4 Stretchy Band Activity Ideas from Elementary Music Teacher Lena Leon
We're back with four more Stretchy Band activity ideas from elementary music teacher, Lena Leon!
From opposites, slow and fast, flowers blooming, and roly poly, Lena shares some of the best song and activity ideas on her Instagram page, @the_crafter_teacher. We love her creativity when it comes to incorporating our movement props in her classroom. It is also clear in the videos she shares that her students love the activities as well.
Keep reading to learn all about the 4 Stretchy Band activity ideas!
4 Stretchy Band Activity Ideas from Elementary Music Teacher Lena Leon Share on X
4 Stretchy Band Activity Ideas
Activity #1: "Slow and Fast" by Hap Palmer
With this Stretchy Band activity, Lena and her students sat in a circle on the floor while playing the song "Slow and Fast" by Hap Palmer. The music starts very calm and quiet as the students lift the band up and down in time with the music. Then, the song switches from slow to fast! Students rotate the band around and around as fast as they can in time with the music. This activity encourages listening skills, teamwork, and gross motor skills. Not to mention, the quick change in tempo always excites students as they race to get the band around as fast as their hands can go.
Activity #2: "Cross Dance" by Shenanigans
To create a fun and expressive music and movement activity, Lena used two Stretchy Bands (size Large and Extra Large) at the same time. Two groups sat in circles on the floor, the group with the XL Stretchy Band sat on the outside while the group with the Large Stretchy Band sat within the bigger circle. This activity is perfect for practicing active listening skills. While the song "Cross Dance" played, students had to listen to each section to do the following actions. A section: represented flowers blooming/move front, move back. B section: represented the wind blowing the pollen away/pass around to the right, then to the left.
Activity #3: Roly Poly, Roly Poly
Everyone stands in a circle holding on to the Stretchy Band for this activity. Lena stood in the middle while everyone chanted this fun Roly Poly song: "Roly poly, roly poly, up, up, up! Roly poly, roly poly down, down, down. Roly poly, roly poly, wait, wait, wait. Roly poly, roly poly, POP!" On each roly poly section, the students walked around in a circle. As the song continued, they had to listen carefully for the action, on up, up, up, the students lifted the Stretchy band up in the air. On down, they went down low to the floor. With wait, they had to freeze. When the POP came, everyone let go of the band!
Activity #4: Opposites Chant
"This is high, high, high! This is low, low, low. This is fast, fast, fast! This slow, slow, slow. This is soft, soft, soft. This is strong, strong, strong! This is wait, wait, wait. This is...let go!" This song and activity encourages active listening skills, teamwork and group participation, and also helps teach opposites. The opposites chant could be done with different group sizes, but would also work well in a one-on-one setting using a small Stretchy Band or Connect-a-Stretchy Band.
Videos of the Stretchy Band Activities in Action
Linked below are videos of all 4 Stretchy Band Activity Ideas in action! Just in case you missed the other blog post with more ideas, The Crafter Teacher, you can check out 6 Stretchy Band Songs and Activity Ideas from Music Teacher, Lena Leon.
If you don't have your own Stretchy Band and are interested in getting one, you can check them out here.
Let us know what your favorite activity is if you end up trying them out! And, if you have more ideas you would like to share, tag us in your photos and videos on our Instagram and Facebook @bearpawcreek. We love to see our props in action and are so inspired by the creativity you all have when it comes to music and movement activities!
