This game is a fun way to reinforce familiarity with various musical genres and works well with older elementary aged students through high school students. Teach your class about a number of music genres, such as rock, country, rap, jazz, blues, pop, bluegrass and reggae. Allow your students to listen to each genre. Then set out hula hoops on the floor. Group several hoops together and post a sign next to the group. On the sign, write the name of a genre. Create a sign and a group of hoops for each genre and spread them out over your area. Instruct the students to walk around the room without stepping into a hoop as long as they do not hear music. After they've been walking for a while, play a selection of music. The students then have to attempt to stand in a hoop that represents that genre. Once you've played the selection for five to ten seconds, stop the music. Anyone who is not in a hoop is out of the game. Announce which genre you played. Anyone who is not standing in the appropriate set of hoops is out of the game as well. Continue playing until you have one student left as the winner.
This is a game for younger students that allows them to learn about the sounds of various instruments. Introduce your class to a variety of instruments. You can use any collection of instruments. If you don't have a set of classroom instruments, you might ask your students to bring in instruments from home. Talk about the characteristics of the instruments and play each one so that the children are familiar with the different sounds. Blindfold one student and have her stand or sit at the front of the classroom. Instruct another student to play a certain instrument. Point to the instrument so that the blindfolded student doesn't know which one you have selected. Once the student plays the instrument and sit back down, have the blindfolded student attempt to guess which instrument was played. Then have the blindfolded student choose another student who has not had a turn to go next.
This simple game helps students to become more familiar with the physical characteristics of various instruments. This is a good review game for a class that has been exposed to different types of instruments. Prepare a stack of index cards by writing a name of an instrument on each card. Divide your class into two teams. Then have a student come to the front and select a card. The student will read the card silently. Each team then takes turns asking "yes" or "no" questions of the person with the card to try and guess which instrument is on the card. All of the questions must be phrased in such a way that the person at the front can answer yes or no to the question. The first team to guess the instrument earns a point. Then have the person at the front choose a student from the other team to go next. Continue playing for a set amount of time or until one team reaches a certain score.