One of my favorite folk songs is also a favorite for multiple concepts at very different age levels! Cut the Cake, sometimes called Clap Your Hands, is a song that even my middle school students have asked to play again. It’s a great song to use when you teach Ta Rest and to revisit when you are focusing on Fa.
The Song
Tone Set: DRMFSL D’
Rhythm Set: Ta, Ti-Ti, Ta Rest
Rhythmic Form: ABAB
Melodic Form: ABAC
The Game
Students stand in a circle with one student (‘it’) walking around the outside of the circle.
Phrase 1 – Students clap hands to beat
Phrase 2 – Students shake hips
Phrase 3 – Students take hands and make a circle.
Phrase 4 – Student who is ‘it’ will “cut” the cake with their arm.
The students on the sides of the cut take hands and on it’s cue, they run around the circle in opposite directions, racing to tag it’s outstretched hand. If you want to control the silliness a little, you can have them stop on the other side, shake hands and say, “Good morning, good afternoon, good night.” The winner is the new it.
Ta Rest
This is one of my absolute, every year games for 1st grade when we are working on Ta Rest. This is a really nice example of Ta Rest because it’s got an ABAB rhythmic form. I really like that the internal pattern is the same as the ending reset because it’s a nice way to visit 4 beat meter as well. If you really work it, you can have students make the cake “chop” on beat 4 of the last measure to really drive that rest home.
Because there are 2 rhythmic patterns, this is also a great song to take a pattern and “rearrange” to create a new song with students when they are practicing reading.
Fa
Now here’s the real cake. This is such a favorite that it’s REALLY great to bring back when students are learning Fa in 4th-ish grade. I’ve had middle schoolers ask to play this game again, and it’s a kid favorite because it’s not baby-ish. It’s a more complex melody for your younger students to sing while working on easy rhythmic elements and that means when it comes back, it’s developmentally appropriate for those older students with a fun game they’ll remember. The nice descending pattern on SFMRD is REALLY nice to work on Fa and have that descending scale pattern to end a song.
Older Beginners
Cut the Cake is an ideal song for “older beginners”. By older beginners, I mean students that you are going teach using the Kodaly method and sequencing(-ish), and haven’t been taught this way before. It’s great from a rhythmic standpoint because it uses the three “easiest” rhythms in the sequence
Resource
Check out this file for rhythm and solfege teaching for Cut the Cake. It includes prepare, present and practice slides for Ta Rest, and Fa as well as teaching tools for no-screen activities and worksheets for assessment.
Looking for more sweet activities? Check these Favorite Treat Write the Rooms and Cupcake Centers.
Hope this gave you some great ideas for Cut the Cake!
