7 Effective Vocal Exploration Activities for Your Music Class

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Not all scholars will walk into your classroom with a perfectly accessible head voice. In fact, many kids have not yet found it. I have compiled 7 ways that I love to get my children exploring their voice in class. Many of these activities don’t feel like singing- so they are perfect for your scholars that just refuse to sing!

Sirens

Vocal Sirens are a great way to warm-up the entire vocal range. This activity is exactly what it sounds like. Have scholars make siren noises. They can pretend to be police cars, fire trucks–the sirens are endless! My kids love doing this activity, especially in K and 1st grade. You can even find different siren sounds on Youtube and have children echo those sounds. They don’t even realize that they are discovering new parts of their voice every day. This is a great activity for your non-singers because it doesn’t feel like singing. Your kids will be surprised to find out they were actually doing a vocal warm-up!

Exploration Cards

This is one of my favorites. I love making new exploration cards for my scholars and then having them create their own! Scholars will follow the pathway with their voice. Exploration cards in the classroom are effective for two reasons. First, it is a great warm that helps scholars get into their head voice. Second, it is an amazing way to introduce scholars to reading music! This is why I really love these cards. Essentially what exploration cards teach our scholars is how to read a melodic line. It’s like a vocal score without the actual notes. You can find some Vocal Exploration Cards in my store here.[/vc_column_text][vc_text_separator title=”Exporation Cards” color=”black” border_width=”3″]

[vc_column_text]Yarn Shapes

This is another good activity that I like to do with students in pairs. Cut up pieces of yarn. You can get it at Walmart or Michaels or even here on Amazon. Pair students up and have them practice singing each other’s yarn shapes. Wow, just like that your scholars are composing a melody for someone to perform. You can even turn this into a project. They can glue their yarn shape on a poster board and have the whole class sing it! This is very similar to the exploration cards except it’s using yarn 🙂

Rollercoaster

I love when you can find things that are already around us to make music. Rollercoasters go up, down, and around- just like our voice! Have scholars pretend their hands are a rollercoaster and have them follow the path.

Pitch Exploration Stories

Story time and singing goes hand-in-hand! Choose some children’s books and have scholars act out the sounds that they would hear in different parts of the story. Maybe it’s the sound of the wind blowing or the rain falling. Maybe it’s the sound of someone walking up the stairs or opening a door. Here is a great set of exploration stories you might want to consider for your classroom.[/vc_column_text][vc_raw_html]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[/vc_raw_html][vc_column_text]Animal Sounds

There are sounds all around us. Have scholars explore different parts of their voice by sounding like different animals. A great song to do this activity with is Brought Me A Cat. For the younger kids, you can even have them act out the movements while they are creating the sounds. Trust me, this one is a favorite especially in Kindergarten.

Songs and Chants

When in doubt, songs and chants are the classic go-to for vocal exploration. Make it creative. After teaching a song to your scholars have them sing the song on a vowel sound. Is the song about an animal? Have them sing the song using the animal sound. Think outside the box when it comes to songs and chants.

Well, there you have it teachers. These are 7 activities I enjoy using in my class to get the scholars accessing different parts of their voice. I’d love to hear from you. What activities do you use?[/vc_column_text][nd_options_image nd_options_align=”center” nd_options_image=”165″][/vc_column][/vc_row]