Games for upper elementary school

I love music games. They are so important for developing inter and intra personal skills, something my students lack. My students don't grow up with play dates. My students don''t get to play outside because their mothers tell them it's too dangerous. My students don't get socialized at home; there is no one telling them to share their toys or take turns. My students come to school angry and lack the communication skills  to navigate arguments and disagreements  My students have no one in the home modeling appropriate ways to have conversations. My students are severely disadvantaged and will not succeed in this world without being taught how to get along with each other.  Music games are just the ticket for developing those much needed inter and intra personal skills.

 I also use music games to teach music concepts, but really, for my kids, I use them to develop social skills. And even though my students are street wise and older than their years, they are still kids in other ways and kids like to play games. I alternate between games of chance where only 1 person gets chosen at a time, or group games where everyone is playing. Games of chance teach the students that playing the game can be just as much fun as being chosen--at least that's what I tell them.  I still have some pouty faces when they're not chosen, but I quickly switch to a game where everyone is doing something. Taking turns also teaches patience and delayed gratification and recent studies, like the famous Stanford marshmallow study: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_marshmallow_experiment
 have shown that the ability to delay gratification has a large impact on later successes in life.

 Here is a list of games with the music concepts they address.
 Chicken on a Fence Post. (grades 2-5) Music concepts: Sixteenth notes. AAAB form. Verse form The older kids do it with a double circle.

Se Se Se: (partner game) Music from another culture (Japanese version of rock paper scissors); pentatonic melody. To make it more fun, I have a set of bandanas with the Japanese flag and every time one of the partners lose a round, he has to fold the bandana in half. You lose when one of your feet touches the floor. If you don't have bandanas, improvise--newspapers would probably work. I got mine from Oriental Trading Company and they were about 20.00 for a set of 20. I do this game with grades K-5.

 Race Car Driver
Concepts: Timbre
Choose four students to be the "drivers."  Use a metal, wood, scraper and shaker.  Designate a direction for each instrument (backwards, sideways, forward)  Choose one student to be a race car.  The other students are tires in the road.  They should sit with hands and feet tucked in.  The object is to move the car from one side of the road to the other without hitting an obstruction.  The race car wears a blindfold.   To make it a little gorier, the students can be road kill.  Fifth graders like that a lot.

Beat Leader
Students sit in circle.  One student leaves the room.  Choose a beat leader to maintain steady beat somewhere on the body.  The rest of the circle follows the beat leader without making direct eye contact.  The student guessing must move around the circle.  The beat leader must change the beat.  If the guesser hasn't figured it out by the time he/she has walked around the circle, then the beat leader takes his place.

One, two three O'Leary
Concepts: Steady beat
 Students stand in lines, about 5-6 per line.  First person bounces the ball on beat one and passes overhead to the person in back on beat 2.  Next person bounces and passes until last beat.  The person with the ball runs to the front and all the students spread their legs so the ball can be rolled towards the last person in line.  Last person in line holds up the ball.  First team that holds up the ball wins. 

Master Master, Who Am I?
Concepts: Timbre
One person is blindfolded and sits in front of group on a chair.  Students have to disguise their voice and say, "Master, Master, Who Am I?"  If the blindfolded person guesses incorrectly the other person takes his place.  If not, the blindfolded person continues until someone stumps him.

Mabel Mabel Set the Table
Concepts: : steady beat, beginning improvisation
Students sit in circle.  The chant goes like this: Mabel, Mabel, set the table.  Don't forget the ______
Students have to fill in the blank on the beat.

Son Macaron.
A BIG favorite.
Concepts: Group steady beat
If there are drums or percussion on hand, add them each time a person is out.
Students sit cross-legged, knee to knee.  Palms are face up.  Everyone places left palm under neighbor's right hand in that neighbor's lap.  Pass the beat until the last word, "catch."  The object is to GENTLY slap the hand of the next person.  If that person pulls hand away in time, the tapper is out.  If the person being tapped pulls away too soon or is tapped, he is out

Black Snake
Concepts:  syncopa and dynamics
One person hides his eyes and the group decided where to hide the snake.  I bought a black rubber snake from the five and dime store.  It's worth it to get one.  Makes the game more fun for the kids. The students sing the song softly or loudly depending on how close the person is to the snake.  Same game as Closet Key, just different props.  Another game is suggested below.  I don't do chase games with my students--they get too wild.  But it you're brave, go for it.

Rhythm Basketball
concept:s:  rhythm reading and assessment  Materials: rhythm sticks. nerf ball, CLEAN wastepaper basket
Divide class into 2 or 3 teams, depending upon the class size.  One at a time members from each team are shown a rhythm card.  The students have to play and/or say the rhythm correctly.  If they get it right, they can toss a nerf ball or whatever you have on hand into an overturned  wastepaper basket.  I'm sure this game could be adapted for other sports depending on what you have on hand.

Passing Games:
Obwisana
This is a fun game to do in the warm weather. I have the students gather rocks and sit in the breezeway near my room.

The Slaves of Job

Dic-Dictation
Students stand in a circle with both hands held out.  In the center the leader taps each student's palm on the steady beat while reciting this poem: Dic-dictation, corporation.  How many trains are in the station?  Close your eyes and think.  (This game preps for the eighth and two sixteenth notes rhythm)  The person whose hand is tapped on the word think has to quickly come up with a number between 1  and 10.  After a number is chosen, the person in the middle says:  (I'm going to use 8 as an example)  E-I-G-H-T spells 8 and O-U-T spells out, again tapping each student's hand to the steady beat.  On the word "out" the student whose is tapped puts one hand behind his back.  The winner is the student who is the last one with one hand still in the game.  Spoiler notes: 1.  Quickly gloss over the dic part of the poem.  Fifth graders know too damn much.  So do third, quite frankly.  2.  Many of my students did not know what dictation or corporation meant.  3.  My fifth grade stumbled on the spelling of 8.  Heavy sigh.

Pumpkin Pumpkin
 This is a k-5 favorite.  They ask for it every week until May.  It prepares half note and reinforces minor mode.
Song:  Pumpkin Pumpkin On the Ground.  Will You Make a Scary Sound  ooooooh.  Will it land on you?  (s-d-s-d-s-d-m.  s-d-s-d-s-d-m   fa (half note) m (half note) . m-r-d-t-l.    Students sit in a circle, or however your room is configured.  Students close their eyes.  One student walks around the circle and stops behind someone and says BOO after the song is over.  If the person jumps, he gets to take the other student's place.  Spoiler alert:  1. Younger students have no ability to sound scary so I tell them if they make another student jump,  he/she wins.  If not, the other person wins and we move on to another student.  2. NO TOUCHING when trying to scare the other student.  3.  I always start the game and manage to make everyone jump.  That just sets the mood....and I love doing it.

Little Sally Walker
This is a game that all the grades love.  Apparently there is a rap version of it now that's quite, um, earthy, so its popularity has resurfaced.  It's a great song to prep the eighth quarter rhythm.

Make sure to swing the rhythm.  Clap on beats two and four and add two claps on the rest at the end of first phrase.