Kinesthetic Engagement
Games: Team Building
3,6,9: students stand in a circle and each say a number (in order). When there is a number that includes a 3, 6, or 9, you cannot say the number. You must clap instead. You have to stay on the beat. If you mess up, you sit down! Example- 1, 2, clap, 4… all 30s, 60s, & 90s are clapped.
Balloon Relay: A relay race where the students bounce the balloon up in the air. If the balloon touches the ground, you must start your turn over. Click HERE for video.
Relay race bouncing the balloon up in the air with one hand behind your back.
Relay race with balloon stuck between your legs
Balloon Stomp: Students use ribbon or string to attach one balloon on the back of each heel. When the timer starts, students try to stomp off other player’s balloons. The goal is to keep your balloons. The last player to have a balloon left is the winner! Click HERE for video.
Boo the Dragon: Divide teens into teams of six to seven members each. One teen plays the dragon and thus becomes the judge.In the game, teens live in a village that is under the dragon attack, and they need to scare away the dragon. Each team represents a village. The villagers need to arrange themselves in order of tallest to shortest while they are blindfolded. They can discuss among themselves and try ways to stand in a line in increasing order of their heights as fast as possible. Once the task is completed, the villagers have to say “Boo!” to scare away the dragon. The team who finishes the task and is first to say “Boo!” to the dragon wins the game.
Board Games: Keep a bin of board games and decks of cards for socials and fun days!
Composer Biography: Play a song and read a short bio of one of your favorite composers!
Cup stacking Competition: Divide the class into equal teams. Pass out 10 cups per team. Each person needs to stack the 10 cups into a pyramid. The team that finishes first wins! (you can add this: once your team finishes, they have to run across the room, take a group selfie, and run back. The team that finishes first wins!)
Fashion Show: Fashion show competition using only tape, wrapping paper, and tissue paper. Click HERE for a picture.
30 second Hot Potato: Display a 30 second timer while students pass around a ball, whoever it lands on is out. Check out cool timers on Google! Click HERE for example.
Hula Hoop Race: Divide the class into 2-3 teams (or as many as you want!). Students have to hold hands and pass the hula hoop through their bodies. The first team to get the hula hoop around the circle wins! Click HERE for video.
Human Knot: Students stand in a circle and grab hands with people across the circle from them to create a “human knot”. They cannot grab hands with the people next to them. Then, the students must untangle themselves without letting go of their hands. Click HERE for instructions.
Hungry Hippos: Students roll scooters on their belly while collecting balls in a laundry hamper like the board game called Hungry Hippos. Click HERE for video.
Lower the Stick: Divide the class into teams and give each group a long stick or pole (at least a yard). Each student must hold the stick up while keeping each pointer finger on the stick. Then, the team must lower the stick all the way to the ground while keeping their fingers on the stick. It’s tricky, but it works with teamwork! Click HERE instructions.
Never Have I Ever: Students sit in a circle of chairs. There should always be one less chair than the amount playing (like musical chairs). Someone in the middle shares something they have never done before. If someone in the circle has, they have to stand up to switch chairs. You cannot sit in the chair next to you. Whoever doesn’t find a chair is the new person in the middle and shares a new “Never Have I Ever” fact. Click HERE for video.
Paper Airplane Race: Students make a paper plane. The plane that travels the farthest wins!
Rock/Paper/Scissors Battle: Everyone begins rock/battle/scissors battles all at ones (one-on-one games), the loser of each round has to then become a cheerleader for the winner, the winner finds a new opponent to challenge in rock/paper/scissors, this pattern continues until there are two final opponents left and everyone is cheering for their teammate! Click HERE for a video.
Ships and Sailors: A fun twist on Simon says! Click HERE for directions.
Simon Says: Students cannot move or follow directions unless you say “Simon Says”. You can also replace “Simon” with your name. Example: “Ms. Seitter says sit down”.
Solo Cup Games: Divide the class into teams. Each team gets 6 solo cups and a rubber band with strings attached. See picture HERE. Each student grabs a string and works together to stack the cups to make a pyramid without using your hands. First team to make the solo cup pyramid using the rubber band wins! Click HERE for my Solo Cup Games.
Streamers Race: This is a race between two people (or more if you have more streamers). Each person holds the beginning of a streamer roll and rolls them around their arms. First player to wrap both arms in the streamers wins!
Teeth, Teeth: Have everyone sit in a circle and pick a person to start the chant. Tell them to say their name twice in a chant, “Erica, Erica...” and then the person to their left repeats their name twice and then adds their own name twice, “Erica, Erica, Sarah, Sarah...” This continues this way, with each person repeating the person before them and adding their own to the end. But, there’s a catch: nobody can show their teeth. And, if someone does smile or show their teeth, anyone who sees this happen yells, “Teeth!” That person is then eliminated, and this continues until the last person wins.
Zip, Zap, Zop: Students stand in a circle and pass energy by clapping and saying “Zip”, they make eye contact with who they pass it to, The next person must pass the energy on and say “Zap”, and the next person says “Zop”. Keep the order Zip, Zap, Zop and if you say the wrong one, you’re out! Click HERE for a video.
Brain Breaks: Quick activities to re energize!
ABC/123: Touch each shoulder back and forth. When you tap the right shoulder, say the alphabet and when you touch your left shoulder, you count 1-26.. It will start: A1B2C3…
Clapping Games:
Pass the Energy: Students see how quickly they can each clap to “pass the energy
“ around the room. The first person claps and then the next and so on. The students cannot clap until the person next to them has clapped. Time it to see how fast!
Break It Down Clapping Pattern: Click HERE for video.
Dance Break: Take a break and dance it up! Ask your students to show you any new TikTok dances or turn on music for a moment, and/or dance a group song. Ex: Cha-cha-slide
Index Card prompt: complete prompt on index card (example: I Sing because…)
Mirror Hands: Teacher leads and the students mirror the teachers hands and instructions. Everyone begins with hands lifted up, palms facing in. The instructions begin: both up, right down, left out (turns your palm facing down), left down, right out, both up, left in, etc.
Shoulder Game: Teacher gives instructions to students on which shoulder to raise. Ex: Both shoulder up, right down, left down, right up, right down, both up, left down, etc.). If they move the wrong shoulder, they have to sit down and they are out.
Story Time: The first person starts with any word, but just one, such as “chocolate.” The next person has to add a word that is associated with that word, such as “chip.” This continues quickly, with each person adding just one word. Everyone will end up in laughter!
Telephone: You can start with one word/phrase and play with the whole class, or divide the class into groups. Or you can keep them on the risers and divide the class by riser row. The person starting the game thinks of a word or phrase and whispers it into the next player’s ear only once, with no repeats allowed. The listener tries to correctly repeat that same word or phrase into the next player’s ear. The last person in the line or at the end of the circle repeats the phrase or word aloud. The player who started announces the correct word or phrase. You can either play that the teams who have the correct word/phrase wins, or the team that finished first wins! Another option: Same rules as telephone, but you pass a facial expression!
Two or Four Beats Behind: Teacher performs 2 beats of a movement, students copy those movements while watching the teacher perform the next 2 beats, continuous movement. Or 4 beats behind!
2 against 3: Snap vertical line with one hand (1-2) while snapping a triangle in the other hand (1-2-3). Then switch! Bonus challenge: Click HERE for trickier combinations!
Rehearsal Strategies: Get your students engaged with their body!
Breathing: Hoberman Sphere, breath through a straw, floor breathing
Circle singing: One big group circle, circle up by section, two circles while walking to the beat
Consonants: Students flip their hand for quick consonants
Throw up the chord: Choir sings a chord and “throws” it up in the air, voice slides up, then silence, then “catch” the chord again by sliding your voice down to the original note.
Solfege/Number Patterns:
12345,54321,15453525,1545321,15453525,1545671 (last 1 is high do)
Add a soft stomp on 1 and a snap on 5