Families Sort
Write each instrument from the word bank under its family: strings, woodwinds, brass or percussion.
Music theory worksheet · Instrument families
Invent an Instrument
Draw a brand new instrument. Then tell how you play it, what family it is in and how it sounds.
- Grade level
- Grades K–5
- Time
- About 25 minutes
- Topic
- Instrument families
- Answer key
- Not needed: answers vary
- Kids practice
- Naming the four instrument families, Sorting instruments into families, Explaining how each family makes sound, Describing an instrument
What kids do
Printed on the sheet:
- Draw your instrument. Add labels for its parts.
- Its family (circle one):
- Its sound (circle):
- How do you play it?
- What is it made of?
Words on this sheet
stringshighlowloudsoftbrasssmoothbumpy
Teacher tip
Ask three questions as kids draw: what is it made of, how do you play it, and which family is it in? Let each inventor show how it would sound.
How to use it
- Bring in any real instrument you can and let kids see how it works.
- Sort picture cards as a class before kids sort on paper.
- Read the reminder box at the top of the sheet together, then do the first item as a class.
Watch for
Thinking the piano is only a string instrument. Hammers hit its strings, so many people call it percussion too.
Talk about it
- How does this instrument make its sound?
- How did you figure that out?
Take it further
Make a shoebox guitar or a straw oboe and talk about its family.
US Letter, prints well in black and white. Free for home and classroom use: print as many copies as you need.
More instrument families worksheets
Grades 2–4
How Instruments Make Sound
Every sound starts with something that vibrates. Match each family to how it makes sound, then answer the questions.
Free for teachers
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