The 2020 Musical Olympics!

The 2020 Musical Olympics!
The 2020 Musical Olympics!

Looking for a fun activity that your student can do while you’re teaching online?

How about running your own Musical Olympics? 

I’ve put together a choice-board style list of Olympic events that your students can enter. They can pick which ones they’d like to do and there are plenty of “novelty” options, so everyone is in with a chance of winning a medal!

How does it work?

  1. Provide your students with a list of events. You can use my example, or create your own.
  2. I’ve suggested that each student enter a minimum of 3 events each. They can enter more than 3 if they like!
  3. Students will submit their entries as a video (I highly recommend Flipgrid for this) and they should include their own name, plus the name of the event in the video title
  4. If your students are unable to submit videos, then they can create audio recordings instead
  5. Give the students an entry deadline, but make it a generous one in case they don’t have access to a device at all times
  6. After all of the entries have been received, you can select a bronze, silver and gold medal winner in each event (you might choose to award a single medal for each one if you have a smaller group of students)

Olympic events

Here are some suggested events. I’ve included these on a nice-looking downloadable choice board which you can use with your students.

  • Lowest note – sung [must be sustained for at least 4 seconds]
  • Highest note – sung [must be sustained for at least 4 seconds]
  • Lowest note – played on an instrument [must be sustained for at least 4 seconds]
  • Highest note – played on an instrument [must be sustained for at least 4 seconds]
  • Longest note – sung
  • Longest note – played on an instrument 
  • Fastest & most accurate performance of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star 
  • Fastest & most accurate performance of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star BACKWARDS (in retrograde)
  • Most consistent tone – played (sustained for 8 seconds)
  • Most consistent tone – sung (sustained for 8 seconds)
  • Most interesting or unusual sound made by your instrument
  • Most interesting or unusual sound made by your voice
  • Fastest and most accurate performance of the tongue-twister “She Sells Sea Shells By The Sea Shore”
  • Most inventive performance of your national anthem
  • Best beat-boxing performance of a drum pattern [must be a minimum of 4 measures long]
  • Best body percussion performance of a drum pattern [must be a minimum of 4 measures long]

Notes about the events

  • Lowest note and highest note events: I realise that a bass instrument automatically has a higher chance of winning the “lowest note” event and a melody instrument has a big chance of winning the “highest note” event and so on, but you never know who will enter each event. One of the “higher” instruments may end up with the best entry for the lowest note! 
  • You may like to have awards for different categories in each event. If you have a large group of students, consider awarding medals for each instrument family or each voice group in a choir.
  • There are a number of “novelty” events which could be won by any instrument or voice, so there are plenty of chances to win!

Awards

You could award the winners a digital 2020 Musical Olympics medal image, or a digital certificate or some kind. Another option is to allow the gold medal winners to choose the next online learning event that you’ll do (from a list that you provide).

I hope you enjoy running your Musical Olympics!

Download your copy

Would you like to take a copy of The Musical Olympics choice-board with you? Click the button below and a copy of this will be sent directly into your inbox.

The 2020 Musical Olympics!

Looking for More Resources for Music Teachers?

Hello! I’m Katie Argyle – an Australian music technology trainer and consultant with a passion for helping music teachers through my business Midnight Music.

I’m a qualified teacher but no, I don’t currently teach in a school. I help teachers through my online professional development space – the Midnight Music Community – where there are tutorial videos, courses, links and downloadable resources.

MMC Mockup new

I like to focus on easy ways to incorporate technology into what you are already doing in your music curriculum through a range of creative projects. I also run live workshops and have presented at countless conferences and other music education events.

If you want simple, effective ideas for using technology in music education, I would LOVE to help you inside the Midnight Music Community.

Learn more and take a sneak peek inside

6 Comments

  1. Missouri T Smyth April 16, 2020 at 10:17 am - Reply

    Hi Katie, I am having trouble downloading the Olympics Template. When I ‘click’ on the Download Button, I get the ‘Wheel of Eternity’.

    Please help!

    • Katie May 18, 2020 at 12:12 pm - Reply

      Maybe try again? It could be your internet bandwidth perhaps. I haven’t had anyone else report issues (and hundreds of teachers have downloaded it!)

  2. Christina Kampler May 1, 2020 at 12:33 am - Reply

    I started this activity this past week and it’s a HUGE hit!!! The students are responding at an amazing rate and I’m having SO much fun watching their submissions. Thank you so much, Katie!!

    • Katie May 1, 2020 at 11:08 am - Reply

      That’s SO good to hear Christina (and thank you for the mention on Twitter!). I was inspired by a music olympics activity I did at school when I was a teen (in the 80s…!). I remember it being a lot of fun then and I won the “longest sung note” event

  3. Cynthia June 12, 2020 at 10:28 pm - Reply

    Hi Katie,
    Just wondering what program you used to create the graphic design of your Musical Olympics?
    Thanks,
    Cynthia

    • Katie June 29, 2020 at 2:02 pm - Reply

      Hi Cynthia – I used Canva. Almost all of the images you see on my website and resources are made with Canva.

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