Submitted by Louise Eddington, Muncie, Indiana
Idea posted March 15, 2007
A game I use with my kids to help them learn their singing voice is, "Knock, Knock! Who's There?" I collect and laminate a large pile of brightly-colored magazine pictures, most featuring children, families, pets, or anything that has storytelling possibilities. I pass the pictures out to each child. They can look at their own, but then they have to place it face down in front of them so others cannot see. Then we all sing (on sol-mi) "Knock, Knock! Who's There?" and I sing a child's name. That child picks up their picture, looks at it without showing it to the rest, and makes up a singing-voice story about their picture. No rules except you HAVE to sing. Any pitch (although sol-mi or sol-la-mi were most common). A typical story-song might be something like "There's a little girl, and her mommy is combing her hair, and she's crying," or "The little boy is playing with his dog." After they finish singing their story, they hand the picture to me, and I hold it so everyone can see the picture. Everyone takes a turn. The children really enjoyed this activity, and it is one more way to help them develop the concept of their singing voices.