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Illustrations
by Karen Zethmayr
The cards here are about 1" square. Bottle caps are even better if you don't mind making room for them. Then it's a "tea party" game. The numbers are 1-4, and we have three of each here. We used three cards for each finger number, but very small children might do better with a shorter game: two cards per finger, or even one.
Mom puts first finger on top of a "1" card. On a rug, the card
will tip, just as in Pick Up Sticks. The thumb slides underneath.
Suzuki
is
Hands On
Education
•Parent
Letter Topics
Bow hold:
•Pencil
exercises I
•Pencil
exercises II
Left
hand strength and flexibility:
•1
Little Elephant
•4
Little Elephants Jumping on a Web
•
Smallmotor "pick up" game
Position in Motion:
•"Home
built" violins with activities
Reading readiness:
"Who Ran Away?"
"Twinkle Rhythm Flash Cards"
Supplementary Music and Midis
Twinkle Rag
Daisy Daisy
Daisy sheet music
If a child has trouble at first with "finger on top, thumb on the bottom," lower the bar at first for that detail. Praise the accomplishment of using the right finger for the right number, and the dexterity of using only one finger and the thumb for the task. Time enough for "finger on top" as skill grows.
Except for the south paws, most kids reach with the right hand. Gently
remind them to use the violin hand. Another tack is simply to say, "your
bow hand did that just great. Now do the same with your violin hand."
Gaby holds the 2 card with the second finger. Mom at first helped her
to rotate the wrist (elbow comes down and toward the tummy) so she can
see the number. This step will be hard if the thumb starts on top of the
card. Mom can help by turning the card over so that rotating the wrist
brings the number into view. (With bottle caps, this problem doesn't crop
up.)
To make sure they remember this rotation step, make a big deal out of saying "yup, it's a 2," or "hmmm, I think it's a 2." Let them put their own creative spin on the verbiage; when their hands are part of the act, dexterity will improve. The freebie is that showmanship has its place in music.
Now Gaby has the 4 card. She's still at the first stages of learning to
hold the violin, but note what a great left hand shape she's making.
To pass the card to the next person, she turns her hand to look like a duck. I could have said "rotate your wrist the other way,"
but ducks are more fun. The card travels from hand to hand around the circle, each player taking the card "like a duck" and then rotating the wrist to check out the number. The last person puts the card face down on the floor.
The next person's turn begins with picking up the card.
For young children, seeing the face up numbers dwindle in quantity helps their staying power, because it defines the time limit of the game. They need that light at the end of the tunnel, even if it's a fun tunnel.
To my delight, no one has yet demanded to know "who won." At
preschool and primary grade level, kids simply enjoy the social skills
of taking turns and being in the game. How refreshing! The longer it takes
them to wonder who won, the less I worry.
If you would like to receive notification as new Suzuki resources are added to this site, you can send an email to grandma@grandmaskite.com. Your email will not be sold, shared, traded, or used for any other purpose than that which you requested. As it turns out, I have been adding a topic in a parent letter about once a month for my own Suzuki families.
Other Suzuki resources Grandma's Kite:
Pencil exercises, set one for bow hold
Pencil exercises, set two for bow hold
One Little Elephant (left finger strength and flexibility)
Left hand number card "pick up" game
"Home built" violins and ways to use them in group sessions
Reading readiness game "Who Ran Away?"
Reading readiness game "Rhythm Flash "
"Reading Readiness in Music"
Supplementary Music and Midis
Twinkle Rag – a twinkle variation with a new twist on half of the rhythm in Variations A and D. Same four sixteenth notes in a ragtime setting
Daisy Daisy uses a three four twist on "Mississippi without the hot dog." The whole accompaniment is open D and G. The song and bass line can be played as a violin / 'cello duet or on the piano.
For more information on the Monroe Street Fine Arts Center Suzuki program, see Monroe Street Fine Arts Center, http://www.msfac.org/, 2526 Monroe Street, Madison, WI, 608-232-1510, or email grandma@grandmaskite.com.
For more information on Middleton School of Performing Arts, see http://msfac.org
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Email Karen Zethmayr grandma@grandmaskite.com • Teaching Resume • Design Resume