When school starts, kids are still in that "outdoor" mode. (Let's face it.....you might be, too!) Get them back into the swing of school by starting with some great outdoor activities that involve basic music objectives.

Run with the Wind
If the breezes are blowing, Pamela Rezach takes her students outside for a vocal exercise she calls "Run with the Wind."
"aterials needed: Bubbles and a battery operated bubble machine that will make a good amount of bubbles.
Game procedure: Get all of the children at one end of the playground. (Go to the end so that the wind will be carrying the bubbles towards the opposite end.) Divide the children into teams of about six. You will then have team A run with team B; Team C run with
team D, etc.

"Assign "checkers" to go and stand along the path from one end of the playground to the other. (Possibly six children can be the checkers. Of course, change the checkers throughout the game.)

Line the teams up so they will be ready to run from that end of the playground to the other end. Once I say "Go," the first two teams begin running. Each person on each team finds a bubble to follow. As the bubble ascends, his voice is to ascend on the
assigned syllable. (Ah or OO, etc. - my selection.) When it descends, his voice descends. If it stays in about the same location, his voice remains on one pitch. Once the bubble pops, the child quickly finds another bubble and follows it with his voice.

Checker's job: If a checker notices anyone running without using his voice (following the path of the bubble/s,) he points to that person and that runner is disqualified for that round. That team looses a team member for that round.

The winners? The team that gets to the other end of the playground first. Also, the team that has the most members still playing in that round.

The students love this game, but, I only do it for one round for every two teams. After that we sit somewhere on the playground and enjoy singing songs they remember from the previous year. OR, I do other vocal warm ups while focusing upon body posture, etc.

It's a fun way to get them back in their head voices.

Do-Re-Mi Steps-Patricia Whalen
If your school has a set of wide steps leading up to a main entrance, youcan play do, re, mi games on the steps. I'll sing a short phrase, and then the kids echo the phrase while stepping.

Kristin Lukow likes to draw musical symbols on the sidewalks. The kids love the chalk and they get practice drawing the symbols! They usually sing Zip-e-dee-doo-dah first and then draw!

How about using Boomwackers outside? The kids can experiment with the different sounds Boomwackers make, depending on the surfaces struck. Pull them together for some cool boomwacker harmony.

Passing games are fun, too. Sit on the grass and make up stick games (using Lummi or rhythm sticks), or cup games. From the Music K-8 list-an African cup passing game:
Clap--Clap (Clap twice)
Pit-ty--Pat (tap bottom of cup)
Clap--Up--Down (clap, pick up with right hand, put down)
Clap--Up--Tap--Down ( Clap, pick up, tap cup with left hand, put down)
Change, Slap, Down (left hand grabs cup, right hand slaps table or
floor--left hand passes cup over right hand to the rigto the next person)

Ta Ta Titi Ta
Ta Ta Ta (Rest)
Ta Ta Ta Ta
Ta Ta Ta (Rest)

The cup game, originated by Susan Ramsey, has been an extreme hit with the Music K-8 listees. Directions are as follows:

First part:

Language is: "clap clap bumblebee, clap, up, down" ("ta, ta, titi, ta / ta,ta, ta, rest")

Beat 1: clap (ta)

Beat 2: clap (ta)

Beat 3: tap the top of the cup twice (titi)

Beat 4: tap the top of the cup once (ta)

Beat 5: clap (ta)

Beat 6: raise the cup a few inches into the air (ta)

Beat 7: place the cup down again (ta)

Beat 8: rest

Second part:

Language is: clap, grab, pop, down, switch, clap, pass

(ta, ta, ta, ta / ta, ta, ta, rest)

Beat 1: clap

Beat 2: grasp the cup from the left with the right hand

Beat 3: "pop" the top (open) end of the cup against the left palm held flat with thumb up

Beat 4: place the cup down, right side up. Don't let go of the cup.

Beat 5: place the bottom of the cup in the left palm, then grasp with left hand. "Switch" the cup to your left hand in this movement.

Beat 6: Slap the table (or floor) with the right palm down.

Beat 7: Using the left hand, place the cup in front of the person to the right, reaching over the right hand that has slapped down. The cup is placed upside down, in position to begin the first part.

Beat 8: Rest

Suggestions:

· Teach the first part first and pass the cups on the "up/down" part putting it down in front of the person to your right.

· As you are teaching it, pass the cups out gradually. Passing to your right until everyone in the circle has a cup in front of him or her. Once everyone has a cup teach the second part s..l..o..w..l..y !

· Use plastic tumbler cups. Paper cups will get crushed and cans are too noisy.

· Try this game using the Washington Post March (Sousa)

· Try this in a performance using white gloves, white cups and black light.

· Have the kids make up their own cup passing patterns!

Body Notes
Taking chalk, draw a huge staff on the parking lot (making sure there's room for vehicles!) or the playground blacktop. Assign 8 students solfege syllables. Tell one of them what their line or space is. See if the other seven children can assign themselves to the proper lines or spaces accordingly. This works best with smaller classes, so each child can have a turn.

Body Rhythm Notation
Have the kids group together, group size depending on the rhythm patterns you use. Clap out rhythm patterns and see if the children can arrange their bodies on the ground to "notate" the patterns. (for instance, two children lying on the ground parallel to each other, with one perpendicular to them-feet at one child's head and head at the other child's head, for ti-ti). See which group can get their notation done the fastest!

When you do these activities, just be careful how warm it is! You don't want to ruin the students for the rest of their day:-) Find shady spots, and have fun!