March is Music In Our Schools Month in addition to that college tournament that basketball fans love. Truth be told, I’m not big on basketball but a good tournament always gets me excited. What better way to celebrate music than join in on the bracket fun?

Pick a Theme

Probably my favorite part is picking the music because there is so much GOOD music. Pick a theme that can be as broad as you want or narrowed down. Staff favorites, songs that have a specific dance to go with it (EX: Hokey Pokey, the hustle, thriller), or center it around a topic you might cover in music class like John Williams.

Who Participates?

You can run this as an all school activity, by grade, or even by class. If you do all school, have the staff participate too!

Set Up

Set up your bracket to display to students. Pairing the first face offs is important because you want to put similar songs next to each other. Start the bracket with songs that have some similarities facing off first. EX: Don’t put Surprise Symphony up against John Phillip Sousa.
Put your brackets in a slideshow, a printable, or a bulletin board.

Vote

After students listen to both pieces have them vote (secretly!) which one they like best. A quick way to do this is label pieces of paper with A and B and laminate! Have them circle with a dry erase marker and drop in a basket so you can quickly count and wipe clean to be used again. Pro Tip: Don’t show the videos. A more engaging video may make voting favor one over the other.

Theme Ideas

Of course songs all need to be previewed before you play for the students and you know your community best.

• Best Disney Songs 🎶✨ (Frozen, Lion King, Moana, etc.)
• Greatest Movie Songs for Kids 🎥🎼 (Sing, Trolls, Encanto, etc.)
• Favorite Animated Theme Songs 📺 (SpongeBob, Bluey, Pokémon, etc.)
• Top Kid-Friendly Pop Songs 🎤 (Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Imagine Dragons, etc.)
• Songs That Make You Dance 💃🕺 (Can’t Stop the Feeling, Happy, Macarena, etc.)
• Best Sing-Along Songs 🎶 (Let It Go, We Don’t Talk About Bruno, Baby Shark, etc.)
• Songs That Make You Smile 😃 (Hakuna Matata, Walking on Sunshine, etc.)
• Best Songs from Musicals 🎭 (Annie, The Greatest Showman, Matilda, etc.)
• Songs About Friendship & Kindness 💛 (You’ve Got a Friend in Me, Count on Me, etc.)
• Songs That Tell a Story 📖 (Puff the Magic Dragon, The Wheels on the Bus, etc.)
• Songs That Teach a Lesson 🏫 (The More We Get Together, Sesame Street Songs, etc.)
• Best ABC & Counting Songs 🔢 (ABC by Jackson 5, Counting Stars, etc.)
• Springtime Songs 🌸🎶 (Here Comes the Sun, It’s a Beautiful Day, etc.)
• Halloween-Themed Songs 🎃👻 (Monster Mash, Thriller, This is Halloween, etc.)
• Best Dance Party Songs 🎉 (Cha Cha Slide, YMCA, Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae), etc.)
• Songs That Get You Moving 🏃‍♂️ (Jump, Shake It Off, Can’t Stop the Feeling, etc.)
• Recess & Gym Class Jams 🏃‍♀️🎶 (Eye of the Tiger, Thunder, We Will Rock You, etc.)
• Goofiest Songs 🤪 (Baby Shark, Crazy Frog, Banana Phone, etc.)
• Animal-Themed Songs 🦁🐸 (What Does the Fox Say, The Lion Sleeps Tonight, etc.)
• Songs with Funny Dance Moves 💃😂 (Chicken Dance, Macarena, Hokey Pokey, etc.)

Looking to make it easy?

March is Madness! Music Brackets are a fun way to celebrate March and Music in Our Schools! If you are looking for some Music Madness bracket ideas, this set has everything you need for 6 grade levels to have their own bracket, or a 6 year rotation of brackets. Includes links so you don’t have to find them!

This set includes:

• Google Sheet with 6 themed brackets with info about the song, and link. 
• Google Slides with the first 8 pairs of brackets linked to YouTube for each of the 6 themes.
• Printable brackets for each of the 6 themes and blank bracket
• Printable titles for each of the 6 themes to create a bulletin board style bracket.

Here’s the 6 themes included.

• Variations of Old McDonald
• Songs from Kids Movies
• John Williams 
• Instrument Ensembles
• Songs about Places
• Songs They Are Known For

Click here to check out the set on TpT. Click here to check out on my website.

I hope this has given you some ideas to incorporate a Music Madness bracket!