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We've all had them. We have our usual concepts that we teach year after year. But somehow, we tire of the same presentation. We might want to create a new theme. But, we've used the usual holidays, music themes, general sports themes, etc.
Why not try crazy holidays?
There are various websites that list things like "National Ice Cream Day" or "National Save the Kumquat Day" (OK, I don't know about that one). Consider the fun it would be to introduce these to your kids! Here are some ideas for holidays January-April.
JANUARY
January 21 is "Squirrel Appreciation Day." I don't honestly appreciate squirrels when they're in my birdfeeder, but they're cute nonetheless. There are several squirrel folk songs, of course, but this one is probably the most famous:
Game:
This is an expanded version of "London Bridge". Select several pairs of students to be the "bridges". The other students form a line, weaving in and out of the "bridges". At the end of the song, the bridges drop and catch the "squirrels". Here's a video of my students doing this.
January also has (drum roll...........) National Kazoo Day (January 27). What fun! Use them in conjunction with instruments. (AFTER COVID) or to add a little spice to a song.
I LOVE this one. January 2 is Ancestor's Day. What a wonderful time to talk about folk songs, and how folk songs were passed down from generation to generation. Why not assign a family song activity? The Family Folk Song Project book breaks this activity down. Students can interview parents, grandparents....and if "Found a Peanut" was a family favorite, run with it! Whatever gets parents involved with making music with their children.
FEBRUARY
February 3 is Carrot Cake Day. (Bet you didn't know that.) Why not work with vegetables? There are several things you can do.
- Use plastic vegetables for rhythms. (when the world is safe). Students can work in groups and get cards with rhythm phrases. They must match the phrases to the names of the vegetables.
- Use them to diagram form.
- Use them for subsequent parts in a rondo to The Garden Song.
February also has National Almond Day, on February 16. Although many of you probably know this lullaby, I just discovered "Raisins and Almonds", which is a beautiful song about the "widow of Zion" singing a lullaby to her baby. There is a children's book and even a song kit from Plank Road publishing that can enhance your teaching. The song is in harmonic minor, which can add a little challenge for your older kids.
MARCH
There's a Marching Band Day, March 4! Great time to use "The Stars and Stripes Forever" for the beat, or do a webquest about John Philip Sousa. Kids LOVE seeing the formations of the Ohio State Marching Band. (Check out the band playlist on the Ohio State News YouTube channel.) March also has Mario Day, March 10 (My daughter's birthday!). You could.....
- Use video game music for creative movement, like The Legend of Zelda main theme, a great theme for quiet, reflective movement. Of course, there's also one of the Mario theme songs.
- Use them as listening examples. "Zelda's Lullaby" is gorgeous and can lend itself well to emotional/feelings listening journals. A little bonus: it can be transcribed for recorder for your older students!
- Have groups of students notate the rhythms of characters of various video games and then create body percussion to perform.
APRIL
There is actually a National Film Score Day on April 3. So, if you do a unit on John Williams, this might be a perfect time! Maybe a webquest. You could also do listening lessons, like comparing the music of John Williams to the music of Hans Zimmer or Danny Elfman.
April 13 is National Scrabble Day. You can get a little creative and, using Scrabble tiles, write rhythmic notation on the back. Students can create various patterns that they either have to clap in order to earn that turn OR avoid certain patterns that you can predesignate (or a certain number of beats).
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When I looked at all the silly, unusual holidays, I thought, "This is a treasure-trove for music teachers!" I'd like to share part of that treasure-trove with you.
ISign up for the newsletter and receive a Wacky Holidays condensed list for January-April, with ideas and links! I will be sending out May-August soon.
I hope these holidays can put a little inspiration in your planning!
Karen
