If you’re a regular reader of the Teach Piano Today blog, then you know that we love getting piano students off of the bench!
While off-the-bench activities inevitably take more time than reading from a method book or verbally discussing a concept, I’ve always found that imaginative activities save me and my students time down the road. The concrete approach provided by hands-on learning means that my students and I spend way less time reviewing and revisiting concepts that shouldn’t need reviewing or revisiting.
In today’s post, we’re sharing a fun, hands-on activity for a concept that you probably review and revisit more often than you might like: time signatures! Keep reading to discover how you can make Caterpillar Time Signatures work for your students.
Setting Up Caterpillar Time Signatures
- To begin, you will need strips of construction paper, a sharpie pen, and some bottle caps.
- Write a variety of note values and rest values on the tops of your bottle caps. Include quarter notes/rests, half notes/rests, whole notes/rests, and dotted half notes.
- Create four “Caterpillar Cards” by using a bottle cap to trace a circular head and body segments on each strip of construction paper. Be sure to create one card with just one body segment, one card with two body segments, one card with three body segments, and one card with four body segments. Add legs, antennae, and a smile π Do not write the time signatures on the cards yet, as these will be added after the cards have been laminated. Your Caterpillar Cards with time signature labels will look like this:
How To Play With Caterpillar Time Signatures
- Choose one Caterpillar Rhythm Card.
- Spread out the labeled bottle caps around the rhythm card.
- Draw your desired time signature (3/4 or 4/4) on the cardΒ (remembering not to draw 3/4 time in the “4 segment caterpillar”Β unless you have decided to also create eighth-note bottle caps).
- Discuss the meaning of the top and bottom numbers in the time signature.
- Ask your student to find a variety of bottle caps with note and rest values that would correctly complete a measure in the selected time signature. They can only use as many bottle caps as will fit on your caterpillar segments. For example, if you selected a Caterpillar Card in Step 1 with two segments and wrote 4/4 on the card, your student could choose two bottle caps with half notes or one bottle cap with a half note and one with a half rest.
- Watch as your student has fun deciding which note and rest values can be used to fill in the available spaces… all the while making uber-valuable learning connections!
- Repeat Steps 2-6 changing the card and the time signature each time.
Fun, effective, and easy!
If you love using simple materials to create DIY piano teaching fun, then be sure to check out these two posts from the Teach Piano Today blog. Click the image to visit the post or pin for later!
Four Pond-Hopping Piano Exercises To Get Littles Off The Bench
Beginning Note Reading Becomes “Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy” With This Off-Bench Piano Lesson Activity!
Darla Bair says
Hi, love your products and songs. The caterpillar one is the first one I ever had trouble with. (I taught public school elementary music for more years than I care to admit). Instead of bottle caps, I need a way to have a “bottlecap-type-thing” actually cover TWO of the caterpillars circles for the half note and half rest. That’s the only way the visual really works with kids in my neck of the woods. Just musing. Smiles and hugs, Darla
Andrea says
Hi Darla – if you wanted to have your students visualize the division of beats like this you could instead always use the “4 circle” caterpillar card for 4/4 time, write 1-2-3-4 in the circles and then have them place the bottle caps over the correct beats instead if you prefer. The idea of having a variety of circles is to give your students the chance to make connections as to “what fits” when looking at different note and rest values in relation to a time signature. It’s just a way of restricting their choices so they have to make some decisions as to what values to use π Feel free to modify it in any way that suits your own teaching needs.
Deb Shahan says
I like this version of having the measure always the same size and using a set 1-2-3-4 for 4/4 time etc. I think I will leave some markers blank so they can still ‘cover’ the caterpillar’s circle to show the sound continuing vs rests. So, a whole note will be followed by 3 blank markers.
Deborah says
Hi Darla If you had a caterpillar with squares instead of circles then I suggest Lego bricks of different lengths with notes written on them ie. the minim (half note) brick would be twice as long as the crotchet (quarter note) brick), it’s a hit with my pupils!
Andrea says
Great idea, Deborah! π Maybe a train would work better than a caterpillar for that!
KathyG says
I love this! Now to find a substitute for bottle caps — I don’t seem to use anything that comes with caps like that. Fun ahead for the kiddos! Thanks so much. I especially like the DIY aspect. I think it would also be a fun activity during a group lesson, with students each drawing their own caterpillars and then filling them in. Maybe exchanging with another student first…..
Deb Shahan says
I’m gonna try some white poker chips. I have some old ones laying around, but bet you could find cheap ones at dollar store. Will have to make caterpillars a bit bigger though.
Andrea says
Hi Deb – great idea! The great thing about this is you can modify it to suit whatever needs you have π Just trace around the poker chips to get your circle size.
Andrea says
That’s a great idea Kathy! You could use bingo or poker chips (dollar store) if you don’t have bottle caps. These ones came from my almond milk containers for the past few weeks LOL π
Beverly Holt Guth says
Andrea, you could use little round game markers. They’re available at some office supply stores, on Amazon or EBay, and at teacher stores. Maybe $4-5 for a package. You could also use dried beans for a funky look!
Andrea says
Love it – thanks for the ideas, Beverly
Carmen says
Wow…perfect timing. I love this! Thank you!
Andrea says
Hi Carmen – so glad to hear it! Have fun π
Amy says
Thanks; I love these “games-on-a-budget” activities!
Mona says
Bottled water caps would work nicely. Some people have lots of those!
Linda says
Such a cute idea to use with my newbies! Thank you!
Andrea says
Hi Linda! You’re welcome π Glad you can use it!
Hetty says
When I make games that use manipulatives like bottle caps, tin juice concentrate lids, milk jug lids, etc. I send an email out to all my piano parents … they happily bring in a handful to their next lessons and I usually end up with more than enough for an activity!
Susan Schroeder says
Will be trying the time signature cards for sure!! Looks like fun and will be able to use on a older student.