Submitted by Rhonda Saltzman, St. Louis, Missouri
Idea posted June 17, 2008
Here is a fun game to reinforce piano, forte, crescendo and decrescendo:
Have one student hide their eyes. Choose a student to give an object to secretly hold (I try to use seasonal items such as a little pumpkin in October.) While hiding their eyes, the student walks around the class and tries to find the pumpkin by listening to how "forte" or "piano" the rest of the class is clapping. "Forte" means you are near the student with the pumpkin, and "piano" means you are far away from the pumpkin. The seeker has two chances to guess who has the pumpkin. This game is great, can be played all year, and reinforces dynamics.