Activity Ideas: Limbo This game doesn't need a winner or loser to be fun. Children just love to challenge themselves going lower and lower under the limbo stick. Freeze Dance Add a twist to this classic game by telling the children to freeze in a particular shape each time the music goes off. For example, at a birthday party you could tell them to freeze as a birthday cake, a candle, a party hat, a balloon, a gift, etc. Create a musical instrument using different color and/or textured papers, yarn, glitter or whatever else needed. High or low? Sing or play a simple tune that uses obviously high or low notes, then ask your child whether she thinks it's high or low. When she understands this, try singing a short musical scale and ask her to tell you if it's going up to the high notes or down to the low ones. Clap a name try clapping out the syllables in each family member's name. For example Jon-a-than (three claps), Mar-y (two claps) and E-liz-a-beth (four claps). Read to music find a poem or short story with a distinct atmosphere (scary, exciting, sad, funny etc) and read it over a piece of music that echoes the atmosphere. Or see how an inappropriate piece of music can disrupt an atmosphere. Rounds sing a round, where people start a song one after the other. Well-known rounds include Three Blind Mice, London Bridge, Row, Row, Row Your Boat and London's Burning. Stop the music! Play musical bumps, where you have to sit down every time the music stops, or musical statues, where you have to stand absolutely still. That's Our Song With your child, pick a favorite song and customize the lyrics to insert family members names or tell a personalized tale with that tune. Write and illustrate your new version to make sure you remember the words the next time you try to sing it. Follow me put on classical music and show your child how to pretend to be the conductor by waving a stick in time to the beat. He could make large movements for loud sounds, and small ones for soft sounds. If you're not sure of all the words in a song game, improvise with your own! Your voice is a musical instrument, so use it - and sing! Radio Drawing Materials: radio, paper, crayons What to do: If you listen carefully, music that doesn't have any words can paint a picture in your mind. Turn on the radio and find a station that is playing music without words. Jazz or classical music works well. Now close your eyes. How many different instruments can you hear? Do they sound like they're working with each other or against each other? Is one instrument easier to hear than the others? Is the music loud or soft? Does the music sound rushed and crowded as if everything is hurrying to get to the next note? Or is it slow and lazy, as if the notes were taking a walk along the beach at sunset? Now think about what colours match the music that you're hearing. If the sounds were shapes on a page, what would they look like? Draw what you think the music would look like. |
| Math DAZE |
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| c. Marcia Arpin www.alltheDAZE.com established July, 1, 2002 |
| Words of Wisdom "Play is as essential to the aged as it is to the young. I count that day lost when I am not moved to tears or laughter, but even more if I have not played." - George Sheehan |
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