5 fun music classroom activities for teaching In the Hall of the Mountain King

Are you looking for music classroom activities to go along with teaching In the Hall of the Mountain King? This is one of those go to pieces of music I love to share. Read below to see how you can use these activities in your music classrooms.

In the Hall of the Mountain King for Kindergarten and 1st grade

Follow the leader

Truly a favorite in kindergarten and 1st grade is Edvard Grieg’s “In the Hall of the Mountain King.” Kindergarten and first-grade students have a great imagination to tap into this adventure. 

After introducing the storyline, students sneak through the mountain on tiptoe to escape the trolls and safely run back to their spot at the end. 

Safely of course is the key. This can happen by establishing your rules for safety beforehand. To keep them from running anywhere, I use follow the leader and wind them around the music room. It works best to time it so they are pretty close to their spots at the end. This way they don’t have far to go to find their spot at the end. The spot becomes a home. If you reach home, then you have successfully escaped the trolls.  

You can add to the fun by creating a pathway to wind through by using taller tubano drums as objects to wind around and duck from a troll along the way. 

Romantic Era

Create a word wall with 6 terms from the Romantic Era that highlight music composition. Composers in the Romantic Era wanted to break free from the constraints of rules and form that came from previous eras. Instead, they composed music inspired by their imagination and emotions. Composer were able to paint a picture with orchestral instruments and their pieces continue to inspire a century later. Grab 6 posters for free!

Body Percussion Music Classroom Activities

This piece just begs to be put to body percussion. An easy way to teach elementary music students is to use the motions to “Head and Shoulder Knees and Toes.”  Simply use alternating right and left-hand taps on the head, shoulders, and knees and then both together on the toes.  

• Head – right/left
• Shoulders – right/left
• Knees – right/left
• Toes – both (repeat knees and toes 2 more times)

You can expand this activity for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade to students creating their own ideas for body percussion. Pick a couple of parameters to use such as pat, stomp, clap, snap, and high, medium, and low positions. Have students work in groups and each group can present their ideas to the class. You may also want to take the best ideas and put them together as part of a performance. There are some really amazing YouTube videos to get ideas from. 

Listening map for In the Hall of the Mountain King

You can create a simple one-page listening map for In the Hall of the Mountain King by showing the rhythm pattern for the main theme and the number for how many times the theme repeats. If you want to add a bit more, show how the theme goes back and forth between the strings to other orchestral instruments all the while growing in dynamics from piano to fortississimo. Plus you can add an ending mixed with drums. 

Music Theme and Variations

This makes a great music theme and variations lesson for Middle school students. A detailed listening map can show the texture of instruments and how it changes with each repeated theme. The best way to build this is by viewing the score in the public domain to see details of the music theme and variations through instruments, rhythms, accents, texture, harmony, and dynamics. Have students work in groups to create their own listening map. Each group can be assigned a chunk of the score to show how the theme varies with each repeat. Combine all the ideas together to see a completed detailed listening map. 

Music Escape Room Music Classroom Activities

Music Escape rooms are great for older grades and for adding detailed information.  To turn “In the Hall of the Mountain King into a music escape room activity add information on the composer, Edvard Grieg, the scene from Henrick Ibsen’s play, Peer Gynt, where the incidental music occurs, and program notes on the piece. 

Then you can draw from this information to create escape tasks. Create tasks that will have students interacting with the reading materials and lead them to retain the information you want them to learn. Here are some task ideas:  

• crossword puzzle
• word search
• unscramble letters
• Matching worksheets

More details and ideas to creating a music escape room can be seen on this blog, 5 Great Ways to Turn Danse Macabre into Halloween Music Escape Room. 

I hope you’re inspired with fun music classroom activities. You can take a peek here to see my music escape room on Edvard Grieg’s In the Hall of the Mountain King.