Future Stars Academy — Sample Activity

In this lesson at the Future Stars Academy, Rachael will invite the class to learn about pulse.
Pulse is the steady beat in music — like a heartbeat — that we can clap, tap, and move along to.

We will begin with a lively warm-up to get our bodies ready for music-making. This will include shaking our hands up high and down low, pretending to catch big bubbles by reaching and jumping, and using our fingers to grab tiny bubbles. We will also practise clapping as fast as we can, as loud as we can, and then trying quieter claps, getting used to changing our volume and speed.

After the warm-up, Rachael will introduce the idea of pulse by asking the children to feel their own heartbeat. She will explain that music has a heartbeat too, and we can find it by clapping in time. She will then demonstrate clapping to a steady beat and invite the class to join in.

Next, Rachael will lead a fun activity where the class keeps the pulse to music, first copying her clapping pattern and then trying it by themselves. She will give a count-in — “1, 2, 3, 4” — so everyone starts together, just like musicians in a band.

The lesson will then move into a “follow the leader” body percussion game. Rachael will show different ways to keep the pulse using our laps, claps, shoulders, and even tapping our heads, and the class will copy her actions in time with the music.