Beach Ball Music!

Hello friends!

So today is the first day of summer! I may be a bit more weathered and beat down then the beginning of the year, but  I thought it would be the perfect time to introduce my favorite summer learning tool- the BEACH BALL! A few years ago I randomly purchased 3 beach balls at the dollar store, and they ended up becoming such a fun part of learning in my classroom. Not only are they a fun way to learn, but also a great assessment tool. Here’s how it works.

Materials:
*Beach Balls
*Visa-Vis pen (or sharpie if you want it permanent) 

Rules:
On each of the colors of the beach ball, I draw different types of notes or rests such as quarter notes, eighth notes, sixteenth notes, half rest, etc. I throw the beach ball to a student and whatever color their LEFT THUMB lands on, they have to tell me what kind of note they see, and how many beats it’s worth. Example: quarter note, 1 beat. When they are done answering the question, they throw it back to me. Then I choose another student to throw it to.

Here are some other topics I’ve used the beach ball with in my classroom:

• Rules and expectations at the beginning of the year (write each rule on a color and have them read it outloud)
• Write Lines and spaces on each color
• Write classical songs on each color, and have students tell you the composer (or vice versa)
• Write fun discussion topics on the beach ball, such as “What is your favorite instrument?” “What did you learn in music this year?” “What is your favorite kind of music?” “What do you want to be when you grow up?”
• Instrument families. You could write different instruments on each color and have students tell you which instrument families they belong to.

There are so many fun ways to use the beach ball idea. Get as creative as you’d like!! Happy summer to all teachers, parents and students!

With gratitude,

Paige Bell