Every Christmas WordPress lets a little snow fall on their blogs. Hover over the picture at the top of the slide show and you will see snow begin to fall.
I designed these 3 Christmas games as timed games because students like to play against the clock and I haven’t done that lately. Today I am posting the rhythm version of this set.
Students should be familiar with the rhythm values of notes and rests. Be sure to mention these are the values in 4/4 time.
Snowmen and Reindeer Rhythm Game
I have tested these games with students in grades 1-4 and they have liked them. As a matter of fact, we test every game before I post it!
I have an inexpensive 1 minute sand timer that I bought from a school supply store, but I also have been using the stop watch timer on my phone. Most of the time we use both, because they love the novelty factor of the sand timer. In fact, I think that’s one reason they like this game so much!
You will need at least 7 rhythm flash cards for this game. I am posting the set I use, but you can make your own set if you want to modify the game.
Cards for Snowmen and Reindeer Rhythm Game
Students should be familiar with the rhythm values of notes and rests. Since note valued change depending on the meter, be sure to mention these are the values in 4/4 time.
Objective
- review rhythm values in 4/4 time
- practice fine motor speed and coordination
- quickly identify rhythm values under pressure
- to play a fun seasonal game in less than 3 minutes at an individual music lesson
Ages
- Younger children, ages 5-9 who like cartoon graphics
Materials Needed
- Printed game board
- Flash cards with individual rhythm values to match the numbers on the game board
- Sand timer or stop watch
- Bingo chips
Directions
Give the student a set of rhythm flash cards. Set the timer. The student quickly draws a flash card and places a bingo chip on the corresponding number of beats the note gets in 4/4 meter. The object is to cover all the numbers on the game board in the fastest time possible. Using a stop watch, let the student try 3 times to increase their speed.
The game is more challenging if there are more flash cards than there are spaces on the board. I’ve tried it both ways and for the younger children I settled on 7 cards, enough cards to cover the board. My students wanted to play it several times as I timed them on my phone stopwatch. One of my students said he liked it because it was “different.” Sometimes my older students see my games and want to play, too, especially in a private lesson when they don’t have to act older than they are. I try to think of ways to make the game harder for them.
Tomorrow I will post the interval version of this game.
As a music educator, I know how important it is to know the objectives of educational games and activities. That is why I am going to try to post the objectives of each game from now on, if I have time. If you find this useful, please leave some feedback in the comment section.
