Treble Clef Music Game
This is the first game I ever made for my studio and it is still one of the favorites.
I just cut a treble clef shape out of white posterboard and then cut orange and blue circles and placed them on the treble clef to create a path. Then I laminated it to preserve it (and it’s held up quite well! I “store” it by hanging it from a clip magnet on the side of one of my file cabinets). To play, each student places their game token on the start and draws a card from the draw pile.
(As you can see, I just handwrote the questions on little squares of yellow construction paper and then laminated them.)
If the student correctly answers the question, they get to roll either the orange or blue interval die to determine how many spaces to move (for the first roll, when they are on the start space, they can choose either die, but after that, they have to roll the die that corresponds to the color circle their game token is on). The dice are made from foam cubes and then I used a black ink pen to draw the keyboard or staff with a different interval on each side.
The students don’t even realize this is my clever ploy to drill them on interval recognition, because they’re too busy trying to figure out how many spaces they get to move! 
Obviously, it’s a very simple game, but it’s fully adaptable to any age or level student and it works great for any number of students. I’ve even had students ask to play it on their own or with a sibling while they’re waiting for their lesson.
July 12th, 2008 at 9:10 am
Cindy~
Oops! Somehow I accidentally deleted your comment instead of posting it…sorry about that!
I’m glad you like the game! I bought the foam dice already colored and then just drew the staff and keyboard on them. No, I don’t have my own laminator. We have a teacher resource center here that is amazing! I do all of my laminating there - it only costs $.25/foot. That’s actually where I got the foam dice too. I use that center for all sorts of things. It’s worth checking to see if there is a teacher resource center in your area that you can use. This one is primarily for teachers in the public school district, but it is open to private teachers and homeschoolers as well.
Sorry again about your comment. I think this covers the questions you asked.
July 13th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
As I was reading about the game, I was thinking how clever and fun it would be and assumed you would just use regular dice. Then, when I read about intervals on the dice, I decided you are a genius. Truly, that is such a great idea. I’m off to make some right now!
July 16th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
Hi Rebecca!
Have fun with the dice!
Hey, if that’s all it takes to be a genius, I’ll take it.
July 24th, 2008 at 7:35 pm
First of all, love this website!! Thanks for taking the time to post all this wonderful information.
My question is about the yellow cards. Are they all notation recognition? What other questions are on the yellow cards?
Thanks!!
July 25th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
Thanks, Shelly!
All of the cards are different. Some have short rhythm patterns that the student has to clap, some ask a question - like what does the symbol p mean?, etc. Just anything I could think of that would be good for early level students. I still need to make a harder deck for the more advanced students.
August 4th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
Hey Natalie! I was thinking that this would be a great ‘make it, take it’ project! Let me know what you think!
August 4th, 2008 at 9:44 pm
Great idea, Azure! Plus, the supplies are easy ones to gather together. I guess we just need to figure out the logistics…what supplies I should collect ahead of time, etc.