The Nutcracker Holiday Music Lessons Bundle: Engaging Fluffy Activities for K-2

Stop struggling with holiday chaos! This bundle provides two stress-free, high-engagement Nutcracker holiday music lessons for Kindergarten through 2nd Grade, focusing entirely on movement and listening skills with Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker.

These are “Fluffy Lessons”—meaning minimal teacher setup, no thinking involved for you or your students, and maximum fun! Simply show the included resources, and watch your students learn.

Your Go-To Nutcracker Holiday Music Lessons for K-2

This bundle combines Waltz of the Flowers and Russian Dance lessons, focusing on crucial elementary music concepts:

1. Waltz of the Flowers: Mastering Meter of Three

This engaging lesson helps students move beyond simple duple meter (two and four) to understand the meter of three (Waltz).

• Learning Goals: Students will understand the difference between meters of two/four and three, recognize Waltz music, and move to the strong and weak beats.
• Active Listening: Students use active listening (Clap, Pat, Pat) to identify the strong beat.
• Movement Exploration: Includes instructions and videos for teaching the Waltz dance (no-touch method) and a beautiful Scarf Movement activity that uses the strong beat.
• Tchaikovsky Fun Facts: A slide deck is included with fun facts about the composer to enhance the lesson.

2. Russian Dance: Form and Rhythmic Movement

This bouncy, engaging lesson uses a rhythmic bouncy ball activity to teach musical form.

• Learning Goals: Students will identify and recognize the musical form (AABBCCAA) of the Russian Dance.
• Bouncy Ball Activity: A super fun, low-prep activity where students use bouncy balls in a circle to execute different rhythmic patterns (bounce, pass, march, toss) across the sections of the music.
• Flexible Options: Provides options for students to perform the activity standing or sitting down, and includes notation for teacher review of rhythms (quarter rest and half rest).

Why Teachers Love This Bundle:

• No-Prep Fluffy Lessons: Literally zero teaching needed—just show the included slides and video examples and facilitate student movement.
• K-2 Alignment: Perfect for Kindergarten Music, 1st Grade, and 2nd Grade Movement Lessons.
• Built-in Resources: Lesson plans include great discussion questions, links to recommended Waltz videos, and a scarf movement video from Jeanette’s YouTube channel.

Bring the magic of the ballet into your music class with zero holiday stress. Get your students moving, listening, and experiencing Tchaikovsky today with these essential Nutcracker holiday music lessons!