Christmas and Holidays in the Music Room

Well this is, without a doubt the WEIRDEST Christmas season in the music room, BUT I'm determined to make the most of it! I'm writing this on the night before Thanksgiving and I still don't know whether I'm going back in December in the hybrid mode or continuing to try and figure virtual learning out. But either way, I'm going to look on the bright side so let's talk about my five FAVORITE activities for Christmas time in the music room!

1. Holiday Sing-a-long!
One of my go-to traditions in the music room is a school wide holiday sing-a-long! We usually gather in the gym for the jolliest sing-a-long you've ever seen and maybe we'll somehow figure it out for this year too! Are any of you doing a sing-a-long still? If so, how are you pulling it off? Let me know in the comments! If you need a presentation and karaoke playlist for your sing-a-long, click here. 

2. Elf on the Music Room Shelf
I wrote a whole blog post about this, that you can check out here, but I am absolutely determined to do this for my youngest kiddos even if we have to do it virtually. I think building a classroom culture is every bit as important in the music room as anywhere else in school and our elf on the shelf tradition is going help with that so much! I'll keep you posted!

3. Virtual Field Trip to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party in Disney World
Ok so recently we've been obsessed with virtual field trips in my classroom and this one is especially famous in my room. Especially during distance learning, this has been a life saver. The kids LOVE this so much and it keeps even my young kids engaged while working on their own. Scoop it up for yourself here if you want! 

4. Musical Spots
This is probably the silliest thing to tell you about, but honestly my kids LOVE this! While we've been in the hybrid model, my students have to sit 6 feet apart and we use little number spots to keep our distance. For musical spots we move them into a circle and play musical chairs with our spots as an excuse to get in a little movement and listen to our favorite holiday music. I especially recommend Lindsey Stirling's Christmas album for this! 

5. The Nutcracker
I have the perfect video for you. Seriously, you'll be obsessed. I showed this to my firsties this week and the kids were ROLLING with laughter.  This year we're also trying out this Nutcracker Interactive Story book that I'll have to keep you posted on!

What are your classroom holiday traditions? Are you finding a way to make them work with distance learning? Let me know in the comments!