St. Patrick’s Day Rhythm Game
Happy two-weeks from St. Patrick’s Day! In honor of the upcoming holiday, Finegan the Fiddler, a rather musical leprechaun, has decided to visit the studio for the next couple of weeks. He’s a pretty happy little guy, as you can see.
Problem is, Finegan keeps misplacing his pot of gold around the studio. We made a shamrock path to help him find the pot of gold, but Finegan said he doesn’t like to travel alone. He insisted to travel with my students and make a game out of it! Students can help him find his pot of gold by clapping rhythms, finding notes on the piano, and playing scales and chords.
When students land on a regular shamrock, they must correctly clap, tap, or play a rhythm flash card. If they land on a shamrock with a coin on it, they must complete a Coin Challenge card.
This game includes three levels of Coin Challenge cards for Primary, Elementary, and Intermediate students. Look out for the big coins — Finegan the Fiddler is tricky, and he will send students back to the beginning if he thinks they are after his pot of gold.
(This was my chance to get students to review the meanings of D.C. al Fine and D.S. al Fine in a fun game setting! I hope that this visual approach will help make these signs less troublesome during lessons.)
NOTE: Rhythm cards are not included. (I didn’t feel like reinventing the wheel!)
The game is designed so that you can use any set of rhythm flash cards. I’m using the Level 1 and 2 of Joy Morin’s Color in my Piano Rhythm Cards.
Here are the instructions and list of materials that you will need for the game. (This image is included as part of the PDF download.)
To download the game, click HERE. This is a PDF, and you will need Adobe Reader, or some equivalent, to open the file. The PDF file includes the following:
- Instructions to the game
- The printable board
- Three levels of Coin Challenge cards
- Blank cards for you to create your own challenges
- A shamrock background to print on the cards.
PRINTING TIPS: You must SAVE and THEN print in order for the flashcard guide lines to print. After some trial runs, I found it best to print the Coin Challenge cards using the “fit” sizing option, and to use the “actual size” sizing option for the background. This should ensure that the background will sufficiently cover the backs of the cards.