Kindergarten Warm-Up Activities

Submitted by Sandra Raff, New York

Idea posted July 8, 2003

Please note: I learned this tune at an Orff Workshop given by Jacqueline Schrader. She adapted it from the original, which was published in "Music and You" (Kindergarten) and written by Denise Gagne. The rest of the activities I developed over the years.

I have a warm-up activity that I do with my Ks at the beginning of each class. It is designed to make them better listeners and more aware of their personal space.

We sing:

  This is my place: Point to feet and step in place.

  This is my space: Arms move in large circle.

  My place: Repeat motion. My space: Repeat motion.

  Nobody but me: Move finger back and forth then point to self.

Melody is:

  so mi la so

  so mi la so

  la so, la so

  la so mi re do

I explain that their space travels with them and their space should not bump into any other persons' space or anything else in the classroom.

I play a steady beat in various tempos. At the beginning of the year I will stop between tempo changes. Later in the year I will just change without pausing, watching to see if they are listening. Part of the "game" is to stop moving when the drum stops. (If they start talking, I stop and remind them that they won't be able to hear when I stop playing.)

For this activity, I use unpitched percussion instruments. The object is for them to listen for the sound of the instrument as a signal to start and stop the action. I say, "When you hear the sound of the triangle, pretend that you are a fish. When you hear the sound of the triangle the second time, stop." I make-up all kinds of different creatures, objects, movements, et cetera, including: animals, insects, building a snowman, jumping over or into puddles, a leaf being blown by the wind. I try to vary the movements so that some are faster and some are slower. Again, they may not talk or make animal sounds or they won't hear the signal. I ask them to show me how an animal moves, not how it sounds.