Studio3Music Blog

Posts Tagged ‘games’

Mar
23

Castles at the Beach

Posted in Life with Kids, Symphony Concerts, Things to do, Things We Love

As we promised you at our show at the symphony this morning, here’s a great activity that’s portable, provides hours of fun, and you don’t have to be at the beach to do it! It’s a favorite game of our Studio3Music families, and now you can learn the song so you can play, too.

Be sure to subscribe to our blog so we can send more fun activities and great info your way.

-posted by Miss Allison, Stacey and Michael, who admit that their favorite part is the crashing waves that knock their castles down.

Tags: , , , , , ,

Join the conversation

Nov
25

Searching for the predictable patterns in a topsy-turvy world.

Posted in Child Development, Life with Kids, Music and the brain

Natalie is my 6 (and 11/12ths she insists on adding) year old first grader. This being my third time around teaching 1st grade, I’ve come to the solid conclusion that early learning centers around patterns, and that children who are unable to understand patterns  aren’t going to advance very far in reading, writing, or math, not to mention music.

photo credit: monteregina via photopin cc

That makes sense, because we know that the job of your child’s brain from birth to 7 is to organize all the sensory input it receives. At about the age of 7, brains are ready and eager to learn (If their brains have been able to properly learn to process the sensory information. If not – these are the kids we consider on the “sensory scale”).

So it’s no surprise in the early elementary years that most learning is based on patterns. Patterns of number combinations, patterns to pencil strokes in handwriting, patterns to learning adverbs, patterns to sounding out letter combinations.

But before they are Kindergartners and First Graders, babies and small children alike enjoy patterned activities.  Their brains actually crave them.
Simple games that are predictable and have an element of anticipation, as well as stop and go songs help your child remember, recognize, and anticipate specific patterns in sounds, words, and songs. These first steps of pattern recognition will lead toward understanding more difficult patterns in areas such as math, literacy, and music.

photo credit: cobalt123 via photopin cc

We’ve collected some of our favorite stop and go or highly predictable songs, with download links for the ones you might not know or haven’t had in Kindermusik class yet. I probably don’t have to tell your children what to do with them. They listen for the “stop” and stop, and learn to anticipate the “go”, whether dancing, swishing scarves, or playing instruments. (Weekend craft project – homemade shakers and drums!)

Listen, Listen
I am a Clown
Riding in the Buggy
Shake Your Eggs
Move and Freeze
Bells are Ringing (find some thing to make noise with – keys, spoons, hands – and make up new words. Pause each time after “listen to them jingling/tapping/clapping” before you jingle, tap, or clap)
Walk and Stop
In the City
Aiken Drum (when you sing this, put a “freeze” after every time you sing “moon”)
Stop on a Dot
Giddy up Horsey
B-I-N-G-O

Games like Red Light, Green Light and all sorts of Knock-Knock jokes are great, too.

If you have older children, then clapping games like Who Stole the Cookies from the Cookie Jar, and A Sailor Went to Sea, Sea, Sea are all about patterns, as is the classic string game Cat’s Cradle.

photo credit: Nemodus photos via photopin cc

So, this rainy Seattle Thanksgiving weekend, when the tryptophan-laden turkey has the grownups sleepy, but has had no effect on the children, load your iPod with stop and go music, shut the door, and let them have at it. They’ll have no idea they are getting a brain workout, while you are getting a nap.

-posted by Miss Analiisa, who prefers stop and collapse music at the end of a busy Thanksgiving Day.

Tags: , , , , , ,

Join the conversation

Jun
22

Sandcastles in the Rain

Posted in Bits and Pieces, Child Development, Our Time, Things to do

It’s pouring today. The complete opposite of yesterday. For those of you who don’t live in Western Washington, this is known as “Junuary”, sometimes encompassing the entire month of June, until after the 4th of July. Then it’s gorgeous around here.

Anyhow, 57 degrees and downpours haven’t put a damper on our fun in our Studio3Music classrooms. We’ve been going to the beach every week! Hands down, one of everyone’s favorite activities is building sandcastles. Out of bathroom cups. (The bigger paper ones covered in wax are way sturdier than the little ones that are just paper.)

Then, we sing this song: Sandcastle  repeating the part before the waves come as many times as necessary until your castle is all stacked up in a pyramid pattern as high as you want.

When the waves come, you knock it down with a big swoosh of your arms, and build it up again!

But this isn’t just all about fun. Well, it is all about fun, but there is some learning involved of course. Which makes it more fun for kids. Here’s Miss Allison to explain:

Games that require waiting and a cue to act are great ways to nurture the seeds of impulse control lying dormant in your child.  In this particular game the waiting is active. We are building while we are waiting to knock down the castle, and the cue to knock down the castle is big and obvious, so your child knows when the waiting has come to an end.  I love this game because it teaches that controlling our impulses (also known as  waiting), actually makes the pay off more fun.  Knocking down a three cup castle is only a little bit fun, but knocking down a 30 cup castle is a blast. However, you have to be patient and wait for that bigger castle to be built!

­-posted by Miss Analiisa, who thinks you should purchase some “instant fun in a box” to take with you on vacation this summer, to keep your children occupied for hours at the airport, in the hotel room, or even at the beach! Best of all, it’s inexpensive and easily recycled before your trip back home.

Tags: , , , , ,

Join the conversation

May
8

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

Posted in Bits and Pieces, Things to do

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: , ,

Join the conversation

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

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Tags: , , ,

Join the conversation