Looking for some holiday games to add some fun to music theory this Christmas? Check out these three free Christmas themed music theory games. And a bonus winter themed game to practice the whole and half step pattern in major or minor scales.
Looking for games to use all year round? Check out the store section.
I have many resources I have accumulated over the years of teaching, but recently I have been thinking about the resources I use every week in lessons and what I absolutely cannot live without (other than my piano of course!). Whether you are a new teacher, are just now beginning to add fun games and manipulatives to lessons, or are a pro at using games and manipulatives here are a list of five things I find handy to have in lessons that you might want to try too.
Plastic animals: One of the items use in lessons with every student ages 6-9, are plastic counting animals. My Students love counting practice repetitions with these animals. Students have even come to expect that when I assign a new piece, technique, or add dynamics to their piece that I want them to practice their song (or section of their song) several times so I know if they can complete the assignment successfully at home. Doing repetitions no longer makes my students sigh, but instead they get to count with the plastic animal and add one animal for each correct repetition. I use high quality plastic animals from Safari LTD but you can use any plastic animals you have on hand. Safari LTD animal sets are available on Amazon or at Michaels and Hobby Lobby.
Dice: I have a hand sized foam die that I like to use when I need students to practice a piece or section of their piece several times in their lesson. I have students roll the die to see what number they get. The number they roll becomes the number of times they must play their piece (or section of their piece) that needs practice. Though sometimes I do assign as specific number of repetitions I find that using the die adds a fun element to lessons all while learning to play the piano even better.
Allie the Alligator: Another item I use often in lessons is Allie the alligator. Allie helps student’s keep their wrists up. I introduce Allie with a story. Allie lives below the piano keys in her swamp and she doesn’t like when student’s wrists touch her swamp. If she sees you in her swamp she reminds you with a gentle nudge to keep your wrist up and out of her swamp. Allie the alligator has become so popular in my studio that students have even been known to ask me to use her even if they don’t really need a reminder to keep their wrists up. Looking for more ways to encourage students to have a level wrist? Check out this.
Music Alphabet Cards: I find music alphabet cards to be one of the most versatile resources in my studio and one that can be made for a very low cost! There are multiple uses for alphabet cards from the youngest students who are learning their musical alphabet and names of the keys to older students who are learning their scales and chords. Though there are an infinite number of games that can be played with music alphabet cards, some of my favorites for learning the musical alphabet are laying out the musical alphabet cards on the floor in the wrong order and having students correct the order, or having students pick a card out of my hand and find the corresponding key on the piano. For more advanced students who are learning the scales and chords all one needs are some alphabet cards and some cards with sharps and flats on them. A great activity for learning scales or chords is laying out a scale or several chords on the floor and having students put the sharps or flats in the correct place to make major or minor scales and chords. Children also enjoy fixing scales and chords that are laid out in the wrong order.
Rhythm Cards: I find having a set of rhythm cards very helpful. Not only can I teach basic rhythm such as quarter, half, and whole notes, but I can also use the cards to teach students about time signatures, ties, and complex rhythms. When teaching complex rhythms, I also find it helpful to have the dessert rhythms cards on hand. There are many options for using a set of rhythm cards. One can either have students create their own rhythm, put the correct beats in a rhythm you made, or listen to a rhythm you clap and “write” the rhythm with the rhythm cards.
Bonus sixth item: I had such a difficult time choosing five items I can’t live without in my studio that I decided to add a sixth, my floor staff board. To teach the names of notes to students I often use my floor staff board. With my floor staff board, I have a felt treble clef and bass clef and several black dots for notes. Though I primarily use my staff board for learning the notes on the staff there are many games that can be played with a staff board as well. One of my student’s favorite games and one I find to be very effective, is letter draw. In letter draw students pick a letter card from a stack and place a note on the correct line or space corresponding to the letter they drew.
These are the five basic resources I keep in my studio and use almost every day. Want to find out what else I use to keep lessons fun and engaging each week? Check out the store for all the other fun games I play with my students each week.
What resources do you use almost every day your studio (other than your piano) when working with children?
Preschool students can easily learn to clap quarter, half, and whole notes, but when it comes to more complex rhythms such as eighth notes, sixteenth notes, the combination of two sixteenths and an eighth note, or other rhythmic combinations, this can be a different situation. Just as more experienced students can struggle with accuracy when learning challenging note combinations, preschool students can also find these rhythms difficult. A simple solution to this difficulty would be to wait untill preschoolers are much older to introduce some rhythmic values but I have found that there is a better option.
I believe students who start taking lessons in preschool should be given all the foundations for a successful future in music. Because playing musically requires rhythmic accuracy, in my experience I have found that students who start learning complicated rhythms earlier in their musical studies are more likely to become proficient musicians who can confidently enjoy learning music and gradually develop a certain amount of independent when learning pieces from an instructor at a younger age. Even if students don’t yet understand the mathematical division behind rhythm, students can still learn to clap and play complex rhythms correctly.
So how does one introduce complex rhythms with preschool students? Complicated rhythms need to be connected to something that all preschoolers relate to. What can all preschoolers relate to? Food and more specifically deserts! A few year ago I created cards with rhythmic values on them and pictures of desserts in which the syllables corresponded to the rhythmic values. The cards were a huge hit! Students loved saying the names of desserts and clapping the rhythms and students seamlessly translated the names of food they were clapping and saying to playing the piano.
This was a perfect situation. I had students who were playing accurate rhythm, verbalizing the rhythm, and I didn’t have to bribe them to count out loud! Besides who doesn’t want to say ice cream milk instead of counting out loud! Even my older students have asked about the dessert rhythm cards they see in the studio and want to try them.
Looking for a way to get your students to count out loud and correct that pesky rhythm? Check out the dessert rhythm cards recently added to the store here. With the dessert rhythm cards, there are instructions for ten super fun, creative, and exciting games to play.
In part one and two of the preschool summer camp posts, I focused how I introduced the staff and middle C to preschool students. Now I would like to explore the rhythms games we played to reinforce the complex rhythms I find it important to have preschool students learn.
For preschoolers to understand challenging rhythms these rhythms need to be associated with something all student’s can connect with. Wondering what all student’s can connect with that helps rhythm? Stay tuned for next week’s post with a resource all kids absolutely love!
Once children have been introduced to complicated rhythm they need to practice this skill many times. Because rhythm is such as important skill in learning piano, I spent part of each day at the camp working on rhythm with fun games.
Below are three games for working with students on learning complex rhythms.
I purchased small rubber ducks from the party store and with a permanent marker I drew a rhythm on the bottom. I asked the students to close their eyes while I hid all the ducks around the room. I then told the students that the ducks were lost and needed help getting back to the pond (a plastic bucket). To return the ducks to the pond students need to find each duck and clap the rhythm on the bottom. The students thought this was so much fun and loved the little ducks so much they kept asking to take one home!
On colorful card stock I drew different rhythmic combinations such as sixteenth notes, two sixteenth notes and an eight note, and other challenging rhythms. (Curious how I teach preschooler’s challenging rhythms? then you will want to check out next week’s post with a super cool resource.) I then clapped each of the rhythms showing students what each card sounded like. After demonstrating each card to the students I again clapped one of the cards and asked them to figure out which card I had clapped and run to stand by the corresponding card.
Though this was such a simple game, it was a great game for students to move around and get their wiggles out while also learning to listen and identify rhythm.
One of the crafts we made at the camp was drums for use in our class. I made these drums out of empty oat meal containers and allowed the students to spend a few minutes decorating their drums. After students were finished with their drums, we returned to the floor and practiced beating rhythms. I had students copy the rhythms I beat on my drum and use preschool rhythm cards to create and beat their own rhythms. Curious about preschool rhythm cards and how to add a ton of fun to any rhythmic practice? Then check back next week!
This summer I had a large number of leftover popsicle sticks, so I began to hunt for more activities that I could popsicle sticks for in my studio. Here are five creative I ideas that I successfully used with my students.
1. Popsicle sticks are a great way to divide measures! Create a rhythm for each student but without the measure lines. Have the student place measure lines after the proper number of beats. When the student has completed the activity, have them clap the rhythm.
2. Popsicle Stick Draw. This is a great game for beginners that takes very little prep time. On each popsicle stick draw a letter of the musical alphabet. Place the popsicle sticks in a plastic cup or other container. Have the student pick a stick and play the corresponding key on the piano. Once all the sticks have been drawn students can enjoy creating their own melodies by arranging the sticks and playing them in their chosen order. This game can also be modified to introduce and practice finding groups of two and three black keys by putting either the number two or three on each popsicle stick.
3. Give a student 10 popcicle sticks and ask them to arrange the sticks to look like the music staff. One can even add miniature treble and bass clef pictures and a black dot made out of black construction paper and quiz students on the names of their notes.
4. Use popsicle sticks to teach students about stem direction. On a large piece of staff paper draw black dots to represent quarter notes. Ask students to place the popsicles sticks as the note stems going in the correct direction.
5. On each popsicle stick write a simple activity that can be accomplished while repeating a piece or section. (I am a huge believer in quality repetition at the piano. Check out this post here on why.) Have the student draw and complete the designated activity while repeating their piece. Here are a few ideas to get you started.
a. Cross your feet
b. Close your eyes
c. Stand up, turn a circle three times, sit down then play your piece.
d. Play just the right hand with left hand on your head
e. Play with a smile
Remember learning is so much more fun and students learn better when games and manipulative are added!
