Teaching Young Kids to Conduct Music

Sorry, I'm not going to share a blunder today because I had a FABULOUS idea! Well, I think it's fabulous, anyway =) I have recently been asked to take over music time for the 3-11 yr olds at church on Sundays. I am so excited! I know it's important to keep them active and engaged as I'm teaching new songs, so I figured I'd frequently have them come up and help me conduct. However, if they're going to be up there "conducting," why not teach them how to actually *conduct*! Genius!

Conducting can be daunting, even for adults, but I realized each pattern has a simple coordinating shape. For example, 3/4 is a triangle, 4/4 could be a square (yes, it could also be a triangle, but I didn't want to use the same shape and confuse the poor kiddos), and everything else can fit into a crescent.  At first I thought I would have the kids just visualize these shapes floating in front of them, but then... *epiphany*... why not create the shapes! That way the kids can *see* each conducting pattern and the child helping can easily put their hand inside the shape for guidance until they've got the pattern down.

(Just to give an idea of size, the square is nearly 2 feet across)

At first I'll demonstrate: Holding the shape up with my left hand, I'll put my right arm inside the shape and show the corresponding conducting pattern. As each child is given a turn to come up to conduct I'll hold the shape for them so they can put their arm inside and try out the pattern. After they get the hang of the pattern I will take the shape away and they can continue conducting on their own. Voila!

4/4: The Square: Start in the top center, go straight down (1), bounce once to the left corner (2), bounce once to the right corner (3), and swoop back up to the top center (4).

3/4: The Triangle: Start at the top, slide straight down to the corner (1), bounce once to the other corner (2), and swoop back up to the top (3).

2/2, 2/4, 6/4, 6/8: When in doubt The Crescent will work: Start at the top and swoop to the other side (1) and back up (2). Easy peasy!

 4/4 Square, 3/4 Triangle, & Crescent Conducting Patterns

I had my own kiddos test out my method and they thought it was a pretty fun and simple way to learn the basic conducting patterns. And it didn't hurt that I came up with some seriously silly conducting batons for the kids to use while learning =)

Anyhoo, just thought I'd share.
I promise tomorrow I'll get back to sharing my blunders ;-)