Looking for engaging, musical games to play with your students? Here are a few of my favorite games and activities for elementary music classes, children's choirs, and elementary group classes.
Coming up with engaging games for a middle school classroom can be daunting. They are at an age where they want to be independent, yet need some hand holding. They start the “I’m too cool for school” attitude and it can be intimidating at times when you introduce a new game or project - immediately the eye rolling takes over and you are stuck with questioning yourself. I’m here to tell you, I’VE BEEN THERE! It is incredibly frustrating when you are put in a situation like that, but I’m here to s
Kids love balls and I use them to teach concepts, in team building, during rehearsals and more! Here's my ten ways to use balls in the music class room.
How to Introduce Composers for Kids - Children love stories and music. Introducing them to composers is a great way to teach music appreciation.
We've all been there: one class is ahead of the rest of the grade level, it's the last day before a vacation, you're stressed/ tired/ sick and can't think straight to teach a regular lesson, it's a weird schedule day and the kids are spinning in circles, there's a last-minute change and you can't do the lesson you had planned... Whatever the reason, we all have days when we need to step out of our regularly-scheduled sequenced curriculum and do something different for one class period. Sure, you could throw on a movie or pull out some worksheets. But those types of classes can result in lots of behavior difficulties (and no wonder, the students are usually bored!). Here are my favorite ways to use those "one-off" class periods in meaningful musical ways. These ideas are ones that don't require too much thinking on my part, don't require advance planning to set up, can be done with large or small groups, and keep students engaged for an entire class period. 1. instrument merry go round I actually use this activity as a part of my regular "curricular" lessons as well, but it's a good one to pull out when I want everyone to stay focused and engaged but I know they're going to be antsy. I have every student pick out one instrument (usually I limit their options to small percussion on specific shelves in my room) and bring it to sit in a circle on the floor. Then I tell them to play when my hands are open, and stop when I close my hands. If they play/ don't play at the wrong time, they're out for the next round. Once they get the hang of starting and stopping, I have them leave their instrument on the floor, stand up, and move over one spot around the circle. Then they pick up the new instrument and repeat. Keep going around the circle and switching instruments! The great thing about this is I can use it to review a variety of concepts. Instrument names and playing techniques are obvious ones, but I can also teach dynamics by having them play louder/ softer when I hold up dynamic symbols or move my hands bigger or smaller, review instrument classification by calling out certain types to play on different turns, or practice rhythms by having them echo patterns instead of starting/ stopping. Lots of ways to change it up! 2. Musication I purposefully save videos from this awesome YouTube channel to use only for this purpose so that I know students won't get tired of them. They are most well-known for the play-along videos for Boomwhackers and hand chimes with color-coded notes, but there are also play-along videos for percussion (which is great for large groups and younger students), and even chord play-alongs (which I use with ukulele but could also be done with guitar, piano, etc). One other pro tip for these: you can slow down or speed up the videos on YouTube without distorting the sound by clicking on settings (the gear icon at the bottom of the video) and selecting "playback speed". This is a perfect way to keep classes engaged and "up the ante" by repeating the same song but speeding up each time! Of course switching the parts/ notes they're playing is another great way to change it up and keep everyone on their toes. 3. posters I don't do this often but every now and then, especially if I'm under the weather and I don't think the students will be too high-energy, I'll have the class make posters to hang up on the walls. Sometimes I'll have them make posters for an upcoming music event to hang up around the building, including reminders about concert etiquette. Other times I have them make posters about something they're learning: instrument families, a musical element, music vocabulary, etc. Bonus: it's great to have student work to actually display on the walls because most of our student work isn't visual, and administrators (and kids!) love to see that in the classroom! 4. soundscapes There are so many ways to do soundscapes- I've written an entire blog post just about all the ways to do them here- but the most basic one I pull out most often in this scenario is to write down names of places on slips of paper, fold them up and have students draw one from a jar, and then have small groups come up with a soundscape to match that scene using only their voices and found objects they have in the room. So for example if a group has the beach, they may make the sounds of waves by flapping a piece of paper, seagulls with their voice, beachballs getting hit by hitting a chair, etc. If you're reading this right now and thinking ha, I wish I had a sequenced curriculum laid out for me that I could even stray from in the first place! Don't worry, you're definitely not alone- I talk to so many music teachers every week who are planning their lessons week by week or even day by day from scratch! You can get my complete curriculum with all the plans and materials for the entire school year for K-6 general music here, or learn exactly how to make your own in this free e-course here. I hope these lesson ideas are helpful the next time you find yourself in one of those situations- I'll be using a few of them this week after I finish my concerts and try to finish the week until our vacation!
Here are EASY OUTDOOR music and movement activities that your kids in all grade levels will love! It's like a musical field day!
I love using body percussion activities, so I am sharing some teacher tips and ways to use them in your classes.
Start learning how to read music for beginners today! Teach your kids how to read music notes with fun printable activity ideas.
Five fun and action-filled circle games to practice rhythm, pitch, and more with your elementary music students.
Looking for a fun way to teach crescendos and decrescendos? The Monkey Game is the most requested game in my elementary music room-- and will be yours too!
Here are a bunch of ideas for music class activities for grades K-4 to keep kids engaged in May. Summer's fast approaching, but meaningful music education is still possible! Check out these tips, resources, and musical ideas for your elementary students.
I have a house full of music-loving kids! Pumping up the music and breaking out a dance party is a regular occurrence in our kitchen! So I thought that a music lesson plan for kids would be so much fun! We will do music STEM projects, like discover how to “see” sound and why jars […]
Come listen to this collection of 25 pieces of classical music for kids. Classical music is not just for adults. Kids will love them!
Here are 5 activities that you can use in your group music lessons. The activities work for multi-age group levels. Read how each activitiy can be used with students of various levels.
Free printable music notes themed I spy game - a fun music theory game for kids
Movement lessons your fourth and fifth grade music students will want to do. These are simple & easy lessons for elementary music class.
Elementary music teacher blogs, Kodaly Blogs, music sub plans, substitute music plans, music education activities, music resources, music games
Singing games are a great way to teach musical concepts, incorporate movement, and give children an opportunity to sing alone and with others. They're perfect as gathering activities, ice-breakers, or a quick change-of-pace in the middle of rehearsal. A few months ago, I shared seven fun
Discover effective tips for starting music lessons with school-age kids. Unlock their musical potential with our expert advice.
Who doesn’t love music and what all it represents? And as you all already know it is said that having a musical education can help your brain to develop stronger in other educational areas as…
A fun and simple musical theory and rhythm game to teach the difference between finding the beat and the rhythm of a song to kids.
My 15-Minute Music Lesson Freebies are some of the most popular here at Music in Our Homeschool. See links to all of them here.
The young middle school singers who arrive in my choral classroom each August are incredibly diverse. In my room, I have children whose native languages are Dari (the Persian language of Afghanistan), Mandarin, Hindi, German, Spanish, Swahili and many more. I've taught singing to children in my classroom who, believe it or not, are almost completely deaf, some who have trouble matching pitch, some who can barely articulate due to cerebral palsy, children with severe intellectual limitations, extreme cases of Autism, and children who are legally blind. ...And almost all of them come to me utterly unable to read music. My room is a true public school classroom in America, and I absolutely love that fact. There are many resources in marketplace for helping break through language barriers. Smartling, for example, is a translation software company that helps us break through language barriers by translating mobile apps and websites for companies. My feeling is that if children want to sing, they should sing, and it's up to me to find ways to communicate in a way everyone can understand so they can learn. I don't test their voices. Middle school children are so afraid to be put on the spot and forced to sing alone, so I stopped testing their voices years ago. I can hear what I need to hear in the group setting, discretely work on the issues that need addressing, and avoid causing them the extra stress. To be in my chorus class, the only requirement I have of them is that they have a true desire to learn to sing. Each year, there are over 300 children who walk through my doors each day electing to take choir, and I am honored they make that choice. To help them become musically literate, I had to learn to teach using all three learning modalities each day: Kinesthetic, Visual and Aural. When I began developing my Sight Singing Program, S-Cubed, the main goal I had was to help my beginning students, regardless of whether they speak English or whatever their individual challenges may be, truly learn how to take the dots, curves, stems and lines off of the page and successfully and accurately turn them into sound. I wanted to help them understand the language of reading music better, and I wanted them to have fun in the process of learning it. To reach them, I knew that I had to incorporate every possible learning modality. One of the most important parts of my sight singing method is the use of the Kodaly Hand Signs. The hand signs help to connect pitch to the physical movements of the hands. The use of the vowel sounds in the words of the Kodaly scale helps intonation and blend tremendously because teachers can teach students how to use tall vowels when they sing. In the Sight Singing approach I developed, I took the Kodaly Hand Sign movements and added more layers to help my beginners experience more success. When you see my students tackling a new piece of music for the first time, you see them pulsing their hands to keep the steady beat, and you see them lifting and lowering their hands to match the changing pitch. Click here to see an example. I carefully and deliberately teach those skill sets to my students and slowly build the coordinations required to successfully execute them one step at a time. It is all outlined in the descriptions of the individual lessons in my program. ...But the single most important element of my program is "fun". To begin building the skills I've described above, I play a game with the children called Forbidden Pattern. Click here to see a description of the game. Click here to see me playing the game with my students. This is really the "hook" of the program I've developed and it works with all of the children I've described in the first paragraph of this post. Regardless of what language they speak or what other challenges they face, when we turn the learning process into a game, our middle school children listen, laugh, thrive, and best of all, in the end, we all learn to speak the common language of music. Check out my blog!
It's a rainy evening and the 1st graders in your children's choir are extra wiggly. You need a quick change-of-pace to keep their attention and get through rehearsal. Been there? I think we all have. There are lots of games you could play, but I like choosing games and activi
Use our free printable music activity as a boredom buster with kids stuck at home or as a fun part of music education in a classroom.
These printable music games for kids can be used to reinforce music note names, terminology, symbols, instruments, and more.
Teaching elementary music with no touch singing games? That is a tall order, but here are 6 fun suggestions for general music classes!
Try using rhythm games in your music classroom with these sets of rhythmic notation cards
Learn how to make music school for kids more fun! Break the boredom and complaints, with these 11 ideas to help them enjoy practicing and music class.
Looking for engaging, musical games to play with your students? Here are a few of my favorite games and activities for elementary music classes, children's choirs, and elementary group classes.
Check out this post for ten great music activities for elementary students set to iconic music by composer John Williams.
Movement lessons your fourth and fifth grade music students will want to do. These are simple & easy lessons for elementary music class.
Truth or Dare Music Jenga. Organized Chaos. Fun and engaging game for elementary and middle school to review concepts. Could be used for sub plans, centers, or a full class game.
The school year is just about over so here are eight end of year music class activities for the elementary music classroom.
My middle schoolers LOVE games. When I started teaching, I thought that middle schoolers might be too advanced for games, but I was wrong! My oldest students beg me for game days all the time. Here…
Explore the science of sound with these fun music STEM activities for kids. Discover 12+ musical STEAM projects for all ages, from preschool to middle school.
"Magic Feet Follow The Beat" is a fun & engaging game to introduce kids to basic music theory. March to the beat of a drum & learn some note values!
I have been struggling with 2nd grade recently. I have two 2nd grade classes who are just perfect little angels and I have two other 2nd grade classes who are little demons. It is really hard to plan for them because I can never anticipate what the evil classes are going to do! I was searching through the Music K-8 CD's and I found Pizza Love. I remember singing this song in elementary music and when I listened to it, I remembered all the words. So I decided to create a pizza lesson for 2nd grade. Of course we will sing the song, which I'm sure they will love. Then I am planning a rhythm pattern composition activity that I have adapted from the Music K-8 idea bank. Using pieces of pizza with note values attached, the students will make a pizza. This will be a good way to start teaching the number of beats in a measure, without them knowing it. I've been seeing a lot of activities relating rhythms and syllables of words on Pinterest and I think those are fabulous. I made one specifically for the pizza lesson using pizza toppings. I am pretty confident that 2nd grade will be able to do this because when I talked about syllables and creating lyrics in 1st grade, the students knew exactly what to do.
Learn all the tips and tricks for playing the rhythm chairs game in the elementary music classroom.
How to teach melody in elementary music class for first year elementary music teachers-- from high and low to solfege to notes on the staff.
Color can be a helpful tool when teaching music literacy and developing music-reading skills, for students of all ages. Color provides a quick way of sorting and organizing visual elements, especially elements that are the same. Here are some of the benefits of using color, plus four simple ways to
Do you know what is perfect for a rainy day? A playdate? Any sick day? Or a just-about-an-anything day? Homemade musical instruments! If you're not sure what to do with those little ones, making a homemade musical instrument band is the answer! There is so much fun to be had and amazing memories to be
