Early Childhood Music, Games

Printable: Black Key Group Sorting Cards

A new free Printable has been added to the Printables page:

These cards are a great manipulative to use with young beginners when you are first introducing them to the keyboard.  Students can use the cards to build a keyboard on the floor, alternating the groups of 2 and 3 black keys.  Or, students can use these at the piano, and lay the cards right on the piano keyboard, matching the groups of black keys appropriately.   I printed a few sets of these cards, laminated them, and put them in zipper bags.  This short activity is great for Piano Readiness Classes.

There are two versions included in the pdf: one with the letter names on the keys, and one without.  To download this free pdf, visit the Printables > Other Resources page and scroll down to the B’s for “Black Key Group Sorting Cards.”  Enjoy!

  Black Key Group Sorting Cards (258.0 KiB, 55,993 hits)

Early Childhood Music, Group Classes, Resources

Fingerplay Puppets

Thanks to Pinterest, I recently came across a blogger who designed some charming little finger puppets to go along with a few fingerplay songs she enjoys singing with her son!  Her name is Kate, from the picklebums.com blog, and she generously offers each of the printables pictured below for free.  I assembled a set of her beautiful finger puppets for my 4-year-old nephew as a birthday gift last month, and made myself a set, too, to use with my Piano Readiness class.

One of my all-time favorite fingerplays ever is Five Little Speckled Frogs (click for link to Kate’s puppet printable).  I discovered this fingerplay during an Early Childhood Music course I took during graduate school.

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