Kindergarten Play, The Goodrich Way

 Students in kindergarten love to play games! We can turn almost anything into a game and they are immediately more excited to get involved. In music class, game play happens on a daily basis. Students learn many things during game play indluding, but not limited to; turn taking, patience, sharing, solo singing, selection making and even, on occasion, friendly competition. Below, I will describe just a few of the games we played today and let you see some of them in action!

First up, we have a loved game of filling up a fruit basket with all of our favorites! The students sit in a circle and are handed a random cut out fruit. As the song goes, they take turns filling up the basket by singing the name of their fruit. This gives me a chance to see their progress on using their singing voices and patiently awaiting their turn.

Next, we have a song that helps us learn to use our singing voices quietly and loudly called, "Black Snake." In this game, a student waits outside the classroom, without peaking, while we hide the cute little black snake somewhere in the classroom. When we invite them in, we sing quitely if they are far away and get louder as they move closer to help them find the snake. This kids love it!

Lastly, we played a game called "Doggie, Doggie." In this game a student sits in the middle of the room with their eyes covered while another student walks around the circle with a dog bone waiting to choose someone to be "it." When the song ends, all put their hands behind their backs and the person in the middle gets three guesses to see who has it. This game takes a lot of patience to wait for our turn and so far, the students have done a great job!

Games make learning fun and also help to reinforce behaviors the students can use for their lifetime. They think they are just playing a fun game, when in reality, they are developing many great skills to help them be successful.