The idea of rhythm can seem abstract to a beginner. A budding young musician may not immediately associate musical symbols -- like quarter notes and rests -- when they are written down. Write a basic rhythmical pattern on your chalkboard for each child in your class, including a key at the bottom denoting the value of each symbol. Have each member of your class clap out a section. Award points for the most accurate representation of the written rhythm.
Write the first three notes of a well-known melody on the board, then play the notes on the piano (or other instrument). Ask the class if anyone can name the tune. If not, write another note and play the first four notes of the melody. Continue to add notes until the class can identify the tune. The visual element of this activity helps build an understanding of musical intervals and pitches. For more advanced students learing an instrument, have them play the beginning of the melody until they can identify it, and invite them to write out what they think the next note is.
Musical notes run from A through G. Think of as many words as you can that contain only letters of the musical alphabet, for example, "egg", "face", "feed", "bad" and "cage." Translate these words into musical notes and write them on the board, one word at a time. Split the notes into letters to spell the word; you can use a rest for three letter words. Have each child transpose one word from the notation to their instrument. Once they've played the notes, ask them to tell you the word. You can reverse this for more advanced students, by playing the notes and having them transpose what they hear into notation.
Give each child a set of flashcards containing each note of the treble clef. Write a partial melody on the board, leaving out one note. Play the complete melody and have each child lift up the appropriate flashcard showing which note they think is missing from the notation. To avoid copying, play the melody once then ask them to hold the note up on the count of three, looking at all the student's cards at once.
This game uses the same flashcards as the previous one. Write down the name of a simple chord, such as C major or G major. Next to the name of the chord, write four notes -- three that appear in the chord, for example C, E and G for C major, and one note that doesn't appear in the chord, such as B. Have the kids raise the flashcard containing the note that they think is the odd one out.