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Today’s post is how to use some fun and effective holiday movement activities. Want to have your students learn a lot during the month of December? Give them a pool noodle and watch the engagement happen.
You can help your students learn how music is put together and to open their ears and minds for more musical awakenings by providing hands on experiences,or, “interactive” music learning opportunities. That’s why I’m sharing some ideas on how to use pool noodles in December music class and holiday concerts.
Here’s how to get them ready:
Get some pool noodles.
Cut them in half.
Tap them on your hand or the floor for beat activities.
Try using your favorite songs with this activity.
You can assess students ability to sing and play the beat at the same time.
Why not use “Jingle Bells” music in your holiday movement activities?
Tapping the beat with pool noodles will be a hit activity during your December music class.
Cover with wrapping paper, plastic table cloths, ribbon, fabric-
Consider using them as a candy cane prop in your holiday movement activities.
My students loved using these canes when we sang this song from Mk8 magazine. “A Hat for My Snowman”.
Here are some ideas to use pool noodles as canes in your holiday movement activities?
A Section:
Line #1: Bend knees with cane pointing down on the ground.
Line #2: Kick R/L on the beat while holding cane horizontally and pushing out from waist.
Line #3: Rest cane on shoulder and bend knees on the beat.
Line #4: Point cane to shoes.
B Section: Side step and use cane to show the beat.
A Section:
Repeat Actions
Ending: Go down on one knee with cane at the side.
Teach the actions to your students and then let them create different actions in small groups.
3rd, 4th and 5th grade students will especially love this type of activity during December music class and holiday concerts.
Cute way to add a different style of music to your holiday concert!
Here’s how I’d explain it to my students. It’s just like a story!
INTRODUCTION: The opening section of a piece of music. It’s the music at the beginning of a piece that prepares us to begin singing or playing.
A SECTION: The first musical idea.
B SECTION: The second musical idea.
BRIDGE: The bridge connects two musical ideas and is different from A and B sections.
CODA: This section is the ending.
RUSSIAN DANCE: TREPAK
Pool noodles are perfect for teaching form using the The Nutcracker ballet music “Trepak” written by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1892.
Trepak
Here’s a pattern you can use with the pool noodles as “swords”.
TREPAK MOVEMENT ACTIVITY ACTIONS:
Group students into small groups of at least 3.
A Section:
Tap on the floor 4 beats. Repeat.
Tap on right shoulder 4 beats.
Tap on left shoulder 4 beats.
REPEAT THIS SECTION OF MOVEMENT 4 TIMES.
B Section:
March in place 4 beats holding the “sword” on the right shoulder. Repeat.
Tap all “swords” in the center, so that the tips touch for 8 Beats.
REPEAT THIS SECTION OF MOVEMENT 2 TIMES.
Interlude:
Walk in a circle clockwise for 8 beats holding the “sword” upright on right shoulder. REPEAT
Repeat A Section (with a twist):
Tap on the floor 4 beats. Repeat.
Tap on right shoulder 4 beats.
Tap on left shoulder 4 beats.
REPEAT THIS SECTION OF MOVEMENT 2 TIMES.
Ending:
Point the pool noodle to the center of the circle and march in a circle keeping all noodles barely touching each other, yet together. March for 8 beats. Repeat 3 times.
Looking for some more Nutcracker activities?
You’ll want to check out Nutcracker Scarf and Movement activities!
Hopefully you’ve got some concrete and usable ideas from this blog post for holiday movement activities.
Happy Holidays!
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Hi there! I’m Sandra, one of the authors behind Sing Play Create. My goal is to provide teachers with interactive resources and activities to improve the effectiveness of their teaching and enhance student learning.
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