FUN-LYMPICS!!!!!

You've been asking and we've been working hard to deliver!  2020 marks the next Olympic games and we've put together our own musical version - FUN-LYMPICS!

We've created both a practice incentive AND an outdoor summer camp.  You can purchase them separately or as a bundle.  We've put together the practice incentive, MUSICIANS IN TRAINING as a prelude to the camp with the idea that you and your students will train and "practice" the events all year and then "compete" during the summer FUN-LYMPICS! event.

By training and practicing, we mean that students will work on Note Identification, Rhythm, Intervallic Recognition, Musical Terminology, Notation, Accidentals and Creativity in Playing.  By working on these concepts for 10 or so months during lessons, they "qualify" for the FUN-LYMPICS competition during the summer.

The summer camp is designed to be an outdoor camp although many of the events can be done inside if necessary.  BUT, if you live in an area that's too hot during the summer or if you don't have the outdoor space necessary, the practice incentive, MUSICIANS IN TRAINING can also work perfectly as a summer camp - INDOORS!

Here's a look at each one:

MUSICIANS IN TRAINING:
If your students are anything like ours, they love playing music games!  This practice incentive is designed to have your students work as individuals and in teams to not only accumulate practice points, but to build their musicianship through Knowledge, Skill, Focus, Endurance and Creativity.

There are 8 sports that form the foundation for the "events" and we've included beautiful graphics for each of them.  Students compete in areas such as golf, gymnastics, track and field, swimming, etc. all with a musical twist.  There are 29 competitive events (translated as 29 games for your studio!), many that will take 5 minutes or less to complete and some that will be done over several weeks.

The incentive also includes a workbook that has your students practicing music notation in a fun way. Purchase of this incentive allows you to make unlimited copies!   We've also included a large bundle of flashcards - grand staff cards, 5 levels of rhythm cards, interval cards, terminology cards - symbols and definition cards - accidental cards, and musical alphabet cards for use with the events and for just general use in your studio or classroom!

We want to encourage you and your students to give back so we have also provided information regarding the Special Olympics and how this incentive can benefit others!

FUN-LYMPICS!
The big event!  We've put an athletic twist on our musical twist!  Dizzy, anyone?  This camp has students working to learn and "perfect" their abilities during the first few days of camp so that they are ready to "officially" compete on the last day of camp - a great day to invite parents and friends to come see the FUN-LYMPICS!

Each day of camp they practice all of the events - which also secretly practices their musical knowledge - trying to hone their skills as individuals and as a team.  The events include relays, water games, races, and more!  There are also a couple of crafts that will be used on the last day of camp at the FUN-LYMPICS! competition.

Fun-lympics follows the same eight sports as MUSICIANS IN TRAINING with 27 events.  We show you how to set up everything (the events, general decor and signage) and run each event and how to set up your FUN-LYMPICS! competition on the last day.  We even give you ideas for an Awards Ceremony!

So to summarize...If you purchase the bundle of both MUSICIANS IN TRAINING and FUN-LYMPICS, you will receive 56 games to use with the program and/or in your studio anytime, a practice incentive with a music notation workbook, loads of flashcard sets AND the possibility of two camps!  WOW!!!!

Both MUSICIANS IN TRAINING and FUN-LYMPICS! are now available for sale by clicking on the Birds of a Feather Tab OR the Camp and Resources Tab above OR click on the links below:

Musicians in Training

Fun-lympics

Fun-lympics/Musicians in Training Bundle
 

And just because we want to get you as excited as we are, we're including them both in the current SALE which runs now through the end of April!

Happy competing!  

Oh, Christmas Tree!

Holidays in music studios and classrooms can be joyful, hectic and unfocused!   There's no better way to help kids re-focus then to make lessons fun and entertaining. This year, take some of the stress out by playing...Oh, Christmas Tree! - an exciting board game where players identify notes on the grand staff to earn tree decorations.

This is the perfect game to play for a group activity or during a lesson right before a recital when you want to add a bit of joy to all the nervousness.

Players start with a "closet" full of storage cards that feature boxed decorations, knotted lights and other items necessary to complete their trees.  As they identify grand staff notes and work their way up the decorated tree on the game board, players collect the Tree Trimming cards to complete their Christmas trees.

Here's a sample of Storage Cards (outlined in red) with the coordinating Tree Trimming cards.  Who wants tangled lights?

Oh, Christmas Tree! comes with a game board, three decks of cards and playing instructions.  Simply print, cut and PLAY!!

This month we're putting the game ON SALE!  Our Christmas present to you!




Just click on the button below to purchase the game!

What's New? Wednesday!

Looking for a fun game for your youngest students?  We introduced Scherzo's Surprise card game to our younger ones and it was a big hit!

Scherzo is our pesky, mischievous seagull and in this game, he's helping to drill students on notes on the grand staff along with the help of a couple of adorable mice and a dolphin!

We've included 23 notes but you can certainly adjust the notes you use with your students. You can even print a second set to have the option of using only a few cards in each set.

Students try to match up notes with letter names while trying to avoid Scherzo, the seagull!  Of course, I seem to always be the one who ends up with him, but at least there's lots of learning in the studio!

In addition to playing Scherzo's Surprise with our students, I've played this M-A-N-Y times with my six year old granddaughter.  She asks to play it over and over again and she definitely knows her notes on the staff!

To purchase this exciting and fun game, just click on the Birds of a Feather tab above or directly from the Lulu link below!  And since all of our games are currently on sale this month, you can get it at a discounted price!
 

Download immediately.

Enjoy!

What's New? Wednesday!

Up today, we have a fun game to review notes on the staff...

FLIP YOUR LID!
Your students will "FLIP" over this fun way to review notes on the grand staff.  We've included ledger lines as well so you can decide which notes to review with your students.

Each player is given their own game board and chooses several hats to fill it.  The hats are then turned over to reveal notes on the staff.  Now the game begins...

Players then select letter cards.  If they have a note on their game board that matches the letter, they can turn over the card on their game board to reveal a hat!

The first player to "flip" their cards to reveal all of their hats wins!




FLIP YOUR LID! will have your students "flipping" for game time during lessons, your summer camp, group classes or your classroom!

To purchase FLIP YOUR LID! just click on the Birds of a Feather tab above or directly from the Lulu link below!  The best news...it's part of the SALE we have going on right now!
 

Download immediately.

**FLIP YOUR LID! is included in the Tonic Tower Practice Incentive also available under the Birds of a Feather tab above!

JUNGLE JAM and Deep in the Heart of the Jungle!!

It's here, folks!!!!  The long-awaited Jungle Jam camp is now available!  We've gone deep into the heart of the jungle to bring you this AMAZING camp plan!  It took us months to put it together and I'm so proud of how it turned out.  My students experienced it last summer and they're still talking about it!

Jungle Jam is packed (and I mean PACKED) with loads of musical games, activities and crafts all centered around nine jungle animals and an exciting trading post.

And if that's not enough, we've provided all the information you need to make a really cool grid-style game board that uses your students as game pieces.  This was HUGELY popular with our campers!

Let's break it down...Jungle Jam is 471 pages!  Yes, you read that right! 471 pages that include everything you need to run a full week of camp in whatever way you would like.  Using the entire camp will give you 15+ hours of material but just using parts of it for shorter camps allows you to chose what will work best for you and your campers.

If you've purchased or seen our Musicians are Like...Jungle Edition you know that we chose nine jungle animals specifically for their characteristics.  We compared those same characteristics to musicians and how we can use those to build our musicianship.

We've taken that to a whole new level with this camp.  These same animals take center stage and there are 27 games and activities that have them in mind.

In addition, we have created a really exciting trading post with seven shops.  Campers visit each shop and work through seven additional games and activities trying to earn much needed jungle supplies.

Working through the trading post alone would make a fun camp!

Here's a look at one of our shops - Moe's Meats.
It has a rhythm activity that involves a variety of meats just like at the local meat market.

Have you ever played games using a jumbo grid-style game board?  We have four just such games and here's a look at one called, Sloth Stack.  These games were so popular, we had to play them over again.

These photos show you outdoor activities, but almost all of the camp can be done indoors as well.  In fact, we've included a game index that helps you see what game matches up to what animal, whether it can be played outdoors or indoors, etc.  A great resource we hope will help make your planning easier.

In addition to the camp, we have created a year-long practice incentive called, Deep in the Heart of the Jungle.
This practice was the catalyst for the camp and includes a labyrinth-style game board that features a jungle river.  Students work their way through the river stopping at nine jungle areas.

Along the way, they collect the nine jungle animal collector cards and parts of a cypher to solve a coded message.

This incentive is packed with puzzles, mazes, and cyphers.   Even the animals have some messages for students to de-code.  This was by far one our most popular practice incentives and kept our students working hard.

Jungle Jam, Deep in the Heart of the Jungle and Musicians Are Like...Jungle Edition are all now available to purchase.   Simply click on the BIRDS OF A FEATHER tab above.  Right now there is a discount if you order Jungle Jam and Deep in the Heart of the Jungle as a bundle.  That bundle will also include all but one item of the Musicians are Like...Jungle Edition packet.  If you purchase the bundle, we are happy to send you the extra item FREE!

Also....stay tuned because Tonic Tower - a city skyscraper-themed practice incentive and Beyond City Limits - a fun, city-themed camp will be available within the next couple of weeks!

Mansion of Music and ANOTHER Give-Away!!!

Today starts ANOTHER fun giveaway!!!  Just leave a comment at the end of this post letting me know which game you would most like to win and I'll pick another winner this Friday!

In the meantime...here's another new game:

MANSION OF MUSIC

Have your students build their own mansion while also working on identifying notes on the grand staff!  They need 4 walls, 2 windows, 1 door, 1 chimney, and a roof!

Students collect the pieces while working their way around the board!

This game includes the game board, directions, mansion building cards, and player game cards.  Just add some game pieces and you're all set!

The game is rated for 2-4 players so get them playing and see just how many notes on the staff they learn after one game!!

Journey to Oz

Who doesn't love the Wizard of Oz?  Such a wonderful, iconic movie!

This game, Journey to Oz, is a unique way to reinforce notes on the grand staff with your students!

Players travel from Dorothy's house to Oz while collecting traveling buddies - Dorothy, the Cowardly Lion, the Scarecrow and the Tin Man.

Of course, players also need to watch out for flying monkeys, the wicked witch and other stumbling blocks.

This game packet includes the game board, directions, 2 sets of cards - Oz cards and Ruby slipper cards - and a set of character cards for each player.

Having played this game many times with my students, I can tell you, it will be very popular with yours!

You can  purchase this game under the Birds of a Feather tab above!

Enjoy the SALE!!

Ledger Line Rally

Do you need to drill your students on their ledger lines?  Are all those lines just plain confusing?

Make it fun to learn them!  Adding this game to your studio or classroom will turn a drudgery into a car rally!

This fun cross country rally will have your students learning those notes with much more excitement!

The game includes a game board  with twists and turns and a set of Ledger Line cards.  I added some cute little racing cars found at a local store and it made all the difference!

An instant hit!  Those ledger lines are coming much quicker in my studio!

This game is available under Birds of a Feather by clicking the tab above.  And remember...all games are on SALE this month!!

Enjoy!

Cupcake Clef

Who doesn't love cupcakes?

There's just something about those little frosted delicacies that warms the heart!  One of my students inspired this fun game she helped name, Cupcake Clef!  The game takes a simple cupcake with frosting to a beautifully decorated one all while drilling notes on the staff!

Slide across the rolling pin and watch out for cherry spots!  You never know what to expect, but it sure is fun!

I found these adorable cupcake erasers which fit perfectly on the game board (they're scented too!) which only adds to the fun.

This is a great game for classroom centers or for a 5-minute game at a student's piano lesson.  Just print and laminate the game board and two sets of cards and add some game pieces!

To purchase this adorable game, just click on the Birds of a Feather tab above!

Dunk It!

Have any students that LOVE basketball??  One of my students wanted a basketball-themed game.  So with that request came...

DUNK IT!!

This fun "basketball court" style game board puts a whole new spin on learning notes on the grand staff!

Included on the game spots are adorable high top sneakers!  If you land on one, take a sneaker card and see what other twists make this game even more fun!

Your basketball loving students will be asking for this game over and over!  The best part??  Watch how quickly they learn their notes on the staff!!

This game can be purchased under Birds of a Feather!

Musical Menagerie

Looking for a fun way to drill your elementary students on their bass clef notes?  It seems that treble clef notes are always a bit easier for them to grasp so we need ways to make that bass clef more fun!  Well look no further!!   Musical Menagerie not only fits the bill, but it also involves animals!  And ALL kids LOVE animals!  What a fun way to make learning something hard, easier!

Students travel around the board, naming bass clef notes while also trying to collect musical animals - or their own menagerie!

There's a "Nothing but Treble" monkey, a 2-beat bat, a fast-paced furry gerbil, and a fermata fish! Collect all 4, make a least one lap around the board and you're a bass clef superstar!

Great fun, great learning and happy students!  Now that's a GREAT combination!

Musical Menagerie can be purchased under the Birds of a Feather tab above!

Enjoy!

BIRDS OF A FEATHER!

There's a new division of Notable Music Studio!

I'm happy to introduce, BIRDS OF A FEATHER Music Resources.

These resources are created by two creative birds (myself and my friend, Beth) and have been a HUGE hit with my students.  Over the next few weeks, I will be adding and showcasing many new games that we've created and are available for purchase.  First up...

CAVE OF CLEFS!

This is a fun game featuring our adorable little bats and stalagmites and stalactites!  Stalagmites grow up from the floor of caves - AKA the Bass Clef - and Stalactites hang down from the ceiling of caves - AKA the Treble Clef!  The game board features 7 bats labeled A-G trying to earn their wings!  This game tests your students' knowledge of notes on the grand staff.  It's super fun and adding a little black bag to the game adds a bit of "cave darkness" to the fun!

And of course, we've added a "batty" twist to the game!

If you've purchased Mystery on Musicians' Island, you already have this game!  You can use it with the camp OR if you have purchased Marooned on Musicians' Island, purchasing this game will add a fun way to drill notes on the staff when your students reach the cave!

OR, simply add it to your studio or classroom as a fun way to encourage your students to learn!

The game board, bat wings and full instructions are included!

Any way you look at it, your students will love CAVE OF CLEFS!  If you'd like to purchase this fun game, just click on the BIRDS OF A FEATHER tab above!

Enjoy!

Magnetic Spinners

I have stumbled across these spinners a number of times online and put them on my Amazon Wish List, but finally decided to buy them when I saw them at my local teacher store!

These are GREAT!  So much fun!  I'm planning on using them at my group lesson this Friday and here's what I put together using a spinner and a white board.

With a bit of help from some markers, I put this board together!  The spinner works fabulously and now I can make any board I want quickly and easily!  

After dividing my students into 4 groups, here's a look at how I'll be using it.  Each student will have a chance to spin the spinner.  Depending upon where the spinner lands, here's what they'll be asked to do!

 

TERM TEST!  This is just a fun way to test the student on a term they've been working on.  I have loads of flashcards, etc. so I'll adapt the question to the level of the student. 

 

STAFF WARS!  When the spinner lands on this area, the student will be tested on notes on the staff or in the case of my youngest students, they will be tested on their knowledge of the keyboard.

 

RHYTHM RALLY!  This will yield a question on rhythm!

 

BE A PERFORMER!  Since this is the final group lesson before our Christmas recital, I've asked each of my students to have a song prepared to perform for the rest of us.  If the spinner lands on this area, they will need to not only perform the song, but also show us great performance skills!

 

PRIZE BASKET!  As a part of my practice incentice, the kids have been encouraged to perform for family and friends,  Each time they do this and get an autograph, they put their name on a ticket in our popcorn bucket.  We have quite a few in there already, so if the spinner lands in this area, the student gets to pick out a ticket allowing the person whose name is on it to pick a price out of the prize bucket! 

 

CHICKEN!  I have this silly chicken, duck-like thing

in my stash and the kids LOVE it!  I'm not sure why and it's actually got a hole in it so doesn't even inflate any longer, but I guess that adds to it's appeal.  If the spinner lands on this area, the student gets to hold on to it.  If another student lands on this area, the chicken (or whatever it is!) is passed to them.  At the end of the game, whoever has it in their possession also gets to chose a prize!

It should be a fun time!  

"Ka-Pow!"

I have several young boys in my studio and as you can imagine, superheros are a big topic of conversation!  With them in mind, I wanted to make a game that would bring a smile to their faces as well as drill them on their staff notes.  So....voila!  The Superhero Note ID game!

With the help of 4 Superheros - Batman, Spiderman, Superman & Ironman, we have a way to inspire!  Are you a SUPERHERO of Note ID?

The game has you matching the same letter name in sets of 3 or...

putting together runs in the same suit!

 Add in a "Ka-Pow" card, a "Wham" card and a "Bomb" card and you have everything you need for loads of Superhero fun!  If you would like to use this game in your studio or classroom, feel free to download it off my website here.  Enjoy!

A Couple More Games From Camp

Here's a couple more games I used today!  I hope I'm not boring you with all these games, but since my campers seem to LOVE them, I thought yours might also!

For another water game, I pulled out the Tic-Tac-Term Tarp (lots of "t's" there!), the sponges I made last year, lots of water and some note value cards.  Some of my younger kids who were new to music were having remember the names of notes and how many beats they were.  Trust me, this game was motivating!  There is no doubt, they ALL know them now!

 One team was asked to place themselves on one of the squares in the Tic-Tac-Term grid.  I have a total of 11 kids at this camp so there was plenty of room on the 9 squares for 5-6 kids.   They were not allowed to leave their square. 

The other team had to identify a note value and tell how many beats it had.  If they answered correctly, they were allow to throw wet sponges at the other team - equal to the number of beats in the note value they identified.  Can you guess that whole notes were a favorite?

We also did a fun game of Staff Bowling!  This was just another way to reinforce the notes on the 

staff.

I taped the musical alphabet on 14 plastic bowling pins (found at a local Walmart) and lined them up on my sidewalk.  Students had to identify a note on the staff, then using a ball (I used a rubber one that would roll better on grass), tried to "bowl" down the pin with the alphabet letter that matched.

Of course, I used my magnetic staff board and magnetic notes.  Love that thing!  What I love about activites like this is that kids are having fun and learning without realizing it! 

Plan for the Unplanned

Today, the second day of camp, was a day I had to be very flexible and innovative on the fly!  It was about 95 degrees and almost 100% humitity.  It was miserable to say the least!  So I knew that I had to quickly adapt what I had planned to add some water games and do some things indoors where it was air conditioned.   I pulled out my large tic-tac-toe tarp, added some humans and some water and viola...a way to cool off!

I call this game, "Tic-Tac-Term!"  The kids were divided into two teams, so I drilled them on terminology terms.  If they were able to correctly identify the term and tell what it meant, they could place themselves on the tic-tac-term mat in whatever spot they wanted.  Of course, we had to keep the mat wet...continuously!  :) I tell them to wear a bathing suit everyday so we have this option.

We also spend about an hour indoors.  We worked with handbells and played through 3 different songs.  Because most of the campers are younger kids, we played using letters of the alphabet rather than looking at notes on the staff.  I typed up a couple of songs I knew they were familiar with and I'm happy to say, they did super well and loved it! 

In addition, we played a fun game of Musical Zap!  where I quizzed them on notes on the staff.  While it wasn't a planned activity, it worked!  They are better at reading notes so the goal was accomplished!

When you run a camp, you MUST be flexible and be able to "plan for the unplanned" being able to make changes quickly.  

Noodle Mania!

Today was the first day of Music Olympics camp and much of what we did included pool noodles! 

We twisted them, used half of them, climbed on them and shot nerf darts through them...all in the name of learniing music!

One of the favorite activities of the day was the "Nerf 'n Noodle" game we played. This game was inspired by something I saw on the Family Fun site and adapted to work for note identification and for rhythm.

Here's a look at what I put together and how I adapted it:

7 Rings - 7 letters of the alphabet...on the other side we used notes and rests so it served a double purpose!  We played two games using our magnetic staff board, note magnets and a couple of nerf dart guns.  Since I had quite a few younger kids that had minimal or no music experience, we worked only with the treble clef learning our space and line notes.

We always do our Noodle race with some alphabet flags to review the letters of the musical alphabet.   This game is more fun for the leaders than it is for the kids...hilarious to watch!





I also cut several noodles in half and used them along with balloons for a fun activity designed to teach and reinforce musical terms.


I guess I was really in the "noodle" mood today because I also made them for dinner!  If you're running a camp or a group lesson this summer, try adding a few of these!  The kids really love them!