Whether you kid is taking group piano lessons, or if they just have a bunch of friends are all learning to play the kids piano, getting them together to play some group piano games will be a great activity for them, as it will help them with their music lessons and also be brilliant fun.
We’ve specially chosen and modified these game ideas so they can be played with only one piano in the room, and you can play them even if the music teacher isn’t there and you can’t play the instrument yourself. If this is the case, you will need something with speakers, like an MP3 player or a laptop, to play music on. If you get confused, ask your kids music teacher for a few pointers; we’re sure they’ll be delighted to help.
1 Piano Musical Chairs
A classic twist on a traditional kids game, this one unfortunately only works if you have enough kids. Just like the normal game, the kids have to walk around the circle of chairs, but once the music stops, they have to try to sit down. There are always less chairs than people. the trick hear is that, instead of playing music from an mp3 player, the children get to take it in turns to play the piano.
This is a very simple game, but the kids will really love it, especially every time they get a turn on the piano and try to catch their friends out!
2 Flash Card Group Piano Game
This one takes a little bit of preparation, but he kids will really love it. You’ll need to make up some flashcards for some easy songs the kids will know, like Old MacDonald or Yankee Doodle. Spread the cards out over the room, and gather the kids all together in the center. The idea of this game is that the kids need to rush to the flash card when they hear that song playing, and you, the parent, can play the songs yourself on the piano or just from YouTube. This is a simple but really fun game, and the kids will love running around to find the right flashcard.
You can mix this game up by letting the kids take turns to play the songs on the piano,if they can. If your children are a lot more advanced, you can make it more difficult by making flash cards for composers, like Mozart or Beethoven, and then play a song by that composer.
3 Red Light Green Light/ Statues Piano Game
This is another variation on a classic kids game. As you know, in Red Light Green Light, the ‘it’ kid stands at the end of the room with their back to the others, and the other children race to get to them. But they have to freeze if the ‘it’ kid turns round and looks at them. If they see them moving, they are out.
In Piano Red Light Green Light, the it kid stills sits with their backs to the others, but instead of turning round, they play music on the piano, and the other kids have to freeze when the music stops. You, the parent, will have to be the eyes of the ‘it’ kid and catch anyone moving after the music stops.
Again, this is really simple but a great game that will get lots of laughs. You can also make it more difficult if you really want, by making a mini obstacle course in the room with pillows and blankets, or tie the kids legs together, three-legged race style!
4 Piano Charades (A)
There are two versions of piano charades, both of which can be hilarious. The first one is simply enough, and will make a good ice breaker for the group if they are meeting for the first time or are getting ready to start. Basically, a song is played, which can be from a music player or played on the piano by parent or child, and the kids have to act out the mood of the song. They can act individually or in groups. So if it is a happy song, they should mime happy activities, for example.
In order to keep this exciting, you should change songs often, and mix in a lot of different moods. You can also give a bonus point to the children who can name the song, and if you want to do this, its best to use songs they are familiar with from their lessons.
5 Piano Charades (B)
This version is a bit more complicated, but can really be hilarious. You need to make cards with piano related words on them. These could be musical terms (like Allegro, Adagio, or Staccato(, names of different scales, like major and minor, parts of the piano, or even famous composers. Each child gets one card per round, and they shouldn’t let anyone else see. They then have to take it in terms to act out the word on the card without talking, and the other kids have to guess what it is.
This is not only good for training their memory, but it can be really hilarious as well.
6 Quick Fire Piano Quiz
This game is a great little number to test their knowledge of music and also to give them a little practice on the piano. We think this one is best played in teams, but it can be played as individuals as well. To start with, you need a scoreboard with each teams name or kids name on it. Second, you need to make cards with the names of songs they can all play on them.
Each child takes it in turn to come up to the piano. They can look at a card, and then play the song. The kid or team that can name the song first gets a point. If your kids are older, you can also give them bonus points for other information about the song, such as the name of the composer, the year it was written etc.
We hope these ideas will be useful to you, and your kids will find them both fun and educational in their piano lessons. If you are interested in finding more group toddler piano games, why not ask your children’s music teacher? Better still, try and make up some of your own.