Looking for Valentine’s Day music activities for your students? Here are some fun music games to try with your piano students or music classroom!
In this post, I’ll highlight some fun music theory resources available in my Teachers Pay Teachers store. Follow the links to purchase any of these activities for around $3-4, or buy a bundle to save 25-35%. Or, feel free to use these ideas to create your own games!
There are a variety of resources here–from board games to bingo to puzzles to worksheets. So give the page a scroll and see if you can find just the right thing to keep your students motivated through February.
At the end of this post, I’ll share a free set of puzzles to help your students review notes on the staff.
I release freebies regularly, so consider subscribing to my email list to receive updates on future freebies and resources!
Valentine’s Day Board Games
My students love it when I pull out a new board game. It’s probably the most popular of my Valentine’s Day music activities.
I’ve created four board game sets to be played on this heart-themed board.
Whether you want to review note names, chords, or key signatures, you can print one board, and switch out the cards for the group of students you’re working with.
The cards can be printed on cardstock double-sided and will last for years if treated with care. Each level’s cards are color-coded for easy organization.
Board Game Level 1: Basic Notes
The first board game set reviews basic notes on the staff.
Students will identify the note shown on a card and advance to the space that matches the letter name.
Level 1 covers the notes of the treble staff from Middle C to G, and the bass staff from Bass C to Middle C. This level is ideal for students who have mastered Middle C Position and are moving the left hand down to the C pentascale, also known as the C 5-Finger Position or C Position.
The Level 1 Board Game Set can be purchased here in my TPT store.
Board Game Level 2: Intermediate Notes
The second level of the board game Heart Smart reviews all notes on the staff.
Students will also identify the note on each card just like in Level 1. But in this level, they will be challenged to identify notes anywhere on the treble or bass staff.
Level 2 is considered intermediate level note naming because it covers the entire bass clef and treble clef with a couple of ledger line notes through in. This level is ideal for students who have played in multiple hand positions and are ready to figure out what note they are looking at no matter where it is on the staff!
The Level 2 Board Game Set can be purchased here in my TPT store.
Board Game Level 3: Major Triads
The third level of the board game reviews major triads.
Students will look at a root position major triad on the staff and identify it’s name. For example, the treble clef card shown in the picture would be E major. The student would then move to the closest “E” space.
Major triads included are A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Some triads are shown in the treble staff, and some in the bass staff.
This level is ideal for students who have just begun to explore the world of chords. This is a great way for students who have only played a few triads on the piano (perhaps just C, G, and D major) to absorb the concept of naming the bottom note. As we know, if you name the bottom note of a root position triad, you’ve named the triad itself!
The Level 3 Board Game Set can be purchased here in my TPT store.
Board Game Level 4: Key Signatures
The third level of the board game reviews major key signatures.
In this version, students identify the major key signature on each card and proceed to the nearest corresponding letter.
Major key signatures included: C, D, E, F, G, A, and B major.
The game can also be used for minor key signatures and instructions are included with this set.
This level is ideal for intermediate music students who are learning their first few key signatures. This is a great way to put the “sharp rule” to use! The sharp rule states that if you take the last sharp in a key signature and go up a half step, you’ll land on the tonic (or name) of the major key signature! For example, the bass clef key signature shown in the picture would be B major because the final sharp is an A-sharp.
The Level 4 Board Game Set can be purchased here in my TPT store.
Valentine’s Day Music Board Game Bundle
And if you just can’t decide which set to get, purchase them all in this bundle for a 25% discount!
Valentine’s Day Rhythm Bingo
Onward to more Valentine’s Day music activities!
This resource is my best seller in a Valentine’s Day theme for February rhythm review.
The game works just like traditional bingo, but the teacher will call out rhythms. Students will then need to match the rhythm they heard to the corresponding rhythm on the board.
I love this game because it helps link the note and rest values students see in their method books with the musical rhythms they hear every day. After all, what good is music theory if you can’t apply it to what you’re playing?
The game includes three levels, each progressively harder:
- Level 1 shows the rhythm + picture + words
- Level 2 shows the rhythm + picture
- Level 3 shows the rhythm only
This helps teachers to work with groups of various ages, even combined age groups.
Check out the Valentine’s Day Rhythm Bingo and other versions of this bingo game in my TPT store.
Valentine’s Day Music Composition Activity
I came up with the Compose With Dice activity as I was brainstorming ways to make music composition more fun and approachable for beginning piano students.
My students love to do anything with dice. How do those magic little $0.60 cubes make everything more fun?!
I have a whole blog post dedicated to how to use Compose With Dice if you’d like to really dive in. But in summary, students are given a shell of a song (lyrics, left hand, and rhythm done for them), and they roll the dice to determine what each right hand melody note will be.
The benefits of this activity are endless! Students are reviewing so much more than just composing. Here are just some of the music theory concepts involved in Compose With Dice:
- 5-finger major scales
- Identifying notes on the treble clef
- Drawing notes on the staff
- Stem direction
- Note and rest values in 4/4 time
- Ear training
- and so much more
Choose from these pentascales (5-finger hand positions): C, G, D, A, and F Major
And each song has a cute picture and engaging lyrics related to Valentine’s Day.
Also included: a “cheat sheet” showing all of the scales and extra worksheets for practice drawing notes on the staff.
Try out Valentine’s Day Compose With Dice for just a few bucks in my TPT store!
Valentine’s Day Flashcard Puzzles
The next of our Valentine’s Day music activities is so versatile and easy to use. I call these “flashcard puzzles” because they take the place of flashcards for a quick and easy review, but the cute pictures and the fact that they are puzzles magically make them way more fun than flashcards.
Sometimes you need an independent activity for a student to work on without your assistance. These puzzles are perfect for a student who needs to work independently!
This puzzle set comes with 90 puzzles, so there’s something for every student (not just the basic notes)!
The puzzles feature adorable Valentine’s-themed clipart.
Included in the set:
- Piano key names
- Notes on the staff
- Ledger line notes on the staff
- Intervals on the staff (harmonic and melodic)
- Musical symbols
Print only the pages you want to work on. You can even have the student cut out their own puzzles if they need some additional review [or you need them to stay occupied a little longer].
Grab these fun little Valentine’s Day Flashcard Puzzles for a few dollars in my TPT store.
February A-Note-A-Day Mini Book
While this one isn’t technically a Valentine’s Day music activity, my February Note-a-day Mini Book celebrates all through the month with little Valentine-themed icons on every page.
Here’s how the mini book works:
- Choose the appropriate level for your student.
- Print and assemble the mini book.
- The student will name one note per day throughout the month of February.
- Students will also collect “clues” to a final Valentine’s Day joke at the end of the book.
I have had such great success with these little magical book. Because here’s the thing, students can’t wait to pull out their “page of the day” and in doing so, they are accessing their piano books. And while they’re there…might as well practice, too!
For students that have a had a couple of I-didn’t-even-open-my-piano-books weeks in a row, I like to try something like this to motivate them (and frankly remind them that piano exists).
If you’re curious about trying this mini book, check out the demo video and sample pages shown on the February A-Note-A-Day Mini Book product page on TPT.
Valentine’s Day Music Worksheets
The final category of Valentine’s Day music activities is music theory worksheets. (Keep reading because the freebie is next up.)
There are five worksheet packs to choose from:
- Piano Keys Valentine’s Day Music Worksheets
- Musical Alphabet Valentine’s Day Music Worksheets
- Finger Numbers Valentine’s Day Music Worksheets
- Music Math (Note Values) Valentine’s Day Music Worksheets
- Note Naming Valentine’s Day Music Worksheets
Or you can save 25% by buying the Valentine’s Day Music Worksheets Bundle.
Valentine’s Day Heart Note Puzzles [Free Printable]
And finally a freebie for February! This is the last of my Valentine’s Day music activities and an easy win for students who need a little note review
These broken heart note puzzles feature basic notes on the staff. Students match the note picture to the letter name.
And you can download this puzzle set for free in my TeachersPayTeachers store!
Thank you for being a reader of my blog. I hope to create more freebies in the future.
Check out some of my current freebies on the Resources page.
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