Submitted by Kristy Hewitt, Lake Oswego, Oregon

Idea posted April 8, 2002

Here's another twist on Recorder Karate for my 3/4 blend classes. After spending an hour in the craft store, I decided to do recorder rainbow beads. I found a spool of 100 yards of bright plastic lacing for super cheap and a bag of rainbow colored beads.

They can earn their lacing by playing Hot Cross Buns with proper technique, and by showing understanding of fingers 1, 2, 3 matching with B, A, G. They can then begin earning beads to tie on to their lacing similar to the karate belts. I may even buy extra "special" fancy beads for playing solos, etc. This way I can tailor the program by adding extra options for the kids to choose from.

The kids are really excited! What I really like is that I don't have to do a lot of bookkeeping, I just need to "read" their beads every now and then. I've put a lace on my recorder, too, and when we are getting ready for a new bead offering, I'll put the new one on mine to catch their attention and to keep me on track, too!