Submitted by Becky Olson, Union Grove, Wisconsin
Idea posted June 24, 2003
Q: I want to teach meter to second and third graders using movement. Any ideas for games and/or activities?
A: One of my favorite meter/movement activities involves making my "rainbow people." They are excellent for helping kids feel 3/4 time! For each child you will need: one quarter of a regular size paper plate, one craft or popsicle stick, a crayon, and eight strips of paper, each a different color of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, light blue, dark blue, and purple.
I use the large paper cutter in our teacher's lounge to cut the paper plates into quarters. I cut 12" x 18" peices of construction paper into strips that measure 1" x 12", to get 18 strips from each piece of construction paper. I make enough strips so that each child gets every color in the rainbow.
Now, hold the plate quarter so that the point is at the bottom and the arc is at the top. Starting at the left side, with the plate facing you, staple the red strip to the top of arc at the left side. (Staple the ends to the back of the plate, so from the front you will see the staple but not the end of the paper strip.) Staple the orange strip next to the red, and continue to add the colors in order all the way across the top arc of the plate. (You may have to overlap the strips just slightly, depending on the paper plate, which is ok.)
When you are finished, you will have eight pieces of "hair," each about 11" long, hanging from the top of the plate. At the "chin" (pointed end), staple a craft or popsicle stick. Staple it so that the smooth staple surface is on the front of the plate. Leave about 2/3 of the stick hanging down below the chin for a handle. A regular stapler works for this, although you might be able to borrow a heavy duty stapler from the office. (I have never had a problem stapling into the stick, and I have done this tons of times.) Use crayons to draw the face on the rainbow person, and you are ready to go. Be sure to make a sample for yourself. The kids will catch on very quickly if they can see what it looks like.
To do this with a class of kids, I have them get in a circle, and then I sit down with the stapler at a desk on one side of the room, with the strips of paper laid out on the other side of the room. The kids walk in a circle, and just staple each strip as they come around. We keep walking until everyone has all eight strips and the stick stapled. A CD of John Philip Sousa marches keeps them moving! Allow 10 -15 minutes for stapling and face drawing. All of this is worth it for what comes next.
Choose music in 3/4 time... a Strauss waltz perhaps. (There are even waltz tempo listening pieces on many Hap Palmer recordings.) Spread the kids out so that they have room to move, and ask them to make their rainbow person copy yours exactly. As you wave the rainbow person, the hair floats out and 'flies.' It is really beautiful. I have even wowed parents with this at programs. Try having your rainbow person paint rainbows across the sky, sweep down towards the floor, go from side to side or straight up and down. I usually let them have fun following me for a while, then we start counting and do the same movement for eight measures and then switch. Let different kids try being the leader. They will fall into the counting and the patterns so easily. This is a tried and true activity that the kids love!