Testing is upon us, and I want to share with you six easy movement lesson ideas that will let your students have fun without needing to use too much brain power. By this point your students are exhausted from testing, so these lessons are easy to prepare and get your students moving.
Movement activities are so helpful during testing season because they need to wiggle. Specials are their “break time” during the testing time so by the time they get to us, they’re ready to move! I try to stick to easier movement activities rather than complicated folk dances. All of the lessons I cover in this blog are also discussed more in depth on my YouTube channel! Be sure to check it out!
First up, my 5th and 6th graders love Limbo Rock! We set a beach theme with some music, and the dance itself has three different parts. The A section is a “step, touch, cha cha cha” twice in a row. The B section is swivel movement with their feet, and I give a more helpful visual in my YouTube video. After the swivels, we do a jump in then clap, then a jump out and clap. That’s the B section.
For the C section, I get out my largest Boomwhacker and have the student do limbo in the circle. I start pretty high so everyone can get through, but then we slowly make it harder for them. They love the challenge! If a student doesn’t make it under, I don’t have them sit out. This lesson is all about having fun and enjoying music together, not turning it into a competition.
The next activity is perfect for 3rd and 4th grade and it comes from María José Sánchez Parra on YouTube. She has so many great movement activities, and this one uses small hula hoops! I got mine for cheap on Amazon.
She has the hula hoops set up in a grid system, and then has them do several different movements and patterns to music. Sometimes they jump into the hoops, sometimes they go side to side, it’s really cool to watch! The simple ones are good for 3rd and 4th, and the more complicated patterns would be good for 5th and 6th.
My next activity is a game, and of course who doesn’t love a game?! This game is called “Memory Bell”, and I normally teach the game in the winter around Christmas and then pull it out to play again throughout the year.
For this game you can either use the desk bells where you just hit the top, or you can use an actual hand bell. I would say the desk bells are easier to use but either work just fine! I like to pick three different bells and then set them flat on a music stand.
We play the game in a standing circle and it’s essentially a version of “Simon Says” with a little bit of “Memory”. The first student rings a bell, and the rule is none of the students can talk or give any hints or tips. After the first students rings their bell, the whole circle moves and now the second student steps up to the stand. They get to ring the first bell AND add one to it.
Then the third student plays the first two bells and adds their own. The idea is as the game goes on, it gets harder as students have more bells to remember! If a student messes up, then the whole game starts over. I always remind them that it’s okay to mess up, and if no one messed up then the game wouldn’t be as fun! We try to keep it light-hearted and encouraging.
Next up is Four Corners! This game is probably my most requested game by my students. I assign a note to each of the four corners of my room. I use whole note, half note, quarter note, and eighth note. I’ll randomly draw a note, and the students in the corner of whichever note I draw have to go sit down. Then the students move around and we draw again! It’s all based on luck, but it’s an easy and fun game.
If you haven’t played Steady Beat Tag, then you’re missing out! For this game you pick a song that has a strong beat. I like to use the song “Toast” which I highlight in my Reggae Unit. It’s an easy song to find the beat.
Students start to walk to the beat, and then I tell them to close their eyes. While they have their eyes closed, I pick two students to be the “taggers” who are tapping people to be out. It’s fun because students don’t know who’s “it” and have to figure out who it is as they play! It’s funny to watch them start to find the taggers and warn each other.
For this game I have to remind them that they must walk to the steady beat, and if they don’t then they’re “out”. However I usually don’t have too many issues and after a warning they’re good about finding the beat again. I’ll usually play for one or two minutes and then we pick new taggers at the end.
Finally, I like to pull out an old game called the “Angry Birds Cup Challenge”! I wrote a whole blog about this a while back that I’ll link down below. This is a freebie lesson that is easy to use. I first discovered this on TikTok and thought my students would love it!
It uses a pick of paper that is divided into two sides. Each side has a pattern of circles, and you tap your cup to the circles along with the music. You start with one cup, then the other cup, and finally you try to do BOTH cups at the same time, each with a different pattern. It would be a great project to use even with a different movie or video game theme song.
That’s it! Hopefully these six different lesson ideas will help you get through the exhausting testing season. It’s always such a tricky time in the music room, but we can do it! If you enjoy these game ideas, then be sure to watch the YouTube video that goes along with it. I go into more detail and explanation of the games!
Best of luck to you during the testing season. We can do it!
