Lego Beats Music Manipulatives

Legos are such a cool and useful toy! We can use them to teach math but they are also an excellent way to learn rhythm and notation in music. If you have Legos at home, try out these activities! If you don't, there is a pdf file attached that you can also use!

Hunt the Brick

• Get out a big box of Lego bricks and find one large 2x8 brick. It will represent your whole note. Whole notes last 4 beats
• Go on a hunt for more whole note bricks, then draw a whole note on each of the bricks (with your parents' permission, of course!) just like you see in the picture above

Counting Practice

• Find a 2x4 brick to represent a half note. A half note gets 2 beats (2 half notes equal 1 whole note)
• Once you find one, continue the hunt for half note bricks and draw half notes on each of them. You will need 2 bricks to equal the one whole note brick.
• Next, find a 2x2 brick to represent a quarter note. A quarter note gets 1 beat (4 quarter notes equal 1 whole note)
• Repeat the process of finding quarter note bricks and drawing the note on them
• Do the same for eighth note bricks. An eighth note is worth half a beat (8 eighth notes equal 1 whole note)
• Stack all your bricks together, like the picture above, so that each row equals 4 beats
• You can then mix and match your half note bricks, quarter note bricks, and eighth note bricks to equal 4 beats. (you can't mix and match with the whole note brick as it's already 4 beats!)