6 ‘Easy Peasy’ Yet Fun Ways To Introduce The Nutcracker Ballet To Primary Schoolers
See below for a Free Printable Pack to go with the post.
Can you think of anything more fun to watch during the Christmas season, than the Nutcracker?
This Tchaikovsky creation I believe is a ‘homeschool mom’ favourite and in today’s post, I thought I should focus on how you as a homeschool mom can use the Nutcracker to get your primary school aged kids into appreciating music.
Once you are done reading this post, please don’t forget to download the age appropriate worksheets I have made available so you can take your kids’ learning to the next level.
Ready?
Shall we get started?
Live Performance
If you are lucky enough to live in a big city like New York and have the budget, the first and best thing to do this season is try to bag tickets to watch the Nutcracker.
If that is not possible due to budget constraints, then opt for more local productions that are cheaper.
Worried about going to the theatre? No worries I’m sure you can find many different productions that will be live streamed.
While it may not be the same as one that you can experience in person, I’m sure your kids will still love it.
World Music
The Nutcracker ballet consists of movements with Russian and Arabian dancers.
So what better time to get your kids interested in the music of the world?
Why not ask them to cary out an in-depth study of Russian music for instance?
They can first select a specific era and then research about composers from Russia from that era, instruments prevalent in Russian music at the time and much more.
Christmas In Different Cultures
Another variation of the above would be to have them research about Christmas traditions in different countries, the different Christmas music in those countries and much more.
While it may not be directly related to the Nutcracker ballet itself, these activities will still take your kids on an amazing musical journey.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Ask your primary school aged kids to create a poster board detailing the early childhood, education, and compositions of Tchaikovsky.
They can take it a step further and even create a playlist of all his compositions and learn about his style and how he contributed to music during his era.
Instrument Study
The Nutcracker Ballet features several different instruments.
Therefore, you can use this opportunity to introduce your kids to all those instruments, the instrument families they belong to, the origins and the evolution of the instruments and much more.
Don’t forget to download and use my printables to help you with many of these activities.
Create Your Own
Last but not least, I think this will be one of the most popular activities.
Your kids will love to get their creative juices flowing and create their own ballet.
It doesn’t have to be perfect. Ask them to create a storyline, add some music to it.
Next they can choreograph it and perform it.
Christmas is not far off, so you’d better get started with these activities.
Which one of these would you be implementing first?
Karen Cadera
Founder/Creator
Mom, Teacher, Minimalist, Zero Waste Enthusiast, Multi Pod.
My daughter loved the games, but there were also worksheets and videos. The weekly lesson plans were complete, and I never questioned what I should be doing next.
This program reminded me (and allowed me to teach my son) how to read music. To me, that was the most important thing that we learned together. Of course, it was very rewarding for me to watch my son play the piano with both hands at the same time, while reading sheet music. His favorite parts of the course were actually playing the songs and doing the worksheets provided.
Download the FREE Nutcracker Ballet Worksheets
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