Studio3Music Blog

Posts Tagged ‘games’

May
8

Duck, Duck, Animal! Fun Theater Games for Young Kids

Kids are natural actors. After years of teaching theater games to kids ages 5-12, I’ve yet to encounter a child who doesn’t want to play. Some kids are better actors than others, but they all have the natural want-to. Very few have inhibitions. If I tell my group to pick a farm animal to become, I’m immediately surrounded by mooing, baaaaa-ing and oinking throng. I have yet to hear, “Do I HAVE to?” That part is wonderful.

While I’m no expert at theater, and though my 1/2 hour teaching slot at our drama class is anything but fancy or refined, kids love it. Theater games and improve exercises are very free form. Implication: You can do it too. But be prepared to embrace some chaos. Kids who are alive with imaginative fun are not sitting around quietly!

Here are a few of my class’ favorite games. Next time you have a group of bored kids around, try a couple of these and see how quickly time passes and how much fun you all have. But leave your perfectionism behind.

Duck Duck Animal—A twist on the familiar game Duck, Duck, Goose. Instead of saying, “Goose,” the child says the name of another animal and that child must become that animal as he/she races around the circle and tries to tag “it” before he/she reaches their spot in the circle. Smart kids quickly say slow animals such as “snail” or “turtle.”

Statue Maker—A classic game. One child is the statue shop owner. Another is the shopper. All other kids are statues. As the game begins all statues dance and wiggle until the statue maker says, “freeze.” The shopper, who has been outside the room, reenters and is shown the statues one by one. The shop owner turns on each statue and it performs its function and is then turned off. After each statue has performed, the shopper picks his/her favorite. The chosen statue becomes the next shopper and a new shop owner is chosen. This is my group’s favorite game. It is raucous and fun. (Young children will usually imitate each other and often end up chasing the shopper until turned off. It can help to suggest a theme for the statues, such as animals or sports. It is also helpful to remind children they are not to touch any other children.)

New York, New York—(Also called Lemonade) Divide your kids into two groups of at least 3 each. Each team goes to opposite sides of the room or designated outdoor area and decides on a vocation or activity, for example skiing or gardening. Both teams come up to the middle line. Team A says: “New York, New York,” Team B replies: “What’s your trade?” Team A: “Lemonade!” Team B: “Show us some if you’re not afraid.” At this point Team A begins to act out their agreed upon vocation and the other team tries to guess what they are doing. Once a correct guess is shouted out, Team A tries to run back to their base before being tagged out by members of Team B who are chasing them. Teams then switch roles.

Tangled Knot–(at least 10 kids) All children stand in a small circle. Next, they reach across the circle with closed eyes and find two hands to hold. Then the game begins. The children must untangle the giant knot created without letting go of anyone’s hands. Going slow is the key!

Detective–All children stand in a circle. One child is chosen as the detective and leaves the room. Another child is chosen to be the leader. He/she will lead the group in motions, similar to Simon Says—clapping, hopping, patting head, and turning around—when the detective returns. The detective is invited back into the room and stands in the center of the circle. He/she must guess who the leader is. The group must try and keep that knowledge from the detective by not making eye contact with the leader, and the leader must be careful to change up the motion only when the detective’s back is turned. Subtlety is the key. Once the detective correctly guesses the leader, a new detective and leader is chosen.

Mirror–Children pair up, and face one another. They take turns being the leader and the mirror. The leader moves his/her body very slowly and the mirror must “mirror” the actions. The game is to mirror so well that an observer can’t tell who the leader is and who the mirror is. Then kids switch roles.

For more ideas, check out: On Stage: Theater Games & Activities for Kids by Lisa Bany-Winters.

-posted by Donna Detweiler, who volunteers to do theater games with kids because of how she LOVED playing these games as a child. She wants to pass it on!

Tags: Donna Detweiler, games, pretend play

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Feb
7

Episode 1: A New Hope

Posted in Bits and Pieces, Family

In a neighborhood far far away, on the planet Google Earth, lived a family of Nerds who later became Geeks (we’ll get to that in a minute). It was a time of much celebration as Nerds had risen among the classes to rule and reign, bringing their overactive imaginations, battle glory, competitive spirits, and advanced technology to the masses. Children no longer played with typical toys of generations past, instead preferring AI technology for playmates. The most common were Angry Birds, Swampy, Zombies, Spartans and Master Chiefs. Many learned to read sounding out words like, A..A..Android, and N…N…Netflix. Small self-lighting devices replaced books and family libraries.

The Nerds saw this and although they did not want to remove technology from Google Earth, decided to gift the cheerful citizens with interactive face-to-face play once again. Going back to their roots of hero feats, battle strategy and role playing, they created a realm of board games sure to bring eye contact and non-abbreviated conversations back to the dinner table. This created a faction within the Nerd classes. New Wave Nerds prefer technology where they can instantly +1 their friends or do status updates in all they do each day; but the Geeks remembered Friday nights with pizza and board games and cherished the laughter and original human interfacing….with no technology whatsoever.

If you are a Geek (or perhaps a closet Geek, don’t worry we won’t reveal your secret to your savvy Nerd friends), be sure to check out this website for Board Game Geeks. Many games featured come with familiar hardware like dice, cards you hold in your hand or flip over (also called card drafting in Geek Speak); and boards with pieces that move as the game progresses…and moved by your own gross motor movement, too! You can join blogs, create an account posting the Geekiest games you own sharing your own reviews and even search for a new and exciting game sure to please the whole family.

Stay tuned for the next episode where the Geeks go the battle and declare victory over many new board games that have emerged from the Austrian Board Game Academy.

-posted by Miss Jesikah, who is an old school fantasy Nerd and has always stayed true to her inner-Geek. She still does not have a phone that has apps! Imagine that

Image: Tina Phillips / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Tags: games, Miss Jesikah, parenting, Things to do

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Oct
5

A Spelling Game

Posted in Bits and Pieces, Education

Some of you know that I home school my three children. The rest of you – now you do. I have two boys who don’t love to write (a pretty normal condition for boys). We use a spelling program called Spelling Power instead of a typical workbook.

Because it’s NOT a workbook , spelling words aren’t learned by simply writing them multiple times in exercises. My oldest son is not a good speller. He was an early and voracious reader, and breezed over and through phonics (spelling) rules, because he really didn’t need them.

My younger son is a good speller, and he carefully sounds out words. However, he doesn’t like making mistakes. And the way Spelling Power works is that you pre-test a list of words, and study only the ones you don’t know how to spell. To help him not feel like a failure, I need to make a game of learning to spell the missed words.

My boys are oil and water. I never thought I’d find game that would work to teach them their words. But I found one. That works, 100% of the time. Both of them.

Here’s all you need: a whiteboard and dry erase markers. We use a slanted (22°) whiteboard for a lot of our work. One of the reasons is that a slantboard (like the slanted desks I had in elementary school) reduces stress on the optic system.

The text in the math book is so much smaller than what we can write on the board. Less eye tiredness happens with the board!

A slantboard also allows children to write larger. My 4^th grader makes far fewer mistakes doing his math on a slantboard, than trying to write small in his workbook. The errors he makes on the slantboard are because he made a math error, rather than one due to trying to work in a small space. And I make my 7^th grader redo any missed Algebra problems on the board. He suddenly can see where he made his errors.

I suppose if you’ve made it this far into the blog, you are wondering where the heck the spelling game is I promised. Finally, here it is:

Write the missed word on the board.

Trace around it in 3 different colors, being sure to match the shape of the word.
Always while looking at the board, spell the word forwards, and then backwards. Yes, backwards. Really. You have to do that. And, at the same time, tap your hands on the table/desk/counter, or on your legs, once for each letter.
Erase one letter. (Don’t erase the shape of the word.)

Repeat steps 3 and 4 until the word is gone. (Keep looking at the board as you spell.)

Spell it forwards and backwards one more time.

There! That’s it. My 7^th grader FUSSED when I made him do this. For about 3 days. And then he stopped complaining because he realized it actually worked.

-posted by Miss Analiisa, who recommends the slantboard from www.visualedgesb.com

Tags: games, learning, Miss Analiisa

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Oct
2

Why? How come? What’s next? Can I? What would happen if?

Posted in Child Development, Education, Imagine That, Things to do

Do you hear those questions at home? We hear them in Kindermusik Imagine That classes all the time! Your child is a discoverer, and loves comparing and categorizing things, conducting investigations, problem solving, and most of all, talking about what they learn from exercising their curiosity.

The things your preschooler naturally wants to do will boost their cognitive development – the growing of thinking skills, including problem solving and decision making. Cognitive development is not about the acquisition of information, though that might occur in the process.

What’s important about helping your child acquire cognitive skills now in the preschool years is that this aptitude can then be transferred to any other learning experiences in their life. For instance, take puzzles. There is a lot of thinking involved in completing a jigsaw puzzle. Sorting, organizing, categorizing, visual discrimination, remembering (Where did I see that piece I now need?), a plan of action (Do I do the outside or the inside first?)

Now fast forward 30 years. Your preschooler has become a successful research scientist. And puzzles have helped her become so. She learned the scientific method as a child. She observed the puzzle, she hypothesized how to solve the puzzle, she tested her solution and concluded if her solution worked!

All mistakes or problems are really opportunities for cognitive development. Here’s why: Children thrive on routine and familiarity. When something happens that thwarts their “normal”, they are required to come up with a solution that is outside of their box, and in doing so, cognitive development occurs.

Take the proverbial spilled milk. Your child dropped his cup of milk. You could get mad (especially if you just cleaned your kitchen floor), but don’t. Remember – all mistakes or problems are really opportunities for cognitive development.

Ask your child to look at the spill – Wow! That little mug of milk sure spread out all over the floor. Is the puddle going to keep growing, or stop? Is it a deep puddle? How can you tell? What should we do about all this milk on the floor? Oh, clean it up? How? What should we use to do that? Milk gets sticky when it’s dried, because it has a kind of sugar in it. What do you think could put on our washcloth to get the sticky off the floor? Why do you think you dropped the cup? How can you hold the cup differently next time so it doesn’t spill? Observing, hypothesizing, testing and concluding!

Here is a list of 10 cognitive skill-building activities to do with your child.

Play Hot and Cold. Hide an object and give your child clues as to where it is by saying hotter, colder, or warmer.
Games like Dominoes, Uno, Skip Bo or Battleship
Cooking. Let your child mix, pour, etc. Lots of mistakes or problems can occur to solve in this activity. (Just ask professional chefs.)
Play I Spy with shapes, colors, textures, etc.
Household chores like sorting laundry or putting away silverware.
Ask (sometimes very silly) thinking questions. Is an elephant purple? Which is bigger – our cat or our dog? What did you eat for dinner last night?
With your finger, draw a simple shape or picture on your child’s back. See if they can guess what it is. Give clues if necessary. (It’s something you find outside. It is very tall.)
Category games. What doesn’t belong – cat, mouse, frog, tree? Find me 3 things that are yellow.
Create an obstacle course.
Let them make mistakes and then allow them to figure out how to solve them.

-posted by Miss Analiisa, who thinks she’s pretty cognitively savvy, until she plays the game Gobblet Gobblers with her children and loses!

Tags: games, kindermusik, language development, learning, Miss Analiisa, preschoolers, toddlers

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Aug
22

Inside, Outside, Upside Down

Posted in Child Development, Education

Prepositions. Can you name one? Before I started homeschooling my children (6 years of Shurley English later), all I could remember about them was that a preposition wasn’t something I was supposed to end a sentence with. And something about not dangling them… no, that is participles.

Anyhow, prepositions are all about spatial relationships – meaning, where you are in relation to an object. How important are they? Just try giving your child a direction without prepositions.

You: “Go get the ball.”
Child: “Where?”
You: “The backyard.”
Child: “Where in the yard?”
You: “Tree.”
Child: “Which tree?”

See, you can’t give the clear, accurate directions, “Go get the ball in the backyard. It’s under the tree opposite the shed”, without using prepositions.

Beside, between, and next to are all prepositions that must be understood before children can make and understand patterns (pre-math stuff). Prepositions are a really important part of language development, too. Children with sensory issues often have trouble learning prepositions as they don’t often have good body awareness.

So, how can you teach prepositions? There are many (because you say them so frequently) they will probably learn on their own. But games (musical ones, of course!) are a great way to teach new ones.

over under in out on inside outside up down behind in front beside above below through between around across with against following before to from

I’m using the song “Go ‘round the Mountain” in my Kindermusik camp this August. I’ve put it below for you to listen to. You can also download it at www.play.kindermusik.com.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

In class, we use hoops on the floor to be our “mountains”, but you can use a chair, an exercise ball, a taped-off square, a box, or other objects. Once you’ve learned the song, turn the music off. You sing, and change the words. Here’s a slew of ideas:

Jump in the box…
Crawl under the chair…
Tiptoe around the ball…
Fly above the mat…

See? Pretty easy. Be sure to play with prepositions two ways. Have your child do the preposition, like in the examples above. Then, sing again, and this time, direct your child to place an object (like a toy turtle) in relation to the chair, or box, or hoop.

Turtle on the box…
Horse behind the chair…
Shark under the carpet…

-posted by Miss Analiisa, who is sitting on the couch with her laptop despite how tired she is, but who shall soon get up and go towards the bathroom to brush her teeth and crawl under the covers and into bed, after she picks up the remote from beside her and puts it on top of the shelf!