Results reveal that classroom and music teachers used CDs as a primary tool for musical instruction and engagement. Teachers rarely sang to students. Children’s spontaneous music making existed primarily in short blips and bursts of known material, with very few examples of introverted, free-flowing, creative songs. Surprisingly, however, the “Junkyard” playgrounds on kibbutz preschools provided an exception to these findings. In the “Junkyard,” real-life, discarded materials such as broken microwaves, radios, cribs, tires, and dishwashers provide a playscape, wherein children create their own microworlds according to a democratic decision-making process. Creative play and inventive, introverted free-flowing music flourished in these settings.
Several conclusions emerged from these findings. Since children’s music making is a reflection of local cultural norms, teachers must nurture children’s propensity to invent songs, rather than rely solely on recordings. Furthermore, the clear influence that playground structure and materials have on children’s spontaneous music making calls into question the use of “toys” versus “real-life” objects (including “toy” instruments versus “real” instruments) for children’s use. Lastly, it is suggested that creativity in children’s music making is strengthened when children are given agency to co-construct their play space.