Children's Rhythm Games
Most children have a natural sense of rhythm beginning early in life starting with their predilection for being rocked. Patty cake games bring smiles and even laughter to older babies and toddlers. As children get older they incorporate rhythm in their activities. Some of these rhythmic games are played solo while others require teamwork. Rhythm games provide a satisfying way for children to express their love for rhythm.
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Jumping Rope
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Children love to jump rope. Children have jumped rope for generations. It fills a natural need for activity and rhythmic motion. Jumping rope can be a singular activity, with one person and one short rope. It can also be a group activity with a long rope propelled by a child on each end. It gets more exciting when two ropes are used, each one turning in opposite directions. It takes skill to learn complicated routines. Double Dutch, a highly skilled rope jumping activity, provides entertainment as well as an opportunity for competition. Children use rhythmic chants or songs when jumping rope, many of which are passed down year after year on the playground.
Lummi Sticks/Rhythm Sticks
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Lummi sticks, also known as rhythm sticks, make clapping sounds as they are struck together or against the floor. Children play patterns of rhythms and are challenged to learn the movements. A good group activity can involve getting multiple children to synchronize and sustain a rhythm together. Rhythm sticks help children understand and appreciate music, and they also reinforce the cadence of lyrical poetry, even if, in the beginning, these are nursery rhymes.
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Hand Clapping Games
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Hand clapping games come naturally to children. Children love hand-clapping games and break out into the rhythmic chants every chance they get. Perhaps the most well known chant is Miss Mary Mac which is sung while two children clap hands in different patterns. For example, they may begin with one clap on their own hands followed by single claps against the partner's hands, keeping in rhythm with the chant. Variations add palm slides, claps with arms crossing the body or clapping with the tops of hands rather than the palms.
Tinikling
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A more advanced rhythm game presents itself in the form of Tinikling. Tinikling activities are inspired by the Tinikling dance of the Philippines. Rhythm is created and maintained by long bamboo poles. A child keeping rhythm holds the ends of two sticks while a partner holds the other ends. They slap the sticks on the floor, then together, while dancers move between the slapping sticks in the set rhythm. This activity can be done with a single set of Tinikling poles, or can involve many sets. It can even be a complex activity with sets of poles crossing each other at, for example, 90 degree angles. The rhythm sets the pace for the dancers, requiring a good sense of timing and coordination.
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- Photo Credit exaltation image by Cherry-Merry from Fotolia.com skipping rope. image by bluefern from Fotolia.com applause image by Alexey Klementiev from Fotolia.com
