Musical Bingo

We are back in Tacoma after a wonderful escape to Hoodsport.  Beautiful weather, a back drop of the Olympic Mountains and fabulous friends to share it with.  I hope that all of you fellow Northwesterners who have been impatiently waiting for summer to arrive had a spectacular weekend as well.

After 3 days of being outside in the sun, I am getting some indoor activities ready for the kids today.  They will be less then thrilled to learn that one of those activities is being dragged to the gym so that I can get my workout in.   Hopefully, some down time making their own musical bingo board will soften the blow.  


My children, like most, LOVE board games.  They also like putting their own personal touches on things.  I was looking for a way to drill musical notation.  So, musical Bingo it is.  Today our ficus will be pitch names, but this will work well for rhythmic notation too (note value and rests).  I decided to start on a very basic foundation - the C scale.   Here is the game

1. Each child will be given a blank Bingo sheet of 20 squares
2. The player creates his own board by writing one the notes of the C scale:  C, D, E, F, G , A or B in each box
3. The caller (parent) notates the randomly selected letter on a large grand staff (search google and print if you don't have one)
4. regular laws of Bingo ensue

After each game, the players will have the opportunity to play their bingo composition for the other players.

For younger Children:

Option One:
My Liam (3) is too young to learn musical notation (though he will pick some up through exposure).  Instead, he will just focus on letter writing and recognition.  We will still use the letters of the c scale.

Option Two:
For toddlers, create an auditory bingo with animal pictures and sounds.  Create a pictorial animal board and enlist the internet for real life sounds of favorite animals.  This activity is great for sound recognition, a basic musical skill.

Play On!