Sailing the Seas (Intervals)

I developed this game for Thanksgiving, but I have very deliberately kept anything purely seasonal out of it, so it can really be used at any time of year.

What You Need:

• These cards, cut up and possibly laminated.
  • Note that the two cards with ships should not be cut along the dotted line, so you can fold there and then stand them up.
• A die
• A game piece, coin, or other manipulative
• A grand staff (optional)
  • This can be on blank staff paper, on a whiteboard, on poster board, whatever you’ve got.

Setup:

• Shuffle the interval, storm at sea, and tailwind cards together. Lay them out face down on the floor in a line or squiggle. Place the Old World at one end and the New World at the other (face up).
• Add the icebergs on top of any three random interval cards. (I let the student do this.)
• Place the ships on the Old World.
• If you are drilling intervals on the keyboard, place a game piece (or coin) on Middle C. If you are drilling intervals on the staff and you have the right manipulatives, place a whole note on Middle C. If you’re using staff paper or a whiteboard, draw a whole note on middle C.

How to Play:

• The first player rolls the dice. Move that player’s ship forward that many spaces. Move the note marker on the staff or keyboard by the interval specified on the card.
• If the teacher strikes an iceberg, she goes all the way back to Start. If the student strikes an iceberg, he must answer an extra challenge of the teacher’s choice to see if he can navigate around it successfully.
• The first person to reach the New World wins.

Variations:

• To make it easier, use only the smaller interval cards.
• To make it harder, use only the larger interval cards.
• To make it shorter, don’t use all the cards, even if you choose them at random.