Today’s post comes courtesy of one of my colleagues – Sydney Johnson. She thought up some awesome musical games that you can leave with a sub, so your kids are actually learning musical content while you are gone! At the Florida Music Conference, she presented this awesome idea at the Curriculum Fair and I thought the games all looks super fun and just had to share (with her gracious permission).
Musical Twister
Use the game Twister and then grab a Sharpie marker. Pick 4-6 musical symbols that you want you students to be able to know. Randomly draw the symbols on the circles of the Twister mat using the Sharpie marker. To create the spinner, trace the circle onto a piece of poster paper and divide the circle into 4 equal section. Then, divide each of the four sections into the number of musical symbols that you have on the Twister mat. Pro tip from Sydney: Make sure to let your students and sub know that this game should be played without shoes on, so it doesn’t destroy the Twister mat.
Element Jenga
Use the game Jenga and a Sharpie marker. Write review questions on each brick. Sydney used 4-beat rhythms, notes on a staff, identifying musical symbols and providing definitions of tempo and dynamics. This game can be played individually or in teams. It also requires that one student be the “game guru”. The Game Guru holds on to the answer sheet and keeps score. If a student answers their brick correctly, they get to add that brick to their score. Whoever has the most points when the tower falls is the winner!
Treble Staff Candy Land
Take the game of Candy Land and a Sharpie marker. Label each space on the board with letters A through G. Use index cards to create a new set of playing card, each featuring a different note on the staff. Remember – some cards can require a player to go backwards!
Decrescendo and Crescendo (aka Chutes and Ladders)
To create this game, mark each spot on the Chutes and Ladders game with a dynamic abbreviation (pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff). On the spinner, divide a small circle into sixths and label each section as Very Quiet, Quiet, Medium Quiet, Medium Loud, Loud, Very Loud. Sydney notes that she encourages her kids to say “Decrescendo” or “Crescendo” when they land on a chute or a ladder. Her house rule is if you don’t say it, you don’t get to use it.
Their is also a Connect 4 Melody Maker game in the handout, but I am not brave enough to leave a xylophone with a sub. I will mention though that Sydney has a great suggestion for keeping students responsible on xylophones. She has each students check out a xylophone from the sub (they have to write their name down on a list). The sub is also informed that they will only ever be playing 4 notes in a row. If they play more than 4, they are doing ti wrong and the xylophone gets take away.
Rules For All Board Games
Scan the QR code below to get the rules for all the games.
I wanted to take one more moment to thank Sydney Johnson again for letting me share these brilliant game ideas with you. Try them out and let me know how they go in the comments section down below.
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