_edited_edited.png)
Following the measures taken from the government for protection from Covid19, most of the parents will spend the days with their children at home. We know that many parents are looking for ideas on how to spend their time with quality and educative activities.
Below we present 10 music games that you can easily play at home with children from 0 - 7 years old.
1. Peekaboo with scarves
Here is a traditional song with some lyrics that you can sing and play with your little ones.
Lyrics: Pekaboo, Peekaboo
I know you're hiding yes I do
Peekaboo, Peekaboo
Oh I can hide, just like you
Peekaboo!
Instructions: Take a scarf, preferably translucent (babies can still see through it and they are not scared), we put them on children's face and we sing the song. Every time we say peekaboo we pull it off their face. On the second verse we move our finger to the beat and touch the children on their body to feel the beat. On the 4th verse we put the scarf on our face. On the last Peekaboo we appear and smile at the child. In case the child is over 2 years old we can encourage him/her to take off the scarf on his/her own
Music: Below you can listen to the song
2. Dance with Scarves or Ribbons
We choose to listen to various kinds of music and we move or dance with the scarves/ribbons trying to follow the music structure.
Some pieces we suggest are:
3. Roll the ball
We sit in a circle and we have a ball. We sing the words 'Roll the ball to (name of baby) and the person who has the ball has to roll it to the other one as soon as he listens to his/her name.
You can listen to the suggested melody below.
4. Clap your hands
You can sing the words 'Clap your hands together, together, together, Clap your hands together 1 2 3' and clap along your hands with your children. We change the way we sing from fast to slow and from happy to sad and from loud to soft while we change the way we are clapping accordingly.
Listen to the melody below
5. Musical Statues
We can play one of our favourite songs and dance along to the music. When we pause the music, everyone should freeze until the music will start again. For older children we can ask them every time we pause the music to freeze like a tree, or a fairy, or a dinosaur (find various characters to suggest).
Suggested songs:
6. The Puppet that sings
For younger ages we can take a small puppet and hide it under a scarf. When the puppet appears we start singing one of baby's favorite song, and when it hides again we stop singing. Also, the puppet is moving following the beat. We suggest to stop singing at the end of each verse in the song.
7. Row like a boat
Parent and child are sitting opposite and holding hands. Then they can start singing a song and rowing like a boat. You can change the tempo of the song from slow to fast and vice versa. We encourage the children to be the leaders so they can follow the beat of the song.
We suggest you to sing the famous song Row row your boat.
Lyrics: Row, row, row your boat
gently down the stream
merrily merrily merrily merrily
life is but a dream
Row, row, row your boat Gently down the stream
If you see a crocodile Don't forget to scream!
For this game you can use as many songs as you like!!!! Just follow the beat of the song!
8. Musical Mirrors
We can choose some melodies that we like and we stand or sit opposite to our children. We choose to make some steady, repetitive moves and the children should copy our movements. It is good to vary the movements following the musical phrases of the song. Encourage your children to become leaders and show you some new movements.
Suggested melodies
9. Simon says
A musical version of the game Simon says. We can find a puppet who will be the 'Simon'. This puppet will sing to us the words 'Simon says (Jump/stomp your feet, etc). Here is the full version of the suggested song.
Simon says stomp your feet,
Simon says stomp your feet
Simon says stomp your feet
stomp with me!
Simon says Jump
Simon says Jump
Simon says Jump
Jump with me?
10. Make a music band
We can find different objects from the house that produce sound and we make our own band. Pots, plastic bags, a container with rice, a plastic box and a wooden spoon can be some of our 'instruments'. Play your favourite song and accompany it with your band, You can also sing your favourite song and play the rhythms and beat with the instruments of your band.
We wish you enjoy these music activities with your families and remember that music connects people!