These 12 activities use the story and the music of The Nutcracker. They need paper, pencils, floor space, and a way to play the music. Each one takes 10 to 20 minutes. They work at home, in a homeschool week, or in an elementary music class.
Do three or four before a trip to the ballet, and one or two after.
Listening activities
1. Tick off the dances. Print the Nutcracker listening map. Play one dance a day and tick it off. Eight dances fill a week and a day.
2. Name that sweet. Play the Spanish, Arabian, Chinese, and Russian dances in a mixed order. Your child calls out chocolate, coffee, tea, or candy cane. Start with two dances for a young child.
3. Find the celesta. Play “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.” Your child raises a hand each time the bell sound plays. Then read about the celesta.
4. Fast or slow, loud or soft. Play the Russian Dance and the Arabian Dance back to back. Ask which is faster and which is quieter. Use the words from the tempo and dynamics word cards.
Movement activities
5. March like the children. Play the March. March on the beat, and freeze each time the strings rush upward.
6. Snowflake scarves. Play “Waltz of the Snowflakes.” Give each child a scarf or a tissue. Float it at the start and whirl it when the music speeds up.
7. Toy soldiers and mice. Half the group moves like stiff toy soldiers. The other half creeps like mice. Call “switch” every 20 seconds.
8. Make up a sweet. Each child picks a treat that the ballet left out, such as popcorn or ice cream. They make up a short dance for it and show it to the group.
Story and paper activities
9. Story map. Fold a sheet of paper into six boxes. Draw one scene in each: the party, the gift, midnight, the battle, the snow, and the Land of Sweets. Use The Nutcracker story for kids as the guide.
10. Character match. Write six character names on cards and six clues on other cards, such as “wears a crown” or “makes clocks and toys.” Match them up. The list of Nutcracker characters has the clues.
11. Draw what you hear. Play “Waltz of the Flowers” and hand out a listening journal page. Your child draws the picture the music brings to mind. There is no wrong answer.
12. Nutcracker bingo. Make cards with the listening bingo maker. Use the names of the dances and the instruments: harp, celesta, flute, trumpet, tambourine, and bells. Play the music and cover each square as it comes.
A plan for one week
| Day | Activity | Music |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Read the story and start the story map | March |
| Tuesday | March like the children | March |
| Wednesday | Find the celesta | Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy |
| Thursday | Name that sweet | Spanish, Arabian, Chinese, and Russian dances |
| Friday | Snowflake scarves and draw what you hear | Waltz of the Snowflakes and Waltz of the Flowers |
For a classroom
A class of 25 can do activities 5, 6, 7, and 12 with no changes. For the paper activities, put children in pairs. One 30-minute lesson holds one listening activity and one movement activity.
The eight dances of the Nutcracker Suite last about 20 minutes in all. That fits one lesson with time to talk.
After the ballet
Ask which dance was the favorite, and play it again. Ask what was different from the story you read. Many companies change the ending, the costumes, or the name of the girl.
Then let your child put on a show at home. A sheet makes a curtain, and a wooden spoon makes a nutcracker.
Print and play
Print the Nutcracker listening map and the December listening calendar. The Nutcracker Suite listening guide says what to hear in each dance.
For a first trip to the theater, read taking kids to The Nutcracker ballet.
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Use it with your kids
Print a listening page, a practice chart, or a composer fact sheet. Or try a tool, such as the composer timeline or the piece picker.