DO YOU LIKE OUR VIDEOS?

For only £25 / $39 per month you can access over 600 more, just like the ones below.

For further information please visit http://www.activemusicdigital.co.uk

Here are just 5 of the 500 DVD clips we have filmed… these games are particularly fun… why not try them out on your class? When you click on the blue titles, the notations will appear for you to print out.

DOWN BY THE BANKS OF THE HANKY PANKY

This is such a popular game. It can last all lesson if you are not careful and is one that the children beg me to play with them over and over.  It involves a huge amount of cooperation and interaction as the children have to be in contact with the child on either side of them throughout the game. The words make little sense, but it adds to the fun! Musically, the children keep a steady pulse and need to show an awareness of pauses in the song, not to be out! See what you think!

A SHIP SAILED FROM CHINA

You probably know this one – or if not, recognise the melody. This singing game is accumulative and involves increasingly more complex actions to the pulse. You can make the actions as simple or complex as you like, depending on the ability of your children! The one that the children are doing here is quite demanding on your back – try it!!!

BABY ONE!

This game is challenging in that it involves clapping on the syncopated beat, but the children love it. It can feel a bit like patting your head and rubbing your tummy, as it requires quite a high level of coordination – very entertaining!

RHYTHM/ACTION SEQUENCES

This activity requires the children to use their skills of basic 4-beat rhythm patterns to create action sequences in small groups. They build the layers until they are all performing at once, then gradually reduce them. This is an excellent task for assessing where children are with their pulse and rhythm skills.  A further challenge is to add instruments as you will see in the following clip.

TONY CHESTNUT

This game is hilarious and needs to taught slowly – It involves the skill of internalising (using thinking voices) and there are many coordination challenges within it, which the children love!

If you like these games and are a visual learner, you may find that this is a good way for you to learn new musical repertoire. It can be useful to see the games being played in order to work out whether they may be suitable for your class, and it also saves you from reading lots of complex instructions – which, let’s face it, there isn’t much time for. There are many more games like this in the Active Music Series.

If you haven’t found a music scheme of work that you are happy with in your school, you may like to try Active Music Lesson Plans  as over 90% of all the activities within it can be seen on film clips like those above, so you can hear the song and see the games before teaching them. The activities are progressive and interactive and all linked to the Music National Curriculum. Please see ‘About Active Music’.

My purpose of making all these video clips was to make your music teaching easier, so please let me know if they help and I will let you have some more.