Halloween Practice

I always like being able to make one set of materials and use it in multiple ways. Most of my kids used these Halloween cards to compose a rondo, but one lucky girl also used it to work on her current songs.

What You Need:

• These Halloween cards, printed and cut (you won’t need the second page)
• Dice
• A mini pumpkin or anything else you can use as a playing piece
• A list of Halloween jokes. I have a little book of jokes, but you could also use these, either printed out or just available on a device.

Setup:

• Make a list of the pictures on the cards and assign them to things you need to practice. It’s okay to repeat, it’s okay not to use all the cards, and it’s good to include a few things in there that are more exciting. For example, here’s a sample list:
  • moon: current song, section A
  • raven: current song, section B
  • haunted house: current song, hardest phrase
  • jack o’lantern: current song, hardest phrase
  • skeleton: current song, hardest phrase
  • bat: review song
  • trick or treat bag: review song
  • cat: current scale or arpeggio
  • witch: current scale or arpeggio
  • spider: next step in the composition book
  • skeleton: Halloween improv duet
  • mummy: sing a Halloween song
  • ghost: sight read
• Arrange the cards face down in a circle on the floor and place the pumpkin or playing piece on one of them.
• Hide the jokes so the student can’t see them all at once.

How to Play:

• Roll the dice. Advance the pumpkin that many cards, moving clockwise.
• Flip the card. Spend a couple of minutes practicing whatever goes with that picture.
• Keep the card just as it is and roll again, continuing the same pattern.
• If you land on a card which has already been flipped over, you have earned a Halloween joke. Conveniently, the likelihood of getting a joke increases the longer you play.