“Find the Basket” is a hiding game. You can use it to teach or review dynamics. It's a simple reading song and can be used to have students create B sections or ostinato.

Read the rhythms. If you are teaching solfa, have the students read the melody using solfa. If not, use this melody to practice showing melodic contour - showing how the notes go up and down. This would be a good song to have the students draw the melodic contour.

Choose one student to hide the Easter basket and another student to look for it. The student who is going to hunt for the Easter basket leaves the room while the hider hides it. When the finder returns, the class sings the song, singing softly when they are far away from the basket, and singing louder as they get closer to the basket. The basket must be hidden in plain sight. The game continues until everyone in the class has had a turn to hide the basket or to find it.

Playing and Creating: Have the students choose four treats that they would like to get in an Easter basket and make them into a pattern to say with speech or say and play on non-pitched instruments. Use the patterns as an introduction or an interlude between repetitions of the song.

Print and distribute the melody cards around the room. Have students hunt for them and copy the patterns onto the staff with the same number.

Teacher note: This is not the same audio track but it gives you an idea of the type of dance that would have been danced to this type of music.

This song was sung and shared by Nana - a Canadian who was born in Ghana and lived in Botswana before coming to Canada. View the concept slides to see Ghana on the map and learn about the country. Add the clapping pattern above to the song or have your students create a new clapping pattern to the song.

Add a clapping pattern to the song. Have the students form a circle. Each student should turn to face a partner. The students pat thighs twice, then clap partner’s hands twice. Then they turn to face a new partner on the other side and repeat the actions.