draw your attention
Before starting this or any other game, it is important to get the attention of all children. Check out my previous article “The Numbers Game” for a great way to do this.
The Rules (for your reference):
The idea of this game is simple. When you play the music, the children dance. As soon as the music stops, all the children must remain as still as possible.
Traditionally, this is a “knock out” game. In this case, the child who is the last to stop is effectively “knocked out” of the game. While this is fine for older kids (8+) as they generally understand the competitive nature of the game, I’ve found this to be less ideal for kids 7 and under.
For children 7 and under, I have found a much simpler method which is simply to award a prize to the quietest child or best dancer in each round.
How to explain this to children in a fun way:
“Okay, now we are going to play a game called musical statues.”
“Who has touched musical statues before?”
At this point, most children will raise their hands excitedly.
“Now when I play the music, you guys have to dance your best. When the music stops, I want to know who is the quietest person in the whole room.”
If you have prizes to hand out, then it’s a good idea to mention that now, too. If you’re playing the knockout version, say it’s for the winner of the game, and if you’re playing the non-elimination version, you can say it’s for the best dancer/quietest person.
“Ok guys, get up. Now who’s the best dancer here?”
At this point, you should put on some music. After a few seconds of music playing, it just stops the music.
You can add an interesting twist to the game by intentionally distracting some children by making funny noises when the music stops. Another fun alternative to this game is to add a theme to it, although I would only recommend it for larger groups (8+).
For example, you could have “Musical Groovy Poses,” where instead of just standing still, the idea is for the children to strike their most groovy pose when the music stops. But what about Musical Gruesome Faces? Watch out, you might need a camera for that!
Have fun and thanks for reading!