This Animal Actions Rhythm Game is the perfect way to get things moving and practice listening skills at the same time. Kids always love pretending to be different animals so this is a game that’ll get everyone engaged while learning to recognise their note values.
How To play The Animal Actions Rhythm Game – print here
- Laminate the sheet provided to make a set of rhythm cards.
- First spend a little time discussing the different animals on each card, and as you do, decide on an action together that fits the simple rhythm on each card.
- Most of them are obvious, but you should explain the rests on the kangaroo card, and the different rhythmic pattern for the bird who flaps and glides.
- Now place all the cards face down on the floor in the middle of the circle.
- Each child in turn comes to the middle and picks a card, calls out the animal and everyone has to remember the appropriate action and rhythm.
- To make it more challenging for older children, when you’re deciding on the actions they can choose a different percussion instrument to play with each animal rhythm too.
- Then when they turn over the card, they also have to remember which instrument to choose.
You can play this game while playing some classical music like Vivaldi’s Four Seasons:Spring
Each child would take turns to pick a card and call out to the others which animal they should pretend to be, or to make a change they can mime the animal and everyone has to guess!
For lots more lively animal themed activities, check out our Farms Lesson Plan or Horses lesson Plan
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Thanks so much for this download. Have you got a guide (preferably video) if one (ME – MOTHER) is not musically inclined?
You’re welcome Maria! Sorry there isn’t a video for this activity but there are step by step instructions in the post. It’s an ideal activity to choose if you haven’t much musical experience yourself.
THANK YOU SO MUCH. YOUR LESSONS ARE FANTASCTIC. I’m a new
music teacher at a nursery school.
Will defenitely use my credit card a lot !!!
Have a nice day creative lady ♫
Thank you Estella! Your lovely comment made my day! 🤗
Thanks a lot for sharing such creative ideas!!!
You’re welcome! I hope you have fun with them!
These are absolutely WONDERFUL!!! Is it OK to try to make these fit an 81/2 x 11 sheet of paper–One card per page? I would love to use these for whole group moving and switch from one to the next. Having them larger would make it easier for the students to see. THANK YOU SO MUCH for such great ideas that the students will LOVE!!!