Monday, May 23, 2011

The Jelly Bean Game


     When it comes to teaching kids, it really doesn't take much to make their day....or their lesson.   I am a big fan of visual learning techniques, and using them with kids is so much fun! I think it's neat when something clicks with them, especially when they were having so much fun that they didn't even know they were learning.

     I used this jelly bean game with my child students shortly after Easter. It was all about note-naming while looking at the actual piano keys. "Show me an A above middle C."  "How about a D below middle C?"  if they got it right, they soon found a jelly bean sitting on that key. If they got it wrong, they lost the jelly bean they had previously won. At the end of the game (once 2 octaves of notes had been named) they get to sweep off all the jelly beans and take them home. Not profound, but such a delight to the student....we won't talk about how the parents feel about all that sugar.... :)

4 comments:

Heidi said...

Fun! When I looked at your photo, I thought this would be a great way to introduce scale patterns to visual learners. I think I'll give them the "recipe" of half and whole steps and then have them place the candy on the keys to form their pentascales.

Leah said...

That's a great idea, Heidi. And you can use any kind of candy or chocolate. :)

Laura said...

I like both of these ideas! Thanks for posting!

Leah said...

Laura, have fun with it! :)