Music Genetics 2016 Summer Camp

We just wrapped up a fantastic week of Summer Music Camp here at Music Genetics Piano Studio, and I am eager to share some of our favorite activities!  This was our second year hosting a camp, and we had a delightful group of students to work with.  Special thanks goes out to Pastor John Phillips and Christ Church of the Valley, for graciously allowing us to use their lovely building and enjoy the gazebo and garden area outside, my mother, for being my teaching partner, and our two volunteers, Maria and Sally, for working hard.  We hope to see all of our participants again next year and encourage them to bring friends!  Please enjoy our week in review!

The mornings would begin with the teachers and volunteers arriving between
8:15-8:30 to set up for the first activity of the day.  Students usually showed up
 between 8:45-9:00.  Pinterest was a great help in writing the curriculum
 for camp this year!

Examples of some of the name tags students made (out of small records).

Our first icebreaker:  we played, "What Note Am I?"  Students had to walk
around and ask one another yes/no questions based on what musical note
they had on their forehead.

A big portion of our camp focused on music theory:  reinforcing how to read
 notes and recognize different musical symbols.

We split the students up into two groups, and they made team flags.  

This team was called, "The Treble Clef Cars."

The other group, "The Trouble (Treble) Clefs."

Taking a break from Dueling Dice, a musical game that reinforces 

mathematical concepts (note values and adding).

We spent at least 30 minutes outside each day (our camp ran from 9 am-12 pm).
  Here we are playing a water ballon note name game toss.  Students threw
water balloons at the drawn keyboards and had to name the notes they hit.
Children standing behind the keyboard enjoyed getting wet!

We played a water balloon toss with the leftover water balloons.

The students had fun with our note-name scavenger hunt.  Our volunteers
set up flashcards all around the building.  The children had to find them,
and label them with the correct name on their sheets.  They worked in pairs.

These partners were the only two to receive a perfect score on their 

Note Name Scavenger Hunt.  Everyone did well, but they were extra proud!

Mrs. Rosie taught an incredible lesson on painting a caricature of 

Johann Sebastian Bach!

The children did a wonderful job painting their own individual Bach caricatures.

Musical Twister was a favorite activity of the week!

In between certain sessions, we gave the students 5-10 minutes of free time to
get the wiggles out!  They all got along really well!

We enjoyed snack time under the lovely gazebo each day, and the children
enjoyed exploring the garden area around it.

Story time:  all about the life of Johann Sebastian Bach.

At the end of the week, one of our volunteers, Maria, led the students in
creating a homemade banjo.  She did a wonderful job!

"Let's rock, let's rock...TODAY!"

Reflection is always good.  Towards the end of the week, we had the students
write about and draw what their favorite parts of camp were.
They then shared with the whole group.

We ended camp with a swimming pool party!  Who doesn't love those?!

It is important to note that most of these activities were not original ideas.  Through Pinterest, I follow other piano teachers and musical schools that are generous with their homemade examples.  Links to some of my favorite sites are below:

Musical worksheets

Music Camp Ideas

A big thanks also goes out to our participants this year and their parents!  Thank you for your continued support of Music Genetics Piano Studio.  See you all next summer!