I debuted The Great Music Race last summer with current students and a lot of new-to-my-studio kids with two goals in mind: 1) Provide a fun camp for my beginners to review musical concepts, and 2) Attract new students to my studio by giving them a fun introduction to the piano. The camp was a success on both fronts, and kids left asking if there would be another camp the following year!
We began each day with an easy-entry workbook page, something kids without any musical knowledge could fill out without much trouble, but which would provide an introduction to musical symbols and concepts with a fun coloring, copying, or matching activity.
On the first day, we took pictures with my instant-film camera and had the kids “fingerprinted” as their “entry ticket” or initiation into The Great Music Race.
After workbooks, we would have a brief lesson on a musical concept, like keyboard geography, note names, steady beat, etc, and then the kids would play card games with a buddy to practice.
We practiced the concept of steady beat and reading simple rhythms using Boomwhackers!
After an hour we took a short snack break. The kids brought their own non-messy snack from home, and if the weather was sunny, we took it outside.
We played a lot of running and water games to practice our musical knowledge.
Campers earned star stickers each time they completed a workbook page or their team won a game.
We ended each day with a review game or time back at the table finishing up workbook pages.
After saying goodbye, I would clean up and quickly prep for the next day, gathering supplies in a shoebox in the order in which we would use them.
We all had a blast learning and playing together! I can’t wait to do it again this year!
The Great Music Race is now available for purchase in my shop!