99 Music Workstations You are Going to Love

I love using workstations in my classroom.  I wanted to share a list of some of my favorites, but I think I got a little carried away.  Here are almost 100 workstations that I love with links and explanations.  Enjoy!

Coloring

Color by Note  These activities are fun for students an allow them to show what they know by coloring their answers.  Some of these activities may take more than 10 minutes.

Writing Prompts   Perfect for workstations!  Students write an answer, a paragraph or a story based on the prompts.  Use regular paper or Chrome books and Google Classroom!

Composer Coloring Sheets  Although I often use these while listening to music, they work great in a workstation.  Even the big kids enjoy this!

Primary Writing Prompts   Younger students that may be pre-readers, need to be able to express their ideas with words and pictures.  These primary writing prompts provide space for both.

My Book of Mary Poppins. As a review after we have watched the movie (or portions of it), we color these books that highlight some key items in the movie.

Instrument Coloring Sheet This is probably pretty obvious.  Coloring sheets for instruments or for groups of instruments in their families are great for workstations.

Music Memory Book This is best when used at the end of the school year.  I usually have students work on the books for about half of a class period.  Next class, they finish them as one of the stations that I have set up.

Roll and Cover worksheets  Easy peasy.  Print and set in a workstation with some crayons and some dice.  Actually I use one BIG die and the group shares.  Fun!

Composing

I find that it is really difficult to complete a composing project in the small amount of time that students have in a workstation.  So, instead of doing an entire project, these centers allow students to compose by arranging.  Take a closer look:

Body Percussion Composing  

Xylophone Composing

Recorder Composing

Dynamics and Tempo

Candy Corn -Dynamics  This seasonal workstation is simple to do.  Students complete a candy corn puzzle that contains a dynamic term, symbol and definition.  Then, they copy that information to a chart.

A Dab of Music Learning - Dynamics and Symbols  I love dabbers and so do my students!  The set focuses on dynamics and music symbols.  I usually plan 2-3 worksheets for one center.

Dynamics Punch Cards  I have quite a few hand held hole punchers and they come in handy for this station!  Take a closer look by clicking on the link.

Instrument Families

A Dab of Music Learning- Instruments   Another dabber activity set.  This set focuses on instrument families and provides many opportunities for students to show what they know.

Instrument Matching Game  Use pictures of instruments or print this set to use to have students match pictures of instruments with the names of instruments.

Mystery Instruments  One of my favorite activities. I tell students to be sneaky detectives and not tell any other groups what instrument they think is the mystery instrument.  They fill out a "case file" that records the clues they discover. At the one of the center rotations I open the bag and show the class.  Using a different instrument, you could do this many times.

Clip It-Instruments Edition   Just add clothespins to these cards for an engaging workstation that reinforces instrument names and simple rhythm patterns.

Read It, Trace It, Stamp It  This station requires some letter stamps and an ink pad.  Get the washable kind of ink pads.  Trust me.

Dip Tray Family Sort  Using an inexpensive dip tray from the dollar store, this station is a breeze to set up.  Read more about it.

Instrument Coloring Sheets  Use these to reinforce your unit on instrument families.

Instrument Family Punch Cards  Which of these instruments is in the brass family?  Punch your answers with a hole puncher.  Fun assessment.

My Book of Instruments  These take a little bit of time to copy and assemble but are great for small group work or workstations.  Do one family at a time or all instruments at the same time.

Instrument Investigations  This activity takes 15- 20 minutes so you may need to plan a day of longer workstations to make this go well.

Misspelled Instrument Punch Cards  I think it is important that students learn to spell instrument names correctly.  I don't always feel like I have enough time during instruction, so I love adding these punch cards to a workstation rotation.

Movement

Yes!  You can do a movement center!  Set clear expectations and add music (or not) and these activities work so great in stations.  Student love them too.

Scarves and Ribbons

Creative Movement/Freeze Dance

Music Go Rounds

Non-Pitch Percussion Instruments

Playing instruments is one of my students' favorite workstations and I understand why!  These station sets make playing instruments a pleasant and organized experience.  No, really.d

Rhythm Stick Reading Station
Rhythm Instrument Reading Station
Triangle Reading Station
Hand Drum Reading Station
Maraca Reading Station
Tambourine Reading Station
Cowbell Reading Station

Pitch

A Dab of Music Learning - Intervals  These dabber activities are great for upper grades.

A Dab of Music Learning -Pitches   Drilling pitch names doesn't have to be boring.  These dabber activities are designed to be completed quickly.  That makes them perfect for workstations.  

Treble Clef Twister  There are many ways to do this, but essentially it requires a staff on the floor.  This could be one that you create with tape, one you already have on a rug or one that you draw on a plain shower curtain.  The link will take you to a sheet that I use as a spinner.

Musical Mneumonics  Another way to drill those pitch names is to have students create their own musical mnemonics.  

Bottle Cap Staff   I have collected hundreds of bottle caps from 2-liters of soda, water bottles, etc...  They make perfect note heads.  Take a closer look to see how it could work in a center.

Bottle Cap Pitch Sort  I also took some of those bottle caps and modge-podged some staves and notes on them.  Students sort them into piles based on their letter name.

Flashcards  - Yeah.  They are boring, but neccessary.  It seems that kids hardly ever use them anymore so maybe they will find them to be a novelty.

Worksheets   I know.  It sounds boring, but these worksheets are attractive and easily completed in the time that students have in a workstation.

Swat the Staff  Create a staff on the wall with tape.  Two students stand next to it, another calls out a letter from the musical alphabet.  The first one to swat the correct line or space wins!

Pitch Match Ups  Basically flashcards, but you match words spelled out by notes on the staff to the words.  Lots of fun designs.

Bop It/Simon Says  Melodic retention.  :-)

Reading

I almost always use my reading area as a stop in the workstation rotation.  Here are some links that might help you out with your reading area.

Classroom Library  Need some ideas for your reading area?  Check out this huge list!

Books for Primary Classes  This is a great list of books that your primary classes will love.

Men and Women of Jazz  Print and laminate the pieces of this bulletin board and include them at a workstation.  They contain short passages and students have time to read more than one during their center rotation.

Meet the Composers  Similar to the Men and Women of Jazz, this bulletin board set can become a reading station too.

Magazines - Do you subscribe to Music Alive or Music Express?  Leave a few copies in a crate and set it in the floor.  Instant workstation!

Rhythm

A Dab of Music Learning - Rhythm  Dab.  Dab. Dab dab dab.  Note values, musical math and more in this set.

Drawing Notes-lap packs  This link takes you to a blog post about Lap Packs.  I've used them with Kindergarten through high school.  For the littles, it is a great way to practice drawing notes.

Swat the Rhythm  We like swatting things in my classroom.  The link takes you to a few sets that I have created.  You can do the same activity with flashcards.  Lay them on the floor.  One student claps a rhythm that is on one of the cards.  The first student to swat the right answer, wins a point.  

Rhythm Blocks  Duplos and legos make great music workstations!  Check out this blog post to learn more.

Craft Stick Rhythms - Take craft sticks and use them to make quarter notes and barred eighth notes.  Students clap their "compositions" and then make more.

Roll and Cover  Roll and cover activities allow students to reinforce their knowledge of note names.

Musical Yahtzee  From Layton Music, this activity is great for small groups or workstations.  I laminate the score sheets when using them in workstations and add some music dice.  

Noodle Notes. I love pool noodles!  Learn about how to create noodle notes in this blog post.

Caterpillar Rhythms   Construction paper circles or paper plates become caterpillar bodies in this activity.  Add rhythm patterns or single notes on them and students build a caterpillar pattern.  The longer, the better!

Play Dough Mats  Laminate and just add play dough.  Students learn about notes and symbols through play.

Don't Break the Ice -take a Don't Break the Ice game and draw different notes on each block (quarter, half, barred eighths, 4 16ths, etc....).  Create a spinner with whatever note values you used.  Students spin and the tap out one block with that note on it until somebody breaks the ice.

Add it Up Rhythm Cards  Musical math!  This freebie can be used in many ways.

Note Value Punch Cards  This is another activity for hole punchers that can assess student knowledge.

Rap It Clap It Music Match It  This is an old faithful workstation for me.  Students match the syllables of themed words to simple rhythm patterns.  Perfect for a workstation.  I often do this activity with the whole group and use it in a workstation later.

Clip It Games  Clip it games require students to match words with a rhythm pattern that most closely matches its

Rhythm Pins w/Paint Chips  Cut the paint chips so that there are 4 boxes on them.  Draw single beat notes or rhythms on clothespins.  Students pin a measure on the paint chips, clap and repeat.

Candy Land (note differentiating)  Instead of using Candy Land for just color recognition, add music symbols, notes, pitches, etc... to the colors.  Fun!

Musical Jenga - Check out this awesome idea from the Music K-8 Idea Bank for creating a musical Jenga game.

Tracing Sheets  Get acquainted with notes and their values with these tracing sheets.  Great for younger learners.

Music Math Houses   I laminate these and use dry erase markers.  Students add up all of the musical math problems in colorful houses and check their own answers.

Note Knacks. These are great!  I have one student create a four beat measure and the others recreate it with the Note Knacks.  They are a little pricey, but worth it.

Dot Composing  This is a simplified way to compose using quarter notes, barred eighths or 4 16th notes.  Read more about it in this blog post.

Rhythm Blocks  Kelly Parrish from Rhythmically Yours makes these amazing rhythm blocks.  I use them for rhythmic dictation.  At a workstation, one student secretly creates a rhythm pattern and then claps it for their group.  The other students recreate that with their rhythm blocks.

Poison Rhythms. Using a lap top or table, I have students play poison rhythm just they way we do as a whole group.  FUN!  The link will take you to several different versions.

Vocal Stations

Vocal Explorations  -Vocalizations are a few workstation and let students be a little silly and creative.

Puppets and Books  Use puppets and some Wee Sing books at a station.  The goal?  SING!

Sticky Note Singing   Take a song that you are working to have memorized.  Cover part of it with a sticky note and try singing it.  Add another and try again.  Let your neighbor add the next one and try again.  It is a fun way to work on memorization and to get students singing at their center.

ABC Chart   This one is easy peasy to create.  Check out the blog post for a simple description of this activity.

Singing Sticks from Music Mom  These little singing sticks are great tools to reinforce Solfege or at my school to reinforce the pitch numbers of a major scale.  After using them with classes for a while, they can easily practice in workstation groups to sing patterns.

Singing Rocks   I love my singing rocks!  They really allow for improvisation and creativity.  After I have modeled this activity in class, students are able to do it in a workstation.  It is great to listen to them sing their imaginations out!

Blob Chorus - Ear Training  This is an app that is so fun that students don't realize they are learning!  Hurray!

STEAM

Xyloba   Engineer a marble run that plays a song with this awesome set!

Found Sounds  Collect some junk.  Put it in a box.  Let students become detectives, inventors and musicians.

Stikbot Animation  Animate a dance.  Choreography and green screen technology can create some amazing videos.

Spec Drums  There are so many ways to use Spec Drums in workstations:  exploration, composition, practicing simple folk songs and more!

Ozobots   Code these little robots to show the tempo changes of a piece of music.  Use the workstation time to have them practice creating paths that change speeds (or tempos!).

Makey Makey   My students always fight to be the first group at this station.  I add the instructions, a Makey Makey invention set and some random things for students to experiment with like fruit, play dough, hot dogs...whatever.  Students use these items to play a keyboard or drum on the computer.  I definitely recommend this activity!

Apps

There are SO many great music apps out there.  Here are a few that I think work really well in workstations.

Incredibox 

Staff Wars

Jazzy ABCs

Jazzy World Tour

Treble Cat

Rhythm Cat

Flashnote Derby

Miscellaneous

Music Interest Inventory Punch Cards   This is a fun addition to workstation rotations at the beginning of the school year.  You can learn a great deal about your students.

Talk About Tunes   I mean, they are going to talk anyway.  Why not make it musical?

Carnival of the Animals  -Use a day of workstations to review Carnival of the Animals.

Peter and the Wolf - This set lets you expand your Peter and the Wolf unit in some fun and creative ways.

Star Spangled Banner   I use this every singing year with 3rd or 4th grade.  It is a great way to learn more about our national anthem, help students memorize it, learn the vocabulary and more.  I always plan a couple of class periods to do all of the stations in this kit.

Whew!  What a list!  If you loved these ideas, PIN THIS for later!

 

Poison Rhythms

Poison Rhythm is one of my favorite rhythm activities ever.  Students are so completely engaged.  They will read and perform dozens of patterns over and over without complaint.  Read on to learn more about this exciting game.

How to play poison rhythm:

1.  Choose a poison rhythm and write it on the board.
2. Have students practice this pattern by clapping and saying it several times.
3. Explain that once the game starts that they can’t clap or say this rhythm.  If they do YOU get a point.  If no one in the class claps or says the poison rhythm, the class gets a point.
4. Erase the rhythm and either show flashcards (that have a few copies of that rhythm in it) or clap the rhythm and let them decide from just listening while you echo.

I decided that using the flashcards was cumbersome, so I created a digital version.  That was SO much easier.  The play is pretty much the same except the PDF walks you through the beginning steps and there’s a theme for each set of games.  

Take a look at this video to see how I introduce/review this game with a class:

There are MANY variations to this game.  You can do a quick search on Facebook or Google to see the variations.

Instead of just clapping the rhythms, I like to mix it up.  Sometimes we will use buckets and drum sticks, tubanos, other non-pitched percussion instruments, Boomwhackers and sometimes we turn our chairs around backwards, sit facing the screen and use drumsticks on the back of our chairs. AWESOME!

If you are interested in using my digital versions (that you could also print if you wanted) take a look here:  Poison Rhythms.

Rhythm Cards for Rockin' Repetition

I love creating a routine at the beginning of my classes.  It helps students focus and gives me a second to handle questions and get things ready to go.  For some classes this is a hello song, echo clapping or a movement activity.  In this post I'll share one of my favorites.  Rhythm cards are the perfect way to get students thinking and moving in music class.

The rhythm cards that I am referring to have 4 beats worth of notation.  I copy the same card on front and back so that they are easier to use. One card has 4 quarter notes.  Another has two half notes and so on.

When using these cards I am reinforcing note values and sharpening skills that we will use in other activities to compose rhythmic ostinatos or melodies.  Students are able to feel the duration and this makes a strong connection.  Using this activity at the beginning of each or during each class for several weeks in a row has been a great skill builder!  I like to call it "rockin' repetition".

I wish this simple but brilliant idea was mine, but I actually learned about it from Kristin Lukow, music educator extraordinaire on the Music K-8 discussion list.  I've incorporated it into lessons for many years now and my students are better for it.  Thanks Kristin!

Here's what I do:
I choose a song with a medium to fast beat (which are much easier than slower songs) and start it as students are walking into music class.  They clap the pattern as an ostinato until I change the card.  That's really it!

This activity works great with my drums, classroom percussion instruments and different kinds of body percussion instead of just clapping.  Often we will do this with tennis balls or basketballs (if I can borrow some).  When we use balls with the cards here are the movements:

whole notes - count as you move it around your waist, back and then to your front.  Think of it as traveling around the world.
half notes - bounce so that the first part of the note is when the ball hits the floor and the second is when you catch it
quarter notes -same as half note but on each beat.  It helps to be closer to the floor for this one.
eighth notes-hot potato!  We pass it from hand to hand in rhythm.

Since this activity is used many times during the school year my play list is pretty diverse and always growing.  I include songs that I'll use with tennis balls, basketballs and with body percussion.  I can choose faster pieces for body percussion than the others.  Some student favorites:

"Can't Stop This Feeling" by Justin Timberlake
"Song of the South" by Alabama
"The Star and Stripes Forever" Sousa
"Best Years of Our Lives" by the Baha Men
"I Love a Rainy Night" by Eddie Rabbit

You can check out my entire playlist for rhythm cards here:  Rhythm Cards Playlist on Amazon Music.

I know this is a simple idea, but once you've implemented it I think that you'll find it  is helpful not only for establishing routine, but for improving rhythm skills and steady beat with your students.  I'm so sure it will that I want you to have a copy of the cards for free!  Print out two copies and laminate the same pattern back to back.  Get the cards here: Rhythm Cards for Rockin' Repetition

PIN this idea for later!

Sub Plans for the Non-Musical Sub

It happens.  A kid gets sick.  Your car breaks down.  You are suddenly called to go out of town.  The flu wraps its icy fingers around you.  You need a sub.

As a music teacher, I can't always count on getting a musical substitute teacher.  Actually I have only rarely had a sub that was comfortable doing musical activities like singing, dancing or playing instruments.  Due to this fact, I have created a sub tub with activities that even a non-musical sub would be comfortable teaching.

Currently I am teaching 3rd, 4th and 5th grades but I have used this system with K-8 quite successfully.  I organize all of my instructions for the substitute teacher in a binder.  Here are some of the things that are helpful to include:

• Where to find things like the attendance book, seating charts, office supplies, bandages, hall passes, nurse passes, etc...
• Procedures for emergencies.  If your school uses code words or special signals, be sure to include those in your plans.
• Instructions for using technology in your room and any passwords that they will need.
• A list of helpful teachers and where to find them.
• A picture or drawing of how you set your room up.
• An explanation of how to follow your emergency plans if no other plans are left.
• General rules for the music room.  I have flexible seating choices in my room but I only use them for workstations or movie days, so I want to let them know how I use them.
• Change for the soda machine. 

This is the first thing a guest teacher to my classroom needs to read to get acquainted with the music room and how their day will go. 

The sub plan binder also contains several different lesson plans for each grade.  These plans include a list of what they will need, where it is, what to do and a tracking sheet that I ask them to fill out so that I know what they have done and with which classes.  Keep reading to find out how to get these starter files for free!

When I return from an absence I can quickly browse through the binder and see what students have done.

The binder refers to materials in the sub tub.  These materials are either videos (some with worksheets, some without), worksheets or activities with children's books.  

Videos

Here are some videos that I recommend for the sub tub:

Kindergarten and 1st Grade:

Wee Sing Train

Wee Sing King Cole's Party

Wee Sing Big Rock Candy Mountain

2nd Grade:

Wee Sing in Sillyville

Wee Sing Marvelous Musical Mansion

Tubby the Tuba

3rd Grade:

Wee Sing Marvelous Musical Mansion

Overture to Disaster

Music and Heroes of America

Julie's Green Room (on Netflix)

4th and 5th Grades:

Stomp Out Loud

Composer's Specials (Bach, Bizet, Liszt, Strauss, Rossini, Handel)

Beethoven Lives Upstairs

Videos with Worksheets

I have created several resources that you might find valuable for your sub tub.  They are all actually bundled up in one bundle in my store (or you can purchase them individually).  Check out this Musicals Mega Bundle which includes tons of resources for these musicals:

Wizard of Oz 

Oklahoma

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers 

The Sound of Music Mega Pack 

Mary Poppins Mega Pack of Activities 

The King and I Mega Pack of Activities 

Bye Bye Birdie Mega Pack of Activities 

Annie Mega Pack of Activities 

West Side Story

The Music Man

Singin' in the Rain

Worksheets

I'm not a big fan of worksheets, but they do have their purpose and place in music class.  For substitute teachers they are often a familiar and comfortable activity that they can be successful with.  In my sub tub I use worksheets that reinforce skills we are constantly working on like note values, pitch names, composition and instrument identification and classification.

I pull those worksheets from the same sets that I have posted in my store.  They come in a bundle (that continues to grow) or you can buy the sets individually.  There are more than 400 usable pages in the bundle.  You can get it here:  No Prep Music Worksheets Endless Growing Bundle

Activities with Children's Books

Like many elementary music teachers I LOVE teaching with children's picture books.  I have dozens of books that I use regularly and some that work really well with substitute teacher lesson plans.

The Remarkable Farkle McBride by John Lithgow
This is such a fun story!  I have students complete a writing prompt that asks them to draw and write about an instrument they might like to play.  This book is also a great time to talk about onomatopoeias so we take time to write down some musical onomatopoeias.

The Word Collector by Peter H. Reynolds

This book is relatively new to my collection.  It's a delightful story about a boy who collects words.  After the story, students go on a word hunt around the music room to collect words.  This is also a great time to use some of the syllable search worksheets from my worksheet collections.

Tubby the Tuba by Paul Tripp

This is such a wonderful story!  In recent years I have stopped showing the movie very often.  It feels like it is 4 hours long.  The book, however, is delightful and not four hours long.  Subs love this lesson too!  After the story, I leave some discussion questions and a color the orchestra worksheet (color by instrument family) and a word search.

Moses Goes to a Concert by Isaac Millman

Another sub favorite is Moses Goes to a Concert.  This book talks about the experiences of a deaf student that goes to hear an orchestra perform.  The percussionist in the orchestra is also deaf and helps the students experience the music through vibrations.  With this book I leave a listening comprehension worksheet and a copy of the ASL alphabet.  After the worksheet questions have been answered and discussed, students can use the alphabet sheet to practice their names.  There are also TONS of YouTube videos of people signing popular songs that students love to watch.

The Rocket's Red Glare by Peter Alderman

This book tells the story of the "Star-Spangled Banner".  Although there are several books out there, this one has such beautiful illustrations that it is quickly becoming my favorite.  For sub plans, I have the teacher read the book, discuss the etiquette that we should display during the national anthem and then listen to the version that comes with the book.  After that, students receive sheets that are mostly blank with the exception of one of the phrases of the the "Star-Spangled Banner".  Students are then challenged to illustrate their phrase.  When they are finished it makes a beautiful display for the hallway or a bulletin board.

I have all of my children's literature sub plans bundled in my store.  Included are the ISBN numbers for the books, links to any pertinent videos to show as time fillers and all of the worksheets and activities listed about.  Get it here:  Sub Plans for the Non-Musical Sub

You might also like to watch this replay of a Facebook Live video where I take you on a tour of my sub binder and sub tub resources.

Ready to build your sub binder and Sub Tub?  Download these free starter files:  Sub Plan Starter Files

Like these ideas?  PIN them for later!

Take Music Class Outside

Take your music classes outside!  No, not just for an extra recess.  Take them outside for an extra special music class!  When the days are sunny and warm, you can go outside to sing, dance, play and even assess.  Here are 9 practical ideas for beautiful days.

1.  Musical Hopscotch
There are plenty of ways to play musical hopscotch.  With a little sidewalk chalk, create a hopscotch board.  What you put inside each square depends on what skills you want students to practice.

Note Values:  Draw note with values from smallest to largest on the blocks if you wanted to work on note values. Students would pause on each block as they counted the notes or said the syllables.  Add multiple notes to get all the way to ten or create a hopscotch board in a different shape to accommodate your needs.
Solfege:  I created a hopscotch board (pictured above) with the syllables of a major scale.  I added sol and do in the spaces of 9 and 10 on the board.  To warm up, we hopped and sang the syllables ascending and descending.  Then the game started.  Students would roll their rock and skip whatever syllable it landed on.  They hopped through the board singing each syllable except the ones that were covered.  This game was challenging and so much fun.  What I discovered was that when I wasn't actively engaged with a group, their singing skills weren't very strong.
Pitch:  I haven't tried this with students but I would love to try a version where some students jumped and other students played corresponding Boomwhakers.  That would be lots of fun too!

2.  Treble Clef Twister
When I play Treble Twist Up in class, I use a shower curtain that I have created a treble clef staff on and students take off their shoes and play the game like regular Twister.  Outside the shower curtain could work, but it wasn't a different enough experience in my mind.  If you have a playground that has the large foam squares as the "floor" of the playground you could create a treble clef staff with chalk on it to play.  Another idea is to spray paint the staff onto a grassy area.  The next time the grass is mowed, the staff is erased.  (You might want to get permission before you do this!)  Add THIS spinner and you have a great outside game that reinforces pitch names.

3.  Yard Dice - Roll and Cover
I needed an excuse to buy a set of LARGE wooden dice.  *giggle*  Outside music class seems like a great reason!  I must confess that I already have a collection of large foam dice that I use inside and they would work perfect outside as well.  So, what do I do with them?  I use them with Roll and Cover worksheets.  In a milk crate, I pack a few clipboards, pencils and a stack of Roll and Cover worksheets.  This makes the entire station easy to transport and gives me a place to collect finished pages. Check out the Roll and Cover sets here:  Music Roll and Cover

4.  Parachute Games
Parachute games are perfect for outside music class.  My current music room doesn't have a high enough ceiling for very many parachute games so taking the activity outside is the only way I can use them.

When planning parachute activities think about using songs your students already know that utilize direction words like up, down, around, etc...   I like to use "The Noble Duke of York" and "The Itsy Bitsy Spider".

Add a football to the middle of the parachute and change the lyrics to "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean" and you have a fun singing parachute game. Just change the word "Bonnie" to "football".  Add more actions to make it even more challenging.

"Charlie Over the Ocean" is a fun song to sing with a parachute.  Before each round choose a weather forecast like: warm and sunny, windy, stormy, hurricane, blizzard, calm and cool.  Students sing and move the parachute to match the weather forecast.  It is even more fun to toss a ball in the middle and focus on keeping it on the parachute during any weather condition.

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5. Ukuleles
I am relatively new to teaching ukuleles, but they have proven to be a versatile instrument and are perfect for taking outside.  Take a few song books for students to work on in small groups or move your whole group instruction out to the lawn.

6.  Four Corners - Instrument Families
Four Corners is a game that has been around for a long time.  I use it to reinforce instrument families.  Draw the four corner boxes and in each one add the name of an instrument family.  One student calls out the name of an instrument and the players move to stand in the family box that it belongs in.  Anyone who is not in the correct box is out.

This game was great with second and third graders, but my 4th, 5th and 6th graders were too good!  To make it a little more complicated I created instrument cards for the caller to use.  I included many instruments from around the world, pictures of those instruments and then their name and family to make the game more interesting.  If the game gets to the point where no one gets out for 3 turns, then the caller turns around giving the players a chance to stand in ANY box and then chooses a family.  Anyone not in that family is out.  Play continues until there is one winner and that person becomes the new caller.

7.  Singing Rocks
Singing rocks are great inside or outside.  There's just something fun about taking them outside.  I explain how to make these rocks in this blog post:  Singing Rocks

Basically the rocks are used for singing improvisation.  Put the rocks in a bag or box that isn't easy to see into.  Pull out a rock and start singing about what is on the rock.  The song doesn't have to rhyme.  The next person pulls out another rock and continues the ballad by singing about what is on their rock.  This is a great way to introduce the idea of opera too.  I've used this activity as a workstation and as a whole group activity.

8.  Singing Games/Folk Dancing
Ah!  Finally enough room to do all of those dances as an entire class instead of a couple of different groups taking turn!  A sunny, grassy area is the perfect place for folk dancing and singing games.


9.  Music Symbols Chalk Drawings
My daughter and I love going outside to create chalk art and so do my students.  I give them a sheet with music symbols on it and challenge them to create art using ONLY music symbols.

I love the results!  While students are creating I engage them in conversations about the symbols they are using.  Win!  Here are a couple of examples:

A tree composed of a whole note trunk.

I think this was really just a beautiful picture.  Although it wasn't a picture of something made with music symbols, it was a beautiful picture made only of music symbols.  The next picture is an example of one of "those" kiddos that technically followed the rules, but was obviously pushing the boundaries.  It made me laugh so while he was going to get more chalk to clothe the musical man below I snapped a picture.  I must admit that it was pretty good AND used only music symbols, but you know.

I hope that these ideas have inspired you to take your music class outside to enjoy a beautiful day.  Do you already take your classes outside?  I'd love to hear your ideas in the comments below.

If you like these ideas, PIN them for later.