Field Day is a kid favorite and a teacher stressor. For music teachers, we try to figure out what we can do that is movement heavy, fun, and doesn’t require us to try to teach anything in the moment. Here are some great music activities for field day that will be sure to be student pleasers.
Social Dances
This is a great opportunity to teach some of those social dances (AKA Modern Folk Dances!) that everyone knows and students will encounter outside of school.
- The Cha Cha Slide
- Cupid Shuffle
- The Chicken Dance
- See a more comprehensive list near the bottom of this post.
Adapted Games
- Musical “Chairs” – but use sit spots, have enough spaces and don’t take one away. Number each sit spot. After each freeze of the music, call a random number and the person on that number gets a prize.
- Musical “Chairs” 2 – Instead of removing a chair, have a different movement or sort of pose on each chair. Students must freeze like the pose.
- Rock Paper Scissors Variation – Hoop Hop Showdown https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mUuvdKFfmk
- Balloon Volleyball – Keep a balloon afloat for an entire song
- Four Corners – See here how to play this variation
Videos
- Musication Home Run https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FLVPlKPn_c&t=28s
- Musication Home Run 2.0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbC4X1auLqk&t=37s
- Go Noodle Anything! https://www.youtube.com/@GoNoodle
- Any Body Percussion play alongs
- Bucket Drumming
Fun Movement
Pull out the hula hoops, parachutes, stretchy bands, scarves and other fun props depending on what size group you will have at a time.
- African Hopscotch (This YT Channel is full of variations!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XFu2MeoY94
- A Hula Hoop Variation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wLUsm6t1Js
- Another variation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0WCcWf4iNA
- A simpler variation for younger students https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYuRTu3GFz4
- A follow the leader variation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxPRF4eNQeg
For Your Sanity Stations
- Make up a body percussion to a song you know
- A “take a rest” station (with appropriately punny picture of quarter rest) – seriously though, a good place to let them take a drink, have a sit, and cool off a little and put on some chill music like acoustic guitar covers of pop songs.
- Make it take it – make a quick instrument like a kazoo, shaker, or similar. There are lots of quick instrument tutorials for making your own instruments online and this might be good especially for older students who won’t take forever to make one.
- A play your instrument station – Put on a few of their favorite songs and let them create an ostinato to it. Or incorporate this with the body percussion station
- A stretching/yoga station
- Dance party station – nonstop tunes, dance how you want. Add in freeze to vary it up.
Hope this has given you some ideas!
