We are getting to that time of year when we need games!! ….ones that can go on for the whole class or for a small portion of it! Here is one that not only fills this requirement but is fun to play and will serve as a great review! Kids get into 2 teams and battle it out for the Championship Title!!

Object of the Game ~ Obtain points by saying the rhythm the other team created correctly. The team with the most points wins the game!

How To Play ~
* Divide class into 2 teams
* Set up a 4/4 mm on board with 4 quarter notes

* Team 1 needs to trade out any quarter note for 2 eighths, 4 sixteenths, 1 eighth and 2 sixteenths or 2 sixteenths and 1 eighth.

* Team 2 needs to say rhythm together. (If you want to use it as an assessment tool, you can require kids to go one at a time.)

* If they say rhythm correctly: they get a point and can go for another point. Team 1 needs to create another rhythm switching out another beat. They can switch out the same beat or choose another one.

* If they fail: Team 1 can say it correctly for a point. There is no point loss if they can’t say it, but they lose their opportunity to gain a point. Then Team 2 creates a rhythm for Team 1, again switching out one beat (the same beat or another) and has Team 1 say it.
Rhythms started off super easy…

* And then……

We ended up here!

I was so excited at how well they did! In fact, it was a tie!

We had other activities to accomplish, but this game could have gone on forever! The kids really got into it! By the end, they were devising different rhythms to try and trip the other team up! It was hilarious!!
I love to play games in class!! I was able to do a bit of assessing without the usual “test” and the kids had no idea! They were relaxed and working hard without any pressure. Give it a try and let us know how you make out in the comments below!