Pitch Activity Book - Tinker Tailor

The 'Tinker Tailor' activity book provides a delightful and engaging approach to teaching children the fundamentals of rhythm and melody through interactive games. One of the games involves partners bouncing a ball to each other in time to the pulse of the "Tinker, Tailor" rhyme. This game not only helps children practice timing but also develops their coordination as they catch and bounce the ball on specific words of the rhyme. For an added challenge, the game can be played in canon, with one pair starting the rhyme on "Tinker, Tailor" and the second pair joining in on "Rich man," creating an overlapping musical effect.

Another variant of the game is played in a circle, where one child stands in the middle and bounces the ball to each child in turn. The circle game sharpens the children's anticipation and quick thinking as they tap their knees and hands in rhythm, maintaining a steady beat. As an extension, the children can form semi-circles and play the game in canon. The activity book also introduces the concept of solfa, where children repeatedly sing a melody using the notes Do, Mi, and So, embedding these intervals in their memory. Once familiar with these notes, they can play the melody on chime bars and even try playing in canon. The book goes on to introduce a new note, Dodi (Do), personified as a friendly lady, to help children remember her pitch and character. The children can then create and copy patterns using So, Mi, and Do, and advance to silent patterns where they internalise the melody and sing it back without an initial prompt, enhancing their listening and pitch-matching skills.