Fast Hands (Good Ears) Game

"Fast Hands" will help your child master the concept of stepping up/down, challenge their listening skills and help them become more familiar with the music alphabet order. To play "fast hands" have your child line up their Music Alphabet cards or magnet letters in order (ABCDEFGABCDEFG.) Then have them cover up the "A" in the middle with their hand. Call out several commands in succession to "step up" (to the right) or "step down" (to the left) in random order as they move their hand to cover the correct notes. Start out slowly and as they master the task, increase the speed & # of commands before rewarding them for ending on the correct letter.
For example if the child begins with their hand on "A" and you say "Step down, step down, step up," they should end on G. Once they have mastered this game,  increase the difficulty with skips.

Fast Hands

 I have the students place a picture of cow on the left as they "moo" with a low voice to reinforce the idea of low notes on the left.  On the right is the picture of a bird who "tweets" with a high voice and flies high in the sky.  For added learning you could play the corresponding notes on the piano so they can hear the directional changes as they move their hands.