Spring Manipulatives

Today I’m going to focus on rhythmic concepts that you can teach using the bunny and chick erasers shown below, which I snagged at Target for a dollar a package. I don’t know how often Target sells the same items from the year prior, but I was happy to see these little erasers again this year.

These manipulatives would be great as a center activity. You could have 4-6 students sharing the manipulatives and creating their own rhythm patterns. In the example above, I’ve laid out a four-beat rhythm pattern in which the chick equals a quarter note and the bunnies equal barred eighths. Students can create their own rhythm patterns and share them with the rest of their group when they’re finished. If your students don’t yet know the names of each rhythm, you can have students call out the names of the objects using a steady beat (e.g. chick-bunnies-chick-bunnies).If your students need more practice writing rhythms, click the image below to download a free rhythm worksheet.