1st Grade Music Activities (by date, oldest first)

These ADORABLE song cards are a FUN & EASY way to incorporate active movement songs into your classroom! I put these cards on the wall in my classroom near my circle carpet and let the children take turns picking out their favorite songs during our music & movement (dance party) time. These versatile cards can also be used in a pocket chart, laminated and placed on a metal binder ring, or used to make song sticks.

The songs included in this product and been tried & tested in an actual preschool classroom and are well-loved by my students. I introduce a handful of songs at the beginning of the year and gradually add more songs as the children begin to gain familiarity with the playlist.

This product includes one banner and 42 active movement song cards that can be rotated out throughout the school year.

PLEASE NOTE: The songs included in this product are located in Spotify. Artists may need to be modified if you are using a different streaming service or YouTube for your music & movement time.

This resource is great for:

⭐ Music & Movement Time

⭐ Transitions

⭐ Indoor Recess

⭐ Outdoor Recess

⭐ Brain Breaks

⭐ Movement Breaks

⭐ Rainy Day or Inclement Weather Days

⭐ Classroom Decor

⭐ Large-Group Activities

⭐ Bulletin Boards

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Check Out Some of my Other Fun Products & Resources:

Breathing Activities

Calming Strategies

Children's Book Activity Sets

Mindfulness Activities

Kids Yoga Activity Sets

Kids Yoga Coloring Pages

Kids Yoga Games

Kids Yoga Pose Cards

Kids Yoga Story Scripts

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Copyright information

Purchasing this product grants permission for use by one teacher in their own classroom. Duplication for an entire school, an entire school system, or commercial purposes is strictly forbidden. If other teachers would like copies of this product, please direct them to my store.

In BoomBox, students will see a series of 8 to 12 boxes with corresponding boomwhacker colors filled in each box. When played, the teacher will count off the students to read down the Boomwhacker boxes from left to right, line by line.

Teachers can use a laser pointer, point with a cursor, or even have kids read by themselves from the beginning to the end.

In this resource, there are 3 levels

• Eight Beat Patterns
• Eight Beat Patterns with Quarter Notes
• Twelve Beat Patterns (with Quarter Notes)

There are twenty five (25) exercises meant to get your kids booming right along! Included in this resource are the powerpoint, PDF, and percussive background tracks from MM 90 - MM 120.

Enjoy!

Steady Beat is one of the cornerstones of early childhood music whether you are playing with your Pre-K, Kindergarten, or even First Graders. Have them rise up to the challenge of “Steady as you go!” an amalgamation of classical music designed to have students become steady beat MASTERS!

You will assign students to play either body percussion to show steady beat (head, shoulder, lap, feet, etc) or even a drum, auxiliary percussion instrument, or anything else you can find.

You will then play the audio example of various pieces of classical music by clicking on the “heart” and watch the kids try to find the steady beat – only to be interrupted as the music abruptly changes every 20 to 30 seconds!

Students will have to start over and find the steady beat again as they transition into the next piece.

Have a terrific time finding that beat!

A great way to work on expressive movement with your kids is through HAPPY FEET!

In this lesson, students will hear a 4 minute and 32 second compilation of classical music, Edvard Grieg, John Philip Sousa, Dmitri Shostakovich, and more! Each piece will be played for a segment of time and while being played students will mimic the tempo by showing expressive body movement

• If students hear FAST music, they run as fast as you can in place!
• If students hear SLOW music, try a slo-mo movement in place!
• If students hear MODERATE speed, try marching in place

Of course, as the music teacher you can tailor this however you like, but with social distancing in our classroom at this juncture, the motions are preferable the way they are built :)

In between each segment there may be a slight pause which students will "freeze" in time. Keep the kids' attention by saying if they moving during the silence, they're OUT! ;)

Have a great time and perform this however you wish!

A terrific way to work on soft and loud is with a quick review with our dynamic duo in music, Piano and Forte.

Students will review dynamics in music and watch a short video from Music K8 called "Forte Piano" with the Barnyard Orchestra!

They will then listen to 10 different examples of music (clips that range from 15-30 seconds long) and choose whether they think the music played best fits the term "Piano" or "Forte" by clicking on the screen.

The right answer will illuminate green the next slide.

Great practice for your young ones to begin the year (if you're distance learning) or good general review

Are you as hungry as I am? Let's eat! Identify rhythms in proper nouns with this fun activity. Students will see a food (or foods!) and their corresponding word (or words!) and given two plates on each slide. Have the students identify the syllables in the food and match it to either rhythm on plate number 1 or plate number 2. After kids lock in their answer, advance the slide and reveal the answer! Most are eighth and quarter note rhythms, but some have eighth note triplets and 4 sixteenths group in the examples You can also play it as an assessment and have kids work individual or in teams. There's a powerpoint and PDF included in this package and there are 13 sets of foods go through and can last up to 30-45 minutes depending on what pace you go in the activity. Have a great time and of course, BON APPETITE!

Simple simple songs for your primary classes in Boom Along Songs! This powerpoint is pretty much start slideshow AND GO! Animations have been previously set so the teacher advances the slide and the arrows indicate which note to be played. No more pointing to the screen and reaching across the projector -- it will automatically do it for you as you advance the slide! Best part -- take it at your own tempo. It's like the old sing-a-long songs... pretty much fool proof! Enjoy these arrangements of This Old Man Go Tell Aunt Rhodie Mary Had a Little Lamb Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Ode to Joy Have fun!

A time tested rhythm builder in the elementary classroom are popsicle sticks, and this activity, "Stick it to Rhythm!" will reinforce quarter and eighth note rhythms. After a brief review on quarter and eighth note rhythms, students are allocated a set of popsicle sticks. After they make space for themselves on the floor, the teacher will play each example (8 in this pack!) and students have to dictate the rhythm using their popsicle sticks (don't worry, instructions on how to do eighth and quarter notes are embedded in the powerpoint) After letting the students decipher the rhythm, the teacher advances the slide to find out the correct rhythm played in the example. This works great for your youngest grades and all examples are MM 95bpm and under. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to leave it in the Q&A section or email me at jasonlitt@gmail.com!

We reinforce tons of Sol-Mi patterns in early elementary music. How about the kids dictate it through Sol-Fish? Each student receives a "Fishing for Solfege" printout which is a fish bowl with 2 spaces - the top space reserved for the SOL and the bottom space reserved for the MI Ten examples will be played and students will have to decipher where the sol's and mi's are after listening to them. They do this by putting bingo chips on the Sol or Mi spaces. After students lock in their guess, advance the slide to reveal the answer! You may do this through the printouts, or you can make it an interactive game with your whiteboard, the possibilities are endless! All sound files are embedded in, so you'll need to manually click each "speaker" icon to play each example. Have a great time with this, and let me know if you have any questions or concerns!

In your primary grades, the voice can have many different timbres. It can be sung as an aria, yelled from the roofed top, whispered quietly, and spoken normally. In "The VoiceSSSS!", we concentrate on the four methods of using our voice, a key in identifying and practicing the methods: S - Spoken S - Sung S - Soft (Whisper) S - Shout Students see a display 1 through 8 to SPEAK on a steady beat (3 background tracks included, from 80 to 100+bpm). As they read these numbers on a steady beat, there will be numbers highlighted in yellow that will be a different characteristic. Some may be sung, whispered, or shouted (have fun with the shouts) :) Each slide is completely different and will challenge your kids as you count them off so they can experiment vocally For the sing, there is no definitive pitch, so I ask them to make up a middle or high pitch on the number given. You can take turns boys and girls, you can play it as a class, or however you wish Some are quite tricky -- kids may have to switch up to 4 different vocal styles by the end! If you have any questions, feel free to comment! Enjoy!

So you've taught your kids their three basic solfege syllables (Sol, La, and Mi) and looking for a way to identify the pitches in an interactive game... look no further!

In Solfege Drag 'n Drop, students are challenged to identify Sol, La, and Mi in a series of musical examples. A static example of quarter notes (in groups of 4, 5, or 6) are placed on the "Sol" line, and then the example is played. Students will have to take the pen from the IWB to drag the remaining notes to reflect what was heard in the musical example. It can be dragged above to the "La" line, remain on the "Sol" line, or dragged below to the "Mi" line. After locking in their answer, the teacher will advance to the next slide to reveal their answer.

Although designed for an IWB, students can play on personal dry erase boards, on staff paper, or however you wish. You can even split the class up boys vs girls, team 1 vs team 2, etc, and have a race to identify the correct answer first.

There are 15 examples in the powerpoint ranging from beginner (4 quarter notes) to advanced (6 quarter notes). All examples are MM=100 or below

If you have any questions, please feel free to comment below! Happy Solfeging!

Was that Presto or Largo? Staccato or Tenuto? Forte or Piano? Use "Who am I" to reinforce the music terminology you've been working on in your class! After a brief review, 6 musical examples will be played with all examples ascribing to either Presto or Largo, Staccato or Tenuto, and Forte or Piano. Students can do this in a variety of ways: -- On whiteboards and dry erase markers -- Through collaborative grouping or partner activity (using pre-cut cards as an idea -- On a SMARTboard or brightlink -- As a race (maybe boys vs girls, side A vs side B) After the example is played, you can advance the slide in the powerpoint to reveal the answer! If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to leave a comment in the Q&A or email me at jasonlitt@gmail.com!

Got a box full of percussion instruments? Work on rhythm reading together with the kids in creative fashions! In "Out of the Box!", 4 separate lines hold 4 different classroom instruments -- tambourines, rhythm sticks, hand drums, and maracas. These instruments are all assigned different 4 beat rhythms and focus on quarter notes, quarter rests, eighth notes, and more techniques throughout the presentation. To get everybody playing, shaking, and grooving, I place four stations throughout the room filled with the associated instrument. I then have a group of students rotate through the instruments throughout the activity so they can all get a feel of each instrument (no more "you get what you get, and you don't throw a fit...") Win-win! You can run in the way you wish! You can have the students perform an ostinato by repeating the 4 beat measure, or have them read it in a canon, or just do it all together as suggested! Or... you can have students write their own composition if you have an interactive whiteboard! How cool! Included are the powerpoint file (completely editable and expandable with images embedded in) and PDF file as a static presentation. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them. Have a great time!

A fun way to match up the solfege syllables with the hand signs! In Solfege Mix n Match, each contestant will be given the 7 plastic solfege syllables (included that you can print out and laminate), which are affixed to the board with magnetic tape. In this “boy vs. girl” competition (or team 1 vs team 2), the name of a solfege syllable will appear on the screen and contestants must drag the correct hand sign to their answer box… The first contestant to drag their answer to the answer box wins that round! Keep score, award points, or just play for fun! Included are 80+ slides for your enjoyment. Have fun!

Based off the hit Windows 3.11 game we all knew and loved, Rhythm Sweeper is a progressive game where one slip can end you up on the dreaded mine! This will have your kids reading and mastering rhythms in NO TIME! Students will see a grid of 40 squares on the home page. Each square contains either a link to a rhythm.... or a mine :) I select one student at a time to pick a number. I'll then click on the number and it'll advance to the designated slide. If it's a rhythm, we add that rhythm to the Building Board on the home page. The teacher will click "Back to Game and Building Board" and put the rhythm they just received on the board. As for the rhythms they earned, you can cut out rhythms, write them in dry erase, or have a student keep tabs on the side. Students will now say, sing, or play the rhythm back. Then we repeat! See how it gets progressive? ;) ...until the mine! There are 5 mines in each game, and once the mine is hit, it's GAME OVER! At the end, you can tally up how many beats the class amassed (which is great if you can allow student to add it up as the game has half, quarter, and pairs of eighth notes). Compete against other classes, or themselves! There are 10 files in the pack and each one is completely different (all the rhythms are mixed up and of course, so are the mines) Have fun with this! I keep lively music in the background and have the kids on lummi sticks to play the rhythms back. Let me know if you have any questions by leaving a comment!

We know all percussion instruments aren't made the same. Some are struck, rung, hit, shook, or scraped. But do the students know the difference between a pitched and an unpitched instrument? After a brief video review on instruments, students will be given about 10 popsicle sticks (the ones you use for your build your quarter and eighth note patterns!) and asked to take a seat on the floor. You will play 8 examples of pitched and unpitched percussion and they will have to spell out the right answer on the floor by making a "P" for pitched or "U" for unpitched. After they lock in their answer, you may reveal it on the powerpoint (animations included) or PDF. Kids love it! Included are the following 8 mp3 examples of pitched and unpitched percussion instruments 1 percussion introduction video Fonts and installation instructions 1 Powerpoint File 1 PDF file Have fun with this! If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me -- jasonlitt@gmail.com Get pitch perfect!

Want a better flashcard game to review your musical instruments? Try Instrument Rally Race! In this colorful powerpoint, you can review the instruments of the Brass and Woodwind Family in a great game format. Included are Trumpet, Trombone, Tuba, French Horn Flute, Clarinet, Oboe, Saxophone, Bassoon It's fairly easy to play. Students are shown an instrument and have to name it as soon as they can! I do boys vs girls in my class and we do this in a "around the world" format, so the winner of the game remains to compete against the next kid in class. Or you can do side 1 vs side 2, north vs south, east vs west -- however you wish! It's great for review to have the students identify all the instruments in the Brass and Woodwind families. Included are a powerpoint file, PDF, and instructions how to install the system fonts that go with the powerpoint. Let me know if you have any questions in the comments or email me at jasonlitt@gmail.com Have fun with the Rally!

Working on the lines of the treble clef staff? Here's a fun way to have your students use their knowledge and solve a puzzle with Mystery Word! The Mystery Word package includes 50 challenging words and/or phrases that are spelled using the musical letters (A,B,C,D,E,F, and G) of the treble clef staff. Blank letter boxes are below the note on the staff for the students to fill in. Some words and phrases are easy, but some get pretty difficult! Included are three files: The teacher version, a PDF file with 50 pages in PDF format to use as a class activity. The student version, a PDF file you can print out with 25 pages, 2 puzzles to each page you can individual give to students. (If printed out and copied back-to-back, it only runs 13 pages per booklet) The answer key (just in case a substitute teacher needs it) ;) You can use this as a warmup to your lesson, or a lesson in itself -- it makes a great substitute teacher plan as well! It gets kids to critically think about the lines of the staff to fill in the blanks... my kids love it as it's fun and challenging. Would love to hear feedback how it's working in your classrooms. Any questions, you know where to find me. Have fun!

Working on aural theory with your kids? With "Rhythm Mixup" students shuffle up notecards with quarter notes, 2-beamed eighth notes, half notes, and quarter rests to reflect the musical example being played! We start off the first lesson (level 1) with a brief overview of rhythm from Quaver's Marvelous World of Music, and then head right into rhythm mixup. Students will lay out their notation cards (you can either print these out or have the students draw them on a whiteboard, etc), and then a musical example will be played. Students will have to put the notes in the order that they hear the music example -- hence, the "mixup"! Level 2, goes into quarter rests and the students will have to place it appropriately (hint: it's never at the beginning or end of the phrase!) :) Students identify rhythms upon hearing them and use their aural skills to dictate where each rhythm is placed. Make sure to play these several times, especially for the younger ones so they can check their work! Designed in Powerpoint 2007, all animations and transitions should work on machines that support it. A file is included for instructions on how to install fonts. If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me. Have fun!

Wanna get your Orff Ensemble moving and grooving but don't know where to start? Get percussive with five original compositions for your Orff Ensemble.

This Orff Ensemble orchestration provides parts for Soprano Glockenspiel, Soprano Xylophone, Alto Xylophone, Bass Xylophone, Percussion, and Boomwhackers with color coded notes. All parts work together and you can perform the arrangement with all or just some of the parts. Xylophone doubles as the Metallophone part if you have Metallophones.

You are free to dissect melodies and harmonies to what you wish, or play right from the beginning tothe end. Most arrangements are around 18-24 measures long. 3 of the pieces are in C major, 2 are in D minor (best wishes to those who have a removable B-flat bar!)

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. Enjoy!