Musical Youth: A Girl Scout's Mission to Fuse Nature and Music for Fond du Lac Community

In the city of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, there is now a space where children can discover music and learn how to play well-known tunes - all in the great outdoors. This was made possible by a local girl's love of music and her desire to give back to her community.

College student Natalie Johnson's Girl Scout Gold Award project, "Music for Youth," brought musical instruments to Hamilton Park, a popular space for the local Boys and Girls Club of Fond Du Lac. The project aimed to provide children with easy access to musical instruments and even brought in local retired music teachers to introduce children to music-making and the musical scale.

Natalie, who is a teaching aide at the Boys and Girls Club, was keen to provide a space where children could engage with music and have the opportunity to make music with their parents and grandparents. Natalie says, "I have been involved with music-related activities for quite a few years, which helped me determine a theme for my project. I wanted to create a musical space in the park where any person, especially young students, can go and play them."

The initial instruments for Natalie's Girl Scout project were donated by a local business, and the City of Fond Du Lac purchased additional instruments to create the largest outdoor music garden in the area. The chosen instruments, including the Rainbow Cavatina, the Music Book, and a Pair of Congas, were selected because they could be incorporated into music lessons.

Natalie says, "I could work through the songs in the Music Book with a few of the students as a way to teach them how to work through and play on a xylophone (Cavatina). It's been a joy to see children and adults discover the instruments in the park and play together. This space is helping children begin their musical education which I have been lucky to enjoy and develop growing up in the City."

Other instruments include Sunflower, Daisy and Forget-Me-Not Petal Drums, Calypso Chimes Diatonic - Set of 8 Notes C4-C5, and a bunch of Harmony Bells musical flowers.