Echo Clapping

You will need:

a medium-sized play space

What to do:

have children sit in front of you or in a circle

discuss the concept of an echo

then encourage children to listen to the rhythm of your clapping and then try to repeat it just like an echo!

try having only one child at a time repeat the rhythm to avoid chaos and to focus on the echo

when children are proficient, do activity as a whole group

keep rhythm patterns simple and only one or two bars at first

Sample Rhythm Patterns:

echo clapping is best done by setting down a rhythm and having the children copy it by clapping it back as soon as you have completed it

clapping can be done with assorted beats

one clap =

one beat

(1)

two quick claps =

one beat

(ii)

skipping a clap =

-spread hands apart for beat and don't clap

one beat (or rest)

(z)

Leader: 1 1 1 1	Echo: 1 1 1 1
Leader: 1 ii 1 1	Echo: 1 ii 1 1
Leader: 1 1 Z Z	Echo: 1 1 Z Z
Leader: ii ii 1 1	Echo: ii ii 1 1
Leader: 1 ii 1 ii	Echo: 1 ii 1 ii
Leader: 1 Z ii Z	Echo: 1 Z ii Z