The Steady Beat Game

The steady beat game is a simple game I begin in kindergarten and can carry though 5th grade with some simple variation to keep it interesting for the older kids. You play a song with a simple, easy to follow beat. The tempo must remain constant and instrumental songs work better than vocal ones. If you're a super-teacher, use a song in the same key or tempo as one you'll use in your lesson (or if you're teaching on Benny Goodman or Bach later, use of their pieces). Use instrumental tracks of songs you'll be singing later, etc. You can also just youtube karaoke tracks of pop songs that the kids are really into at the time just to get them excited and moving without much coaxing.

Begin tapping the beat on a place (your knees, your heat, your ears, etc) and have the students mimic you. Move it around hopping from place to place keeping the beat. The first time, you just lead.

The second time, start as you did before, then announce, "I'm going to pick a student who is following me quietly (or any other management behavior you need to reinforce) and would make a good leader." Point to someone. Tell them they can put the steady beat on (your nose, ears, elbows, whatever) and have them choose a great follower 30 seconds to a minute into their turn. (If you have students who will not do inappropriate gestures to the steady beat, you don't need to tell them they can only move it between these 4 or 5 movements- but you always want to give some examples of movements they can do so they have a starting point. The more they play, the more creative the kids will get this this.)

The kids love this and will play with minimal supervision while I set up my cart for the lesson.