Friday, April 6, 2012

Hop to It! Easter Fun


Well, I meant to get this post up sooner, but I guess it's better late than never, right?  Easter is upon us, and the kids are brimming with excitement over eggs, bunnies, candy, and spring fun!  This week I just decided to run with the Easter Bunny theme with my younger students.  Here are some of my favorites:

1.  Easter Rhythms:  I cut out enough paper egg shapes for the entire class.  On each egg, I wrote a word or phrase about easter/spring, like "easter bunny, egg hunt, jelly beans", etc.  Before the kids come into the room, I hide the eggs around the music room (in easy places to find).  I have three easter baskets, each with a rhythm card taped to the front.  For first grade, I used two quarter notes, two eighths and a quarter note, and two pairs of eighth notes.  The students get to find the easter eggs, read the words, then place the egg in the basket with the matching rhythm pattern.  We go through each basket together, and any misplaced eggs we review and discover the correct rhythm of the words. 

2.  Scrambled Eggs:  For this you need plastic easter eggs.  Print out songs the kids know, and cut apart the phrases.  You can use rhythms, melodies, or both, depending on the grade level.  Include the title, but not the lyrics.  Students have to open the eggs, read the phrases, and put them in order to read the song.  They can work in groups as a race, or if you're really industrious you could have a set for each student. 

3.  The Bunny Hop:  Little kids have to move, so let's learn the Bunny Hop!  I simplified the first steps to a single touch on each side before the hops.  It's a great way to work out the wiggles!

4.  Books:  I love to incorporate books into my classes, and this is no exeption.  This week we read Bunny's Noisy Book by Margaret Wise Brown in Kinder, and There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Chick by Lucille Colandro in first grade.  My kinder babies enjoy making all the sounds the bunny hears in his day, and first graders will be singing along with the crazy old lady!

Some other favorite songs this week are from Denise Gagne's "Movement Songs Children Love"--especially "One Green Jelly Bean" and the "Easter Bunny Boogie". 

Do you have an Easter activity that your kiddos love?  Please share! 

Happy Easter!

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