Missing school is hard. I spend so much time preparing for my absence. My school district does not have any substitutes that know music, so preparing for a substitute has been a struggle at times.

One of my biggest time savers has been using a premade slideshow with my favorite action songs for littles (preschool/kindergarten/1st grade). Once I make the slideshow, I can use it over and over. All a sub has to do is turn on the projector, play the slideshow, and click on the link on each page to start the song. Most of the songs have intuitive movements that kids will do as they listen. Keeping them active makes sure both the sub and the students will have a great day.

In this post, I will show you my favorite, most successful songs to use for littles. I often use my slideshow if I’ve lost my voice, need a day to teach without a ton of extra planning, or a class walks in and they are just too rambunctious to successfully follow the lesson I had planned.

My suggestion is to use these videos to create your own Huzzaz playlist, or make your own slideshow with links to the videos. Or…you can save yourself some time, and purchase the slideshow with all of the links included on TPT here: Ultimate Substitute Slideshow. If you need a little help on how to use YouTube videos in the classroom commercial-free, check out my post here: Top Ways To Use YouTube Without Adds in the Classroom.

Always a classic. I lead students with motions for each place we walk. Students love acting walking, climbing, rowing, and tiptoeing.

This great song from Laurie Berkner will have your students marching, napping, eating, and roaring!

This song is a great way to practice low to high. I always have students put their hand out and sing low to high with the cow moo, then have them hold their hands out every time an animal brings something to the cow. The hey, hey, hey chorus is a great opportunity to dance to the beat.

Kate Kuper has a couple songs on my list. This first one has some great movements for students to do while listening.

Students grab an egg shaker, or pretend to shake an egg with this action song. The song will direct the eggs to be shaken fast, slow, around, up, and down.

There are so many freeze songs…the students never get tired of them.

Littles love firetrucks and firemen. This song has a solid, steady beat that lends itself to leg pats. I usually act out putting on the boots, coat, and sliding down the pole when stated in the song.

I love how the drum sounds are interpretted with body movements.

Students grab a scarf and are encouraged to dance slowly with the scarf. I usually ask them to make their bodies look the way the music sounds.

Go Fish is on the top of my favorite children’s groups list. Hit the Drum says “hit the drum” multiple times throughout the song. Students are instructed to hit the floor, tap their legs, or hit a drum every time the phrase is used in the song.

Music K-8 has so many great songs! This one is about a snowman who keeps jumping. Students are directed to dance throughout the song and jump every time they hear the word in the song.

Another freeze song. As stated earlier, the kids never seem to get tired of these.

Students echo the phrases throughout the song and add movements with each verse. The tricky part is, you keep doing the current motion while adding the next motion: Wooden Shoe-Tap Foot, Fan-Wave Hand, Shears-Make Scissors with hand, Hula Hoop-circle hips Rocking Chair-Rock back and forth.

Students love participating in this silly song about goldfish who take showers, brush their teeth, ride bicycles, and swim.

I know I already have a chicken dance on this list, but this one is a medley of The Chicken Dance, Head, Shoulders, Knees, And Toes, and The Itsy Bitsy Spider.

Another great listening song with some unique movement suggestions.

Students listen and act out what they hear.

Students love trying to keep track of whether they are supposed to sit or stand, over and over and over!

This video has a little dude on the screen doing a movement. Students do the same movement in their spot.

The Chinese culture has so many amazing aspects that are worth discovering and exploring in music class. Chinese New Year occurs at a different date each year, usually around the end of January. I think that is a great time to learn about this holiday and then explore the music of China.

The elementary school I teach at is a very small school in rural Illinois. There is not a lot of diversity in this area, so I am always looking for new ways to expose the students to different types of people, cultures, and music with the hope of developing a better understanding and respect for others who look and act differently than the people around them.

Here are some activites I plan on doing with my students this year to celebrate Chinese Music and Chinese New Year. Most of my students have never heard of this holiday. I plan to continue doing this unit every year, adding more activites each time for different grade levels, so students can have multiple encounters with the music.

If you are interested in a pre-made slideshow of these resources, I have one you can purchase on Teachers Pay Teachers: Music of China Virtual Field Trip. Most of the videos included in this post are linked in that slideshow.

Introduction to Chinese New Year

There are some great story books that will help me intorduce the holiday to my students. Here are some YouTube read-alouds that I will be using. They give a nice overview of what the holiday is about.

Eyes that Kiss in the Corners by Joanna Ho

I found this book, Eyes that Kiss in the Corners, by Joanna Ho, a while ago and thought it was absolutely wonderful! I love how the author describes the differences in eyes in such a positive way. The story is told from the perspective of a girl with Asian facial features. “Some people have eyes like sapphire lagoons.” “I have eyes that kiss in the corners and glow like warm tea.” I will use this book as an opener to respectfully talk about differences in facial features and appearance.

Throughout the book, there are many different comparisons between the little girl’s eyes, her friend’s eyes, and they eyes of her relatives. At the end of the book, some of those lines are put together into a poem, of sorts. I used those words to create a tune on a pentatonic scale, and sing the song every few pages while reading the book.

Listening and Coloring with Chinese Music

I love giving students time in music class to just be still and listen to music. A lot of students have a hard time just listening, so coloring is a great way to keep hands busy so the brain can listen. I allow no talking during “super quiet listening to music time”. I found some different coloring pages on Teachers Pay Teachers. I have a few different ones so each grade level can have their own activity, and I can keep using it year after year.

2nd graders are filling out this Chinese New Year Booklet: Chinese New Year Cut and Color.

3rd and 4th graders are coloring a few pages from this Chinese New Year Music Symbol Coloring Page. This set has some blank pages included, so the 1st graders are going to color a dragon however they would like while listening.

As for the music we will be listening to, I have a great playlist I found on YouTube. It’s three hours long and has a really nice variety of authentic Chinese classical music. My classes are 30 minutes each, so each group will get to hear a small section of the music, but that seems to be just about the right amount of time.

This video has pop songs from China. I have listened to about 35 minutes of it, and so far everything has been in Chinese. I’m great with that, because I want my students to hear the other language and get a feel for what it sounds like. I also don’t have to worry about swear words if it’s in Chinese.

This song is absolutely beautiful. I love a cappella music in general…and the harmonies in this short song are wonderful.

Rhythm Play-Alongs

My students love rhythm play-along videos. Here are two levels of the same song.

Chinese Ribbon Dance

Another aspect of Chinese music is the ribbon dance. I enjoy including dance in my music classes. Moving musically to music and appreciating beautiful movements to music is an important part of being musical. I found this website with some background about ribbon dance: Chinese Ribbon Dance History. This other website gives some background from the perspective of a professional Chinese Ribbon Dancer. There are three videos on this page that have beautiful ribbon dances and are great examples of the artform: Ribbon Dance of Empowerment.

Here are a few more ribbon dancing examples I will be including:

I have some ribbons in my classroom, so I will be using those to let my students try out some ribbon dance. I found some choreography instructions here: Chinese Ribbon Dance Choreography PDF. The instructions go along with the song Fen Yang Song from World of Music Grade 4, CD 2, track 9.

Mallet Madness has a Chinese Ribbon Dance Activity also. There are so many great resources in that book!

Singing and Playing Chinese Music

I have a few resources I purchased from Teachers Pay Teachers that I will be using to give the students an opportunity to sing and play Chinese Music. They are both very simple songs with Orff arrangements that will be a great experience for my students: Ai Hai Yo, and Song of the Dragon.

Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Mosel

I have been singing and playing this song/book with students for over 20 years! One of my college professors introduced the book to us in class, and I fell in love with it! The main character’s name is rediculously long, which causes a big proglem when he falls into a well. I have turned the character’s name into a short song, with instrument accompaniment. I usually sing and read the book to the students, then on a different day have the students play instruments to accompany the song.

I have my version of Tikki Tikki Tembo available on Teachers Pay Teachers here: Tikki Tikki Tembo. It’s not hard to make up a song for his name, using a pentatonic scale and some simple accompaniments. I set the instruments up in a circle around the room. The students play an instrument and sing when the main character’s name is used in the book. I also have sound effects for the story too. Each instrument part is printed on a card so students remember the parts for each instrument. Students rotate every time we sing/play the name, so they have played multiple instruments by the time the story is done.

Here’s a sample of a class playing the song:

Here’s how I often set up my instrument rotation:

I hope you enjoy exploring Chinese music with your students! Gung hay fat choy!

Coming back to school in January after Christmas break can be a drag, but it doesn’t have to be! I’ve created some new activities for my music classes this year, and I would love to share them with you. You can use my ideas to create your own versions. I’ll also include a link to my Teachers Pay Teachers store for each activity if you want to save yourself some time. Fun, engaging activities make coming back from a break so much more enjoyable.

Snowman Matching Game/Center

I used Canva to help me create this snowman music note values game. (Canva is an online design website you can use for free to create printables, posters, worksheets, etc.) Each snowman has notes in their bottom snowball. The hats have a number in them. The game starts with all the hat cards face down and each student has 6 snowman cards. The first student draws a hat. If they have a snowman with the equivalent value on the hat, they put the hat on the snowman. If they do not, then they put the hat back in the center and the game continues with the next person. I also made a note values cheat sheet so students can reference that with trying to figure out the sum of the notes.

Here it is on Teachers Pay Teachers: Snowman Music Rhythm Center

Hot Chocolate Music Centers

I have 2 hot chocolate themed music games. The first one I made is an instrument sorting game. I found some mug clipart on teachers pay teachers. I made a file with 4 mugs. Each mug has an instrument family written it. I then made a bunch of wide cylinders to look like marshmallows with an instrument inside each one. The students lay all the mugs out, then put the appropriate marshmallows in each mug.

I included an answer key so students could check if they were correct.

The other hot chocolate center is a composing and playing center. My students do a lot of saying words rhythmically to learn their values, so this type of center is pretty familiar to them. I made some phrases that are themed around hot chocolate with the rhythms for the words written below them. The students put the phrase cards together, say the phrases, then play the phrases on hand drums.

Here are the activities on Teachers Pay Teachers: Hot Cocoa Rhythms, Hot Cocoa Instrument Sort

Winter Themed Composing and Playing Center and Whole Class Activity

I’m a sucker for a multi-grade, multi-use activity. I created this resource with 2nd through 4th grades in mind, using it different ways for each grade level.

The first way is practicing the rhythm sentences on the Smartboard. I used the Smart Notebook clipart, put an infinity cloner on each clipart, and then kept copy/pasting the slides until I had enough for the entire class to have a fresh one. Make sure you don’t save the file after a class uses it or you’ll have to delete all the changes when you open it the next time.

Here is the Smart Notebook activity in action with my 2nd graders:

The third and 4th graders will be using these pictures in a composing center. Each picture is it’s own square. Students place four squares in a line. This becomes their rhythm sentence. Then they play the rhythm sentence on a drum. Next they add letter name cards. The rhythm sentence is now a short, composed, melody. Here’s a third grader playing the short melody she created.

Here is the winter themed composing set of activities on Teachers Pay Teachers: Winter Themed Music Activities

Snowflake Music Lines and Spaces Matching Game (BINGO)

Here is the snowflake BINGO game on Teachers Pay Teachers: Snowflake Matching Game

I hope you have seen some useful ideas for whole class, small groups, and centers that will make your cold winter months a little more enjoyable.

The annual Christmas concert at my little grade school is a pretty big deal. I want the experience to be the best possible for my students. I strive to find exciting, appropriate, and fun songs that my students will remember for years to come. At the time I write this, I have done 31 Christmas concerts, so I have quite a bit of experience picking songs, and finding out firsthand what does and doesn’t work. In this post, I will list some of my favorite songs for different ages. I will do my best to post links so you can check the music out yourself. Hopefully you will find some music that will be added to your favorite list at some point in the future.

Preschool, Kindergarten, 1st Grade, and 2nd Grade Christmas Favorites

This age group is especially difficult to find performance songs. The lyrics need to be pretty short and very repetitive. Finding dance movements to accompany the songs are not only cute, but they help students learn to move artfully to the music, develop steady beat, and keep the students interested by moving while learning.

I have no shame about using tracks with singers on them during performances with this age group. There is no predicting how they will be when stuck on a stage with hundreds of people watching them. I personally do not need the pressure of relying on preschoolers to remember lyrics in unusual circumstances. Music k-8 tracks are great for this. They use children to create their tracks, so it’s not like parents hear adults singing at the concert if the students turn into statues on the big day.

Sometimes I do a musical with this age group. I have another blog post that talks about some of my favorite musicals: Elementary Christmas Program Ideas. This post focuses on single songs that I have had success with.

So, here are my favorite songs for this age group that I have encountered so far. Every song on this list is from Muisk K8. I have used songs from other resources, I just haven’t like them as much. If you click on the title, you will go to a link of where you can listen to and buy the song. I am not an affiliate of Music K8, I just really like their products.

1. Wiggleworm/Statue
2. Winter Wiggles
3. Snow Is Falling Today
4. Snowpants
5. Whacky Old St. Nicholas
6. Hip Hop Reindeer
7. Christmas Makes Me Sing
8. We Will Jingle
9. Mousie in the Snow
10. If I Could Fly Like A Snowflake
11. I’m A Little Snowflake
12. Friends All Around Us
13. I’ve Got A Hat for my Snowman
14. Snowman Jump
15. Baby Christmas Tree

3rd, 4th, and 5th Grade Christmas Program Favorites

It’s easier for me to find songs for this age group than the younger grades. Since the students can read, I can project lyrics while they are learning the songs, and that seems to help tremendously. I usually make my own practice videos by making slides of the lyrics on a slideshow program like Keynote or Powerpoint, then record it as a movie with the song playing. I then make the same slideshow with the background track (with no vocals) so the students can practice without hearing the singers on the recording as they progress in their memorization. The last step is to practice with only the background track. I really look for songs that use some kind of band or orchestra accompaniment. A piano is nice, but I really like the extra flair the instruments bring and the students enjoy it too.

The main issue with this age group is finding songs they will actually want to sing. A lot of my 5th graders are way too interested in being cool than participating in music class.

I will list some of my students’ favorite songs and musicals that I have used. Most of the titles have a link to a website for you to either purchase, listen to, or do both for each song. I am not an affiliate of any of these businesses. I just know as a teacher, it is much more helpful to have a link so I don’t have to hunt it down myself.

1. The Incredible Reindeer-My grade school kids love this musical! There is an asteroid headed toward Earth and it’s a really foggy night on Christmas Eve. The reindeer with superpowers save the day. My students especially love the song Foggy, Foggy Night. It’s one that students will ask me about years later when they come visit from high school.
2. Jingle All the Way-Santa has lost the “jingle in his heart” in this musical. The elves and reindeer have to help Santa find it again so Christmas can be saved.
3. Let’s All Sing Holiday Songs-(JW Pepper link) If you want a lot of use out of one resource, this collection fits that perfectly. The sheet music websites don’t have very good samples of the songs included, so I’ll post a few more links so you can get a better idea of the songs in this collection. There are so many good arrangements in this book! I love the big band, jazzy take some of these have. There are 12 songs included in this book. This is a list of the ones I have used.
   1. Over The River– This version mixes classic and modern. There is a rap section in the middle!
   2. Silver Bells-Lots of words to learn in this one, but I love the instrumental background.
   3. Deck The Hall-Be ready to explain that “gay” used to mean happy.
   4. Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree
   5. Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town
4. Holiday Hits for Two-(JW Pepper link) This resource has five songs included. They are pretty straight forward, with not a ton of extra thrills. The students enjoy singing the familiar songs. The main issue with these is the lyrics. There are a lot lyrics in Frosty The Snowman and Jingle Bell Rock, but I have had success using both of those. Once again, the sheet music websites don’t have a great sample of this resource, so I’ll post some examples in the list below.
   1. The Chipmunk Song
   2. Frosty The Snowman
   3. Jingle Bell Rock
   4. Let It Snow
5. Antiphonal Deck The Hall-This arrangement is a unique version of Deck The Hall. It is in 6/8 time and has a really great echo during the verses. I use the 2 part arrangement and teach some classes the “call” and other classes the “response/echo”.
6. Have A Happy Happy Holiday-A very nice song with happy vibes.
7. Jolly Jingle Christmas Medley-This medley is a great 4 1/2 minutes of high energy Christmas cheer! It’s a great version of Up on the Housetop, Deck the Hall, O Christmas Tree, Jingle Bells, and Jolly Old St. Nicholas. I use the 2-part arrangement and just teach all of the students the melody.
8. Santa’s on HIs Way Medley-A fun take on Jolly Old St. Nicholas, Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town, and Up on the Housetop. This medley has a big band, jazzy feel to it that makes it super fun to sing.
9. Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!-Another great opening medley….featuring kazzos.
10. Cartoon Christmas-This is a great medley of songs from the classic claymation Christmas movies. It’s 5 1/2 minutes long, so it’s quite a commitment to learn, with lots of lyrics and music to memorize.
11. Winter Fantasy-I love this one! A good partner song is gold. This piece introduces a melody, then goes through jingle bells, then puts both songs together. I usually teach one part to some classes and the other part to the other classes. When we all get together for the performance it usually works out pretty well to have both songs since that’s the way I practice with the classes.
12. The Polar Express Medley-6 minutes of Polar Express songs are included in this fun arrangement!
13. Frozen Choral Highlights-This 10 minute arrangement is difficult, but worth it! If you have students who really love Frozen, this is great. I will say that I had quite a bit of resistance from students who didn’t want to sing Let It Go, or anything from Frozen. Make sure your students want to sing these songs before you add this to your program list.
14. A Marshmallow World-A sweet arrangement of a Christmas classic.
15. We’re Goin’ on a Sleigh Ride-Another fun partner song with Jingle Bells.
16. Sights of Christmas-A short and sweet song that can be challenging with lots of lyrics packed into a small space, with some opportunitites for 2 parts, but not too hard to turn it into a one part song if needed.
17. iJingle Jingle-If you want audience participation, this song is perfect! There is a part at the end to cue parents to join in with a sleigh bells sound on their cell phone. (Parents are invited to download a sleigh bells app.)
18. Holiday Lights-A guaranteed audience favorite! The tune is super fun, and there is flashlight choreography included in the arrangement! Turn off the lights while students turn on flashlights covered in red and green tissue paper to add some extra sparkle to the program.

Nutcracker Through The Years

Since becoming a music teacher I have fallen in love with The Nutcracker ballet. I love the music, dancing, and the fascinating story that hints at magic. I knew pretty much nothing about The Nutcracker when I started teaching. Over the years I have amassed a variety of resources that makes the two weeks after the Christmas program/concert a treat, not a dreaded place-holder between the Christmas concert and Christmas break. The students at my school are always super excited and a little crazy during this time. They know a break is coming, they know Christmas is coming, and the school schedule is filled with Christmas surprises that throw everybody off. Finding fun activities is essential to surviving those two weeks.

I also love the tradition that studying the same concept every year creates. My students know that it is Nutcracker time every year after the Christmas performance. They have fond memories of the different versions we have watched and are always excited to see what the current year’s version will be.

Along with The Nutcracker, I also spend some time talking about ballet in general. There are some wonderful videos of interviews with ballerinas and information on pointe shoes that my students always find fascinating. They are surprised at the strength, practice, and perserverance it takes to be a successful ballerina.

In this post I will share my favorite Nutcracker activities with you. Hopefully you will find some things that you can use in your classroom.

Preschool and Kindergarten Nutcracker

I have two versions for the young elementary students that I alternate between. The first one is an iPad app. I have an adaptor that enables me to hook my iPad up to the Smartboard. I used to do it that way, but during COVID the makers of the app posted a video of the app on YouTube. You can do the app as an interactive “game” or you can have it play the story without the interactive aspect. Here is the video on YouTube:

The other version I use for this age group is a 15 minute YouTube video. I love the mixture of narration, music, and pictures. It is a great introdution to the music without distractions from silly animations. This version seems to hold the children’s attention a little better than the iPad app version.

1st-3rd Grade Nutcracker

I found this wonderful version of The Nutcracker many years ago. It was at my local library in VHS form. I checked it out, really liked it, and then figured out how to make it a digital copy so I could use it for years. I like that it uses a different version of the story than the ballet, and is a combination of ballet, cartoon, narration, and behind the scenes. The narration is nice so the younger students can follow the story a little easier. It is also about 50 minutes long, which is a much more appropriate amount of time for younger elementary compared to the almost 2 hour long ballet.

4th Grade Nutcracker

The 4th graders watch a movie version recorded in 1993 with Macauley Culkin as the Nutcracker. (He doesn’t actually dance.) The movie features the New York City Ballet. It is recorded on a stage, and has all of the music, with a small amount of narration. This is about the closest thing to actually attending a performance that my students are going to get.

Here is a link to this version on YouTube. It isn’t very high quality. The dvd is still available on Amazon if you want a better version.

5th Grade Nutcracker

By the time my students reach 5th grade, they have had 6 years of Nutcracker experiences in my classroom. It’s been a challenge to find something age appropriate that is different from what they have already seen.

I recently found this hip hop version of the Nutcracker. I really appreciate that the music is still the original Tchaikovsky music, but the dancing is hip hop style. Since I do a unit on hip hop with the 5th graders earlier in the year, this version ties in perfectly! Here is a link to the PBS website: Hip Hop Nutcracker.

Nutcracker Interactive Slideshow

I love interactive slideshows! Someone on a Facebook music teacher group shared this interactive page/slideshow. Each picture opens a new tab with a video. There are so many Nutcracker videos linked on this page!

Here’s a link to the slideshow: Nutcracker

Nutcracker YouTube Playlist

I have a YouTube playlist I use when I have a few extra minutes at the end of class. I also use it to show the students what the actual ballet looks like. This YouTube playlist is a compilation of videos I use throughout December. I have included different versions of ballet scenes, accappella versions, line rider, and some informational ballet and pointe shoes videos. You can find that playlist here: Nutcracker and Ballet YouTube.

Other Nutcracker Activities

If you would like to do something more hands-on than a video, I have a few suggestions. The first is from Fun with Composers Volume 1 for ages 3-7 by Deborah Lyn Ziolkoski. I love so many of the activities in this book! The author uses the music, but adds words and a story to each song. Here’s a video of some 2nd graders doing the Russian Dance activity loosely based on the directions in the book.

Artie Almeida has some a fun activity for the Nutcracker March in Parachutes and Ribbons and Scarves Oh My that is really fun to use.

Denise Gagne has a ribbon dance for one of the Nutcracker songs that I used one year in a Christmas program that is a great activity for the younger elementary. You can find that activity in her book K-3 Christmas Concert Ideas.

Nutcracker Fun!

I hope I have given you some valuable resources to use in your Nutcracker unit. Whenever I do Nutcracker activities, I always try to make it a fun experience for each age level. I love the tradition that has developed in my music room, where year after year, students experience the wonder of the Nutcracker Ballet in a different way.

Using craft sticks to make rhythms is a really fun way to give students a unique hands on experience notating rhythms in music class. Here are some ways I use them with my students.

Music Rhythm Composition

I give each student a handful of craft sticks. Sometimes I do this as a whole class activity or as a center. Students can create rhythms out of the popsicle sticks. This only works for using quarter notes, eighth notes, quarter rests, and sixteenth notes. My students haven’t learned sixteenth notes yet, so I stick to quarters and eighths. I ask the students to create a 2, 3, or 4 beat pattern with their sticks. They can clap or play the rhythms after they have created them. You could also have them write down the rhythms they created.

Guided Rhythm Notation

Sometimes my students aren’t ready yet to make their own rhythms. A great step in that learning process is to project rhythms, say the rhythms, and then have students use their popsicle sticks to make the projected rhythm. The video below shows my students trying this method out.

Try it in your music classroom!

My students have a really fun time using manipulatives in music class. Popsicle sticks are a super cheap way to give every student a hands on learning experience.

If you are interested in the slides I made for my students, you can take a look at them on Teachers Pay Teachers: Popsicle Stick Rhythms. My TpT product also includes a Smart Board version so your students can create rhythms by dragging and dropping on the board if you don’t have the craft sticks available. You can also print the slides and use them as a music center.

I love using centers in music class!  I have been collecting, printing, laminating and cutting for years and finally have enough that I can switch them out and have lots of variety for the students during centers days.

I split the students into groups of 4-5.  Students usually rotate centers once every 10-15 minutes.  I keep track of which groups have done each center in a pocket chart.

Here are some of the centers I use in my room.  Some of them are free resources I found on the internet, others are ones I created and you can purchase at my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

Train Rhythms Music Center

This station allows students to compose their own rhythms and then write the rhythms down.  The download contains train cars with rhythms for both 3 beats per measure and 4 beats per measure.  Students arrange the cars and then write the rhythms they used on the worksheet.  This is great practice composing and writing notes.  Here’s what this center looks like in my room:

This center is available for purchase at my Teachers Pay Teachers store: Train Music Rhythm Center

Hot Cocoa Music Stations

Hot Cocoa Rhythms-This station is a rhythm practice station.  Students put the rhythms in an order that they choose, then play the rhythm on a percussion instrument.

Check out this resource on my Teachers Pay Teachers store: Hot Cocoa Rhythms.

Hot Cocoa Instrument Families-Here’s another Hot Cocoa center.  This one is about instrument families.  Each instrument family has a printed cocoa mug.  The instruments are on printed marshmallows.  Students put the instrument marshmallows on the correct family mug.  You can take a look at it on my Teachers Pay Teachers store: Hot Cocoa Instrument Families.

Music Money Center

My absolute favorite center is Music Money. I found the idea years ago, and tweaked it to suit my classroom. The Music Money center is a great way to sneak some math into music class too! The students don’t even realize they are practicing adding whole numbers and fractions. The center uses dice, a chart of note values, and printed music money.

Other Resources

There are lots of great places on the internet to find more ideas about music centers. Here are a few blogs I hae used as a source of inspirations:

 Organized Chaos.

 Arioso Studio

Most elementary music teachers are required to prepare and present performances.  Performances are good.  Sometimes I have to tell myself that 50 times a day in December, but deep down I believe it.  I would like to share some things that have worked for me and give you a few resources to use.

First, here’s my school situation.  I work in a small, rural school district.  There is one elementary building and one junior/senior high building.  I do everything musical at the grade school and another gal does everything musical at the junior/senior high school.

Here are a few things to know about my position:

• My school district does not have an auditorium.
• My grade school does not have enough chairs to seat the audience that attends the elementary Christmas program.
• The Christmas program has traditionally been at night.
• I prepare two separate programs-Preschool/Kindergarten and 1st-6th Grade
• All the kids in each program sit in the bleachers in the high school gym.  They all sing together. (That’s about 200 1st-5th graders singing all at once and 90 preschool/kindergartners!)
• Pros to many grades singing the same song-awesome sound to fill a gymnasium, all the performers are performing the whole time
• Cons to many grades singing the same song-1st graders have to learn the same amount of lyrics as 5th graders, finding songs that a wide range of ages will enjoy, I have to sing the same group of songs a bajillion times!!!!!
• Most of the songs are 2-part, but I have all the kids sing the melody in unison.

This page is dedicated to sharing what I have done in the past for Christmas programs.  My hope is to give you some great ideas and resources that you can  use in your school.

Christmas at the Movies (1st-5th)

This program was super fun!  The kids thoroughly enjoyed learning the songs.  The program was centered around songs from movies about Christmas or Winter.  I have a short script that 6th grade volunteers read to introduce the songs.  Here’s a pdf of the script:

Christmas At The Movies Script

That PDF includes a short introduction for each of the songs explaining the movie each comes from and what that movie is about.  It also includes the title and arranger for each piece the students sang.

The songs used in this program are:

• Jolly Jingle Christmas Medley Arr. by Alan Billinglsey
• The Polar Express (The Polar Express, Hot Chocolate, Believe, Spirit of the Season) Arr. by Audrey Snyder
• You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch Arr. by Jeff Funk
• Where Are You Christmas? Arr. by Mac Huff
• Nightmare Before Christmas (This Is Halloween, What’s This?, Kidnap the Sandy Claws, Oogie Boogie’s Song)  Arr. by Alan Bilinglsey
• Somewhere In My Memory Arr. by Mark Hayes
• Frozen (Choral Highlights) (Frozen Heart, For the First Time in Forever, Love Is An Open Door, In Summer, Fixer Upper, Let It Go)  Arr. by Mark Brymer

Here is a fantastic picture a friend of mine took while waiting for the performance to begin.  There is so much chaos happening the 10 minutes before the program starts and this picture captures it perfectly!

The last song was a 9 1/2 minute medley of Frozen songs.  Yes, I sang/listened to Let It Go over 100 times in the months of November and December.  And I bought an Elsa costume to surprise the kids.

The superintendent drummed up some Christmas trivia questions to fill time while I changed into this beauty.  There were even some preschool audience members that were talking for days about how Elsa came to the concert!

To top it all off, the teachers wanted to do a flash mob at the concert.  I did some looking and found a Zumba routine to Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.  The teachers practiced in my classroom before and after school for 3 weeks.  It was a lot of fun and the kids loved it!

Chilly Milly (Preschool/Kindergarten)

This is a musical I did with the preschool/kindergarten group.  I really enjoyed it.  It’s a very simple story about building a snowman and then the snowman melts.  Here’s a link to the score: Chilly Milly.  The songs are repetitive and simple; perfect for this age group.

Instead of stressing over kindergartners memorizing lines, I the narrate the program.  The kids act out what I say and sing the songs that go with the story.

I created a snowman out of felt to have a visual representation of what was going on in the story.  I used the felt snowman for both practices during music class and at the performance.

The Gingerbread Man (Preschool/Kindergarten)

This is a very familiar story the kids have fun sharing.  I found a musical version of it on a preschool/kindergarten music resources website: Heidi Songs The Gingerbread Man.

This 15 minute musical has songs that  are repetitive and short with minimal lyrics….perfect for preschool and kindergarten.  I don’t usually have the kids act out the story or read lines during the program.  I pre-record myself reading the story and then have the kids sing the songs.

Here is a video of the entire musical from the Heidi Songs website:

The Littlest Christmas Tree (Preschool/Kindergarten)

This adorable musical is a showstopper for those younger ones.  It tells the story of the trees in the forest waiting for Santa to come and pick one of them to be his personal Christmas tree.  All the trees make fun of the smallest one, who ends up being picked because he is the only tree who knows the true meaning of Christmas.  There is an adorable solo opportunity if your up to the challenge of getting a kindergartner to memorize a song and sing it in front of an audience.

The teachers helped me out by making green, body-sized triangles that the kids decorated and hung around their necks to look like trees.

You can purchase the musical here.

Here is a video of the musical I found on YouTube: