Let’s Play A Game!

 

In my studio, I teach many preschool & kindergarten students. My degree is in Early Childhood Education, and this is an age that I LOVE to work with. Working with these young students is never boring . . . you never know what will happen from week to week. What I can usually count on though, is fun stories from their week, lots of imagination (“Today I’m a Robot!” . . . complete with motions no less!) and I can almost always count on lots of enthusiasm for something fun & new. Parents in my studio may tell me I’m patient, but I am just working with their child for 30 minutes a week. . . they have the job of harnessing all that wonderful energy 24/7. So my hat is off to them!!

During home practice, parents should have a plan of what they want to accomplish &  while some days practicing will go smoothly, other days require something extra to keep motivation up.    Sometimes instead of “It’s time to practice!”  it’s fun to say “Let’s Play a Game!”  instead.

Below is a game that I put together for a “Music Camp for Young Musicians” where students came together  for 3 hours a day (for one week).   Part of the camp included playing our violins together & each student was somewhere in the process of learning the twinkles.  With just a few supplies from the dollar store (office or teacher supply stores may have some of these materials too).  I was able to quickly put together a game that kept playing fun.

*Parent’s note:  This game can easily draw practice out to an hour (with many breaks to spin, move pieces etc) so it is great for a big stretch of time when your family is not rushed to get practice in.  I would also suggest pulling it out once a week, or with enough space in between that it is something new and fun (rather than “Oh, this again . . . “).

 

Here is what you need to get started:

1.  Game Board

( I found this one at the Dollar Tree, others can be found at teacher or office supply stores, or you can make your own on poster board.  Alternately, here is a great home school resource online for game board template http://donnayoung.org/homeschooling/games/game-boards.htm )

2.  Game Pieces  I used a package of star erasers for my game pieces (also from the Dollar Tree).   Be creative and use anything you’d like that fits on the squares of your game board.

3.  Spinner or Dice 

4.   Index Cards  Some of the spaces on my game board say “DRAW A CARD”   For the students in my “Young Musicians” camp, I wrote each of the twinkle rhythms on a card.  For older students review pieces or exercises your teacher has assigned can be written.  The nice thing about using index cards is that you can modify the game as your child progresses by changing out the cards.

 

Here are some ideas of what to add to each square on the game board: 

– Pluck each string and say its name

-Sing Twinkle and “air bow”

-Clap each twinkle rhythm

-DRAW A CARD – list review pieces or twinkles to be played on different cards

-Go Back 3  spaces

-Roll Again

-Name all the parts of the bow (or violin)

The possibilities are endless . . . .

 

 

If you are practicing with one child, playing until their game piece makes it to the finish line can be the objective (or even playing for a set period of time).   The goal is to make practice fun & still get to the goals your teacher has set for you.

If you’ve made your own version of a game like this I would love to hear about it!   Share your game idea (or even a picture of it) in the comments.

Happy practicing!!

~ Christine