Gold Rush! (with a music twist!)

We will be visiting the Wild West one day on our trip around the United States!  And you just can't go without experiencing a gold rush!  And of course, we're planning one with a musical twist!

It's a pretty inexpensive activity too!  If you would like to try it, here's all you have to do:  Gather up some stones from your yard and spray paint with a can of metallic gold paint! Once they are completely dry, grab a permanent marker and draw a note (quarter notes, half notes, etc.) on one side of each one. That's it!  Here's a quick look at my paint job! 

To play, simply hide (maybe in plain sight...) the stones around your play area.  Give the kids a time limit and let them search!   Show them rhythm cards to see who can be the first to find "gold" that builds that card.  You can even tell them to find gold that equals a certain number of measures in a given time signature.  Once that activity is done, we'll lay the rhythm cards in a grid and do activities together where the campers work to clap the rhythms correctly. 

Oh, and while your out West...play some fun folk songs!  Fun, Fun!