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.
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…
Learn how to practice rhythms with this budget-friendly and fun rhythm game in your elementary music classroom.
Do you have a favorite rhythm game or activity to use in your music lessons? Rhythm is something that always needs review, so you can never have too many
Five fun and action-filled circle games to practice rhythm, pitch, and more with your elementary music students.
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 some examples of body percussion and why it's important to teach this skill, along with 7 simple activity ideas.
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.
DIY Song Cubes to help children learn music "old favorites" and practice finding and keeping the beat; for preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten.
I love using body percussion activities, so I am sharing some teacher tips and ways to use them in your classes.
Simple DIY water xylophone takes a couple minutes to make and is a great sound activity, experiment, and music activity for kids too!
How to read music made easy : an introduction and guide to reading music for beginners - perfect for kids but ideal for adult beginners too!
Here are some fun and simple music games for kids, that are also educational. Play them at home or in class.
Over 27 of the best music homeschool curriculum resources for kids K-12. Including lots of free music curricula for homeschooling!
The Montessori method of education teaches reading and writing by isolating each sound/symbol and allowing the child to manipulate them herself through the movable alphabet. So why would we teach …
These fun Musical Games with ping pongs are great for music classes, they're fun, cheap and easy to set up and always very popular!
Kindergarten students love using instruments! Here are 5 tried and true rhythm activities to get your little ones engaged in music class.
It is now time to add rests to our music. This is basically the same lesson as lesson 8 but it includes the quarter rests. The addition of the rest means there are a lot more options for grouping the notes in sets of 4. Just a reminder that the rest gets one beat just as the quarter note does. Whenever the children are reading and clapping music it is important that the rest be "felt" even though there is no sound. For this lesson you may want to add instruments for variety. I always told my kids that preparing for the instruments would make us successful musicians so we read and clapped the music first to be sure we were ready to transfer it to instruments. Once again you can cut the strips out without the words and let the children find the matching pairs. Then print and cut out individual notes and rests and let the children find new ways to group them into sets of 4. Use these to create a musical piece to play. I created 26 different groupings. Any of the groupings you create are in sets of 4 which means they are in 4/4 time signature - 4 beats to a measure. The children can play these patterns along with any number of songs that are in 4/4 time. Here are some suggestions: Yankee Doodle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CObFQznhls Rainbow Color song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pt2DCGYzSsc Wheels on the Bus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nKBKPcycFE Row, Row, Row Your Boat https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYLKEePMvIU Be Doodle Dee Dum https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI9OaTJyg_Y Dance Myself to Sleep https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQmut5GI7-k&list=AL94UKMTqg-9DC1_3UPjnhZVQhZ2NCqrzH Honker Duckee Dinger Jamboree https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tdv5uuYrTKQ&list=AL94UKMTqg-9DC1_3UPjnhZVQhZ2NCqrzH
Fun and educational activities to engage kids with music! 40 DIY musical instruments and music crafts plus activities for kids of all ages!
Free printable Bible lesson for kids on the book of Psalms. Ideal for home or church use. Coloring pages, worksheets, Bible crafts, games, study guide and much more.
Free sheet music of traditional nursery rhymes and children's songs and free fun and easy music theory printable worksheets for kids.
Music theory worksheets are valuable tools for individuals who are learning or studying music. These worksheets provide structured exercises that focus specifically on note values. With a range of activities and exercises tailored to different skill levels, music theory worksheets help students grasp the concept of note values and their significance in creating rhythm and melodic patterns. Whether you're a beginner or an advanced musician, these worksheets are designed to enhance your understanding of note values and improve your musical performance.
