Ladybug Board Game
Every year I have a different “theme” for summer activities. This is the year of the ladybug. Besides, I have some cute ladybug and dragonfly erasers that I want to use as game tokens!
The Game Board
Print the one page game board in landscape orientation. I printed my game board on very inexpensive photo paper from Dollar Tree and then laminated it. Children love how vibrant the colors look and really want to play. To download, click the heading under the picture above.
The Game Cards
The game cards are in portrait orientation, so remember to change the setting. There are 5 pages to this game card file. The cards with notes on the staff are on pages 1-3. The keyboard cards are page 4. The optional backs to the game cards are on page 5. Do not print page 5 when you are printing pages 1-4. If you want to print on the backs of pages 1-4, print out those pages first and then re-insert (according to your printer’s instructions) and select page 5 only. As a friendly reminder, If you don’t want the backs, don’t print page 5.
Game cards for Ladybug Board Game
The above graphic shows the optional back. It really makes the cards look good and makes the game “happier”.
This game can be played with students or teacher and student. The players take turns drawing cards and moving to the correct alphabet name. There are some instruction cards to make the game more fun. The optional card that says “move up 3 skips” is a quick way to teach alphabet skips, or to play a more speedy game. The game is over when someone draws a card after G at the end of the path. It is such a quick game you can play more than once. If you are playing with beginners using the keyboard cards, be sure to have the student say the alphabet letters out loud. This really helps them learn the music alphabet. There are so many games you can play with this game board. For example, you can start and G and move backwards. Use your own ideas and I hope you have fun!
- To learn the music alphabet
- To learn to recognize notes on the grand staff or keys on a piano keyboard
- To learn the meaning of a skip in the music alphabet
- To play a fast (under 3 minutes) music board game
- Early childhood to grade 2 or 3
I’m not going to be posting very much this summer, but if I make anything I think other teachers might enjoy, I’ll post it. At the top of the page you can subscribe to receive an email when I post something new. It is completely anonymous and you can easily unsubscribe.
Link to One Minute Club Video
I get many emails from teachers asking about the one minute club. So I decided to put together a very short (one minute-what a coincidence!) video that shows different ages of students in action. This is my first video and I didn’t know what I was doing, so please be gentle! The video is posted on Vimeo. You will have to click on the link below the picture to see the video. Vimeo is like YouTube, but not commercial.
The students in this video are saying and playing the notes, but the microphone didn’t pick it all up. The times each student was able to say and play the cards ranged from 24 seconds to just a little over a minute. I keep the cards in the same order each semester so that it is fair.
If you want to read more about the One Minute Club, do a search on the side bar because I have a lot of posts about it.
One Minute Club Certificate
It’s the end of the year and time to pass out certificates to our students. I am posting an 8 1/2 /x 11 size certificate you can give to your students if they were able to join the “club” this year. This is the same graphic theme that I used all year, and the certificate looks just like this year’s (2012) membership card.
If you want to read more about how I use the One Minute Club in my studio, (the idea is not original to me) check out my posts here, and here, as well as posts with a different card each year. (I have been making these cards for many years, long before the internet! Unfortunately I can’t find them all, lost to time I guess.) You can type in One Minute Club in the search engine at the top left of the page, and when the results show up, scroll down and click “Older Posts” at the bottom to see the past posts. You can look at how I change the card each year as my graphic ideas evolve.
LaDona, over at LaDona’s Music Studio, writes about the One Minute Club today. LaDona asked if I had a certificate, and I am happy she reminded me to post this one. I follow her always interesting blog on Flipboard. (Thank you PianoAnne for telling me about Flipboard a few years ago!)
Click on the link under the picture to download this free printable. Be sure to set your printer to landscape. There is a 1/4 inch white border around the edges. The watermark will not show in your copy. It uses a fair amount of ink, but it is still cheaper than buying color certificates! I do not have a black and white version available, but I am working on that for the future.
Major and Minor Key Signature Chart
I’ve been too busy to post lately. I’m working on a lot of things for my students, but none are ready for the internet. I did manage to finish this keyboard chart that I started a long time ago. I have made several others, but I wanted something with colors my older students would like to see as a poster in my studio.
This was a very time-consuming and tedious poster that I made in Photoshop. I wish I knew a fast and easy way to make these kinds of things, but I don’t. Even the back ground was a piece of crumpled paper from my desk, believe it or not!
Click the link under the picture to go to my website where you can get your own copy of this free printable, without the watermark at the top. The watermark is for Pinterest, which I have been gradually adding things. You can get a lot of great music teaching ideas there.
For those of you who would like a black and white version that students can color themselves, leave me a comment and I’ll do my best to email it to you as soon as possible.
I have started some other printables using this same theme. If you want to subscribe to my website so you can know when I post them, click on the subscription on the top right. You will remain anonymous and it is very easy to unsubscribe if you wish. Thank you to all my supporters from around the globe. You are very much appreciated!