3/31/2024 0 Comments Learning games for kindergartenThey’re also great for building motor skills.Ĭheck out our list of rhythm stick activities at the link. Just make sure you prepare your students with clear expectations ahead of time. Take any rhythm lesson for Kindergarten and add rhythm sticks to it, and you have something new for the young musicians to play. Have students create their own or pick for them.Įven though it’s mostly the same activity as reading from hearts, it’ll feel brand new to the kids, and it’ll give you and them that much-needed repeated practice. Two students in a chair are like eighth notes (tiptoe as I’ll often say in Kindergarten).Ī blank chair is a rest (don’t forget to add quarter rests after a while, too). One student is like a “walk” or quarter note. The chairs are now the steady beat in the same way the hearts were before. Have students pat their laps when you point to a chair. Repetitive activities build knowledge, but if you don’t offer a twist or extension then the kids will likely get bored.Įxtend any of the activities or rhythm reading visuals by using chairs. When it comes to teaching rhythm or any music concepts, one of the best ways to build knowledge is to repeat your activities! Or, instead of having them pat the beat, have them clap the words instead. You can add in some rhythms by having kids echo some rhythm patterns in a B section you add after the song. Keep going until everyone has had a turn.Repeat with the new person in the middle.On the words “please choose me,” the middle person picks someone and switches spots with them.Everyone stands in a circle and pats the beat.Play-acting through these emotions is critical in emotional development for these young children. I like to add in some emotions to help them practice their feelings and how they act: Then, add in different types of statue prompts and see how creative they get. Freeze when it stops.Īfter a little bit, change up the speed of the beat and ask them to match the tempo as best they can. Pro-tip: If you make the last rhythmic pattern they read the rhythm of the next song, you can transition into it seamlessly. Together, read and follow the hearts for several four-beat patterns.Connect this with rhythm and read with words or rhythm syllables (I stick with “walk” and “tiptoe” at first for quarter note and eighth note rhythms).Now, take a star shape and put it inside the heart.Discuss how it’s the steady beat, even, and doesn’t change.Have students tap their hearts while you tap the visual.Put four heart shapes across a Google Slide (copy and paste them to make sure they’re the same size.Here’s a common visual you can make up in Google Slides in seconds. I’m all about adding visuals for my 5 year olds.īut in Kindergarten, I want them to see a visual representation of how rhythm works, not just the notation. The lyrics are essentially the rhythm as the words move in long and short patterns around the beat. Here are places or ways to move I’ve used or heard from students over the past years:Īs a rhythm extension to this, take your motions and make them now match the words. They may be a little reluctant at first to share, but once they do, they’ll come up with some really creative stuff. I like to give the kids 4-5 ideas, and then I ask them what they want to do. Move the motions to different parts of your body or move in different ways. Take any song or nursery rhyme you do in class and add beat motions to the beat. Some of these are more beat-based music activities, but beat awareness is the critical first step before rhythm can be taught. I dug through the lessons I’ve used over the past 10+ years of teaching to come up with these 19 rhythm activities for Kindergarten for you to use in your music classroom right now. While I prefer to wait until first grade before introducing the notation and syllables, I do think it’s important to prepare rhythm with movement, visuals, playing, and creative musical experiences. One of the first things I teach in Kindergarten is all about the steady beat.īy January, it’s time for me to talk about the beginnings of rhythm.
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