Suggestions Needed: Fun Games / Exercises for Kids' Ukulele Club

[purelily]

Hi y'all!
I'm starting a ukulele club at my daughter's school this year for 3rd - 8th graders. I created a beginners ukulele book so I know which songs we will be practicing, but I wanted to see if anyone has suggestions for fun games or exercises I can do with the kids?
Thank you!
Lily

 

[bacchettadavid]

I'll throw a few out there...

"Silent Metronome": Count from 1 to 8 out loud, then count from 1 to 8 in your head, then strum on 1. "1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8" (1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8) STRUM! Rinse and repeat and enjoy as things tighten up. Advanced variant: increase the silent count in increments of 4 up to 32.

"Echo (echo)": Ask students to listen while you play a very short, simple melodic snippet (be sure to sing the pitch class name of the first note). Invite students to play it back to you. Once they get the hang of this, break them into groups of 2 or 3 and mill around to ensure things go smoothly. Advanced variant: slowly increase the complexity and/or length of the phrases.

"Circle of A Chord": Arrange students in a circle. Student take turns calling out chord names for everyone else, who then strum that chord in unison until the next person calls out the next chord. Advanced variant: set 1 or 2 additional rules (make it a race with eliminations and prizes for making it to the podium or require students to somehow inform their chord choices based upon the current chord).

"Uke Unison": Ask everyone to listen while you repeatedly play one note. Ask students to hum the pitch you are playing then match that pitch on their instrument. You can add in a rhythmic variation or ask students to pick in the round or similar for variety. Maintain this one note for as long as possible. Advanced variant: increase the silent count in increments of 4 up to 32.

"Fretboard Hide 'n Seek": Play a tone and allow it to sustain. Wait a few seconds in silence. Challenge students to hum that tone in unison. Once students can match the pitch, sing its name and challenge them to then find the same note (either the one you played or a note one octave up or down) on at least two strings. Advanced variant: set this exercise to a metronome, emphasize enharmonic equivalents, increase the # of strings they need to match the pitch along, etc.

 

[ploverwing]

In case you've never come across this resource, James Hill's "Ukulele in the Classroom" is free. Also, his "Pedagogy Corner" on his blog has some great ideas (Canons, for example)

 

[bbkobabe]

Start with some stretching and finger wake ups...

Gently stretch wrists, flexing back and forth... then wrist circles, 5x in each direction...

Finger massage... massage each finger with he opposite hand. Younger kids are not always "in touch" with their digits! (har har)

Counting: Touch each finger to the thumb... Start with the pointer and thumb and then count "one", on to middle and say "two", etc. on down to the #4 pinky... this also teaches the numbering of fingers used on some chord charts.

Count forward and backwards while you tap: "1-2-3-4... 4-3-2-1"... then get random, and repeat the same finger sometimes... "1-2-2-4-3-3" and such. Go slow at first, then faster. Try to have them tap their thumb and fingers together hard enough to hear with their hands by their ears... builds hand strength!

Once you get good at this add this challenge: Go 1-2-3-4 on one hand and 4-3-2-1 on the other hand... we call this "Opposite motion" and it's quite difficult for some (like me).

Put all five fingers together with the five from the other hand, and then tap each together four times: "Thumb thumb thumb thumb... pointer pointer pointer pointer..." and so on.

Touch hands together behind back, and switch directions going over the shoulder on each side.

Imaginary weight lifting: use muscle resistance to "lift" imaginary kettle balls.

Shoulder rolls, front to back, reverse directions, then seesaw from right to left.

You can add even more if you have time... we ALWAYS stretch and do these body awareness exercises before I start teaching and playing with my sixth grade students...

Have fun! It's really rewarding to teach kids how to play!

 

[purelily]

I'll throw a few out there...

"Silent Metronome": Count from 1 to 8 out loud, then count from 1 to 8 in your head, then strum on 1. "1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8" (1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8) STRUM! Rinse and repeat and enjoy as things tighten up. Advanced variant: increase the silent count in increments of 4 up to 32.

"Echo (echo)": Ask students to listen while you play a very short, simple melodic snippet (be sure to sing the pitch class name of the first note). Invite students to play it back to you. Once they get the hang of this, break them into groups of 2 or 3 and mill around to ensure things go smoothly. Advanced variant: slowly increase the complexity and/or length of the phrases.

"Circle of A Chord": Arrange students in a circle. Student take turns calling out chord names for everyone else, who then strum that chord in unison until the next person calls out the next chord. Advanced variant: set 1 or 2 additional rules (make it a race with eliminations and prizes for making it to the podium or require students to somehow inform their chord choices based upon the current chord).

"Uke Unison": Ask everyone to listen while you repeatedly play one note. Ask students to hum the pitch you are playing then match that pitch on their instrument. You can add in a rhythmic variation or ask students to pick in the round or similar for variety. Maintain this one note for as long as possible. Advanced variant: increase the silent count in increments of 4 up to 32.

"Fretboard Hide 'n Seek": Play a tone and allow it to sustain. Wait a few seconds in silence. Challenge students to hum that tone in unison. Once students can match the pitch, sing its name and challenge them to then find the same note (either the one you played or a note one octave up or down) on at least two strings. Advanced variant: set this exercise to a metronome, emphasize enharmonic equivalents, increase the # of strings they need to match the pitch along, etc.

Wow, these are awesome! Thank you so much for the great ideas and I appreciate you taking the time to share them, I especially love the Circle of a chord idea!

 

[purelily]

In case you've never come across this resource, James Hill's "Ukulele in the Classroom" is free. Also, his "Pedagogy Corner" on his blog has some great ideas (Canons, for example)

Thank you so much! I haven't heard of it before, but just signed up and already found some helpful tips that I didn't even think of, like how to best arrange the seats and music stands!

 

[purelily]

Start with some stretching and finger wake ups...

Gently stretch wrists, flexing back and forth... then wrist circles, 5x in each direction...

Finger massage... massage each finger with he opposite hand. Younger kids are not always "in touch" with their digits! (har har)

Counting: Touch each finger to the thumb... Start with the pointer and thumb and then count "one", on to middle and say "two", etc. on down to the #4 pinky... this also teaches the numbering of fingers used on some chord charts.

Count forward and backwards while you tap: "1-2-3-4... 4-3-2-1"... then get random, and repeat the same finger sometimes... "1-2-2-4-3-3" and such. Go slow at first, then faster. Try to have them tap their thumb and fingers together hard enough to hear with their hands by their ears... builds hand strength!

Once you get good at this add this challenge: Go 1-2-3-4 on one hand and 4-3-2-1 on the other hand... we call this "Opposite motion" and it's quite difficult for some (like me).

Put all five fingers together with the five from the other hand, and then tap each together four times: "Thumb thumb thumb thumb... pointer pointer pointer pointer..." and so on.

Touch hands together behind back, and switch directions going over the shoulder on each side.

Imaginary weight lifting: use muscle resistance to "lift" imaginary kettle balls.

Shoulder rolls, front to back, reverse directions, then seesaw from right to left.

You can add even more if you have time... we ALWAYS stretch and do these body awareness exercises before I start teaching and playing with my sixth grade students...

Have fun! It's really rewarding to teach kids how to play!

These are wonderful ideas that I need to start doing myself! I honestly never thought to stretch my fingers or anything before playing, so I'm glad that we can get the kids started with good habits! Thank you!

 

[purelily]

A huge thank you to everyone that responded! I apologize for going MIA, my mom paid me a surprise visit, so now I'm playing catch up! Only a few weeks until I start ukulele at the school, I can't wait!! I even created a beginner ukulele book for the kids!

 

[ukudancer]

One of my favorite dance exercises should also work for ukes.

Call and response. Have each pair make their own musical conversation.

 

[bbkobabe]

A huge thank you to everyone that responded! I apologize for going MIA, my mom paid me a surprise visit, so now I'm playing catch up! Only a few weeks until I start ukulele at the school, I can't wait!! I even created a beginner ukulele book for the kids!

Yep... It's back to school for me, too! We start on Tuesday... I expect I will experience students will return with dusty ukuleles and rusty playing.

Time for a re-start!

And: I'm going to be the assistant in the Fourth Grade class (as well as being the main Class 7 teacher) so I predict lots of ukulele playing this year...

And if you missed it: Kala has a discount program for educators. Ask about it if you are buying ukuleles for your school!

 

[Nickie]

Lily, this is what we do in our Making Ukulele Music summer camps.
Teach them to write their own blues song, starting with...
"I woke up this morning....."

 

[don_b]

It’s important to get them comfortable improvising early. Put the c major scale first position up on the board, and play something like “Rock Jam in C Major” on YouTube. Tell them any of the notes that they play on the board during this song will sound good, and to experiment. You can introduce more positions as time goes on. One thing I find is helpful is to pretend I’m singing words to the backing track in my head, and try to match those notes on my fretboard. The backing tracks are instrumental and there’s a wealth on YouTube.

 

[bbkobabe]

Lily, this is what we do in our Making Ukulele Music summer camps.
Teach them to write their own blues song, starting with...
"I woke up this morning....."

...with the sun in my eyes
and then realized
it was still dark outside

A little space ship
with green men inside
was hovering over my yard..

 

[Susan Daniel]

Great idea, Lily! Starting a ukulele club for kids is a fun way to introduce them to music and develop their skills. Here are a few suggestions for games and exercises that might be helpful:
1)Rhythm exercises: Have the kids clap or tap along to different rhythms to help them develop their sense of timing.
2)Chord progression practice: Play a chord progression and have the kids switch chords along with you.
3)Ukulele relay: Divide the kids into teams and have them race to see who can play a specific song or chord progression the fastest.
4)Ukulele Simon: Similar to the classic game Simon, play a chord or song and have the kids repeat it back to you.
5)Ukulele Charades: Divide the kids into teams and have them act out a song title or chord name without speaking.
Also, you could check this site https://ca.edubirdie.com/write-papers-for-money for more information, I found it very informative.
These are just a few ideas to get you started, but the most important thing is to make sure the kids are having fun and enjoying themselves while learning. Good luck with the club!

 

[WendyRSam]

Lily, this is what we do in our Making Ukulele Music summer camps.
Teach them to write their own blues song, starting with...
"I woke up this morning....."

This is a great idea! What chords would you recommend?

 

[Nickie]

This is a great idea! What chords would you recommend?

We teach them C, Am, Fadd9, F, C7, and G7. That's all they need.