One of my favourite Kodaly quotes talks about making music a joy for your pupils rather than a chore. Today I'd like to talk about an activity for junior students that is exactly that - Joy.
Pure, unadulterated fun! For the activity "Two Teddies on a Trampoline" you will need a canvas parachute (as pictured below) although you can also get away with using a large sheet of stretchy fabric such as lycra.
You will of course also need two teddies:
Place the two teddies in the middle of the parachute with the class standing around the edges, each grasping a handle or an edge. On the count of three, whoosh! Send the teddies flying skywards!
The class will need to work together to move the parachute up and down at the same speed in order to give the teddies enough lift, so this is a perfect exercise for teaching steady beat!
I generally find that in any prep class there will be a handful of kids who can already keep a steady beat, most others will pick it up fairly quickly, but there are always one or two kids who struggle to feel where the next beat is.
Being swept along by the rest of the class and forced to move in time with them just by sheer strength of numbers is, for once, a good thing! This movement activity can often help the idea of Beat lock into place for those students who have been struggling with it.
And the best part? They're too busy having fun to even notice!
You can nab a more detailed song analysis as a FREE download on my Teachers Pay Teachers store