Rainbow Robber (rhythm game)

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Players: Materials: 2 players one laminated game board, six coins, two dice, 18 playing cards

Musical Objective: To reinforce recognition of note values in 4/4 time

Game Objective: To steal coins from an opponent’s pot of gold

Setting It Up: Players should sit beside one another with the deck of cards placed between. Each player should have a die. Three coins should be placed over the squirrel image and three coins should be placed over the leprechaun image.

Playing The Game:
1) To begin, one player removes the top card from the deck and flips it over to reveal an image of a note value.
2) At this point, the game becomes a race. Step 3 below, while explained for Player 1 only, will be performed by both players simultaneously.
3) As soon as the note value in Step 1 is revealed, Player 1 determines the number of beats the note value receives in 4/4 time and then attempts to roll the corresponding number on her die.
4) The first player to roll the corresponding number on her die wins the round. If the winner is the student, a coin is taken from the leprechaun’s pot of gold and placed on the squirrel’s pot of gold. If the winner is the teacher, a coin is taken from the squirrel’s pot of gold and placed on the leprechaun’s pot of gold.
5) Players repeat Steps 1 to 4 until all of the coins have been removed from one pot of gold (the player who has lost all of her coins loses) or all cards are removed from the deck (the player with the most coins wins).

*To speed this game up I give my students 3 rolls with the dice to try to match the note value, and myself one try (they usually win quickly!). No dice? No problem! My students have been obsessed with this free virtual dice from the app store.