Guess Who: Music Instruments

I have planned lots of new music centers for this year and my students have really enjoyed them. I will be blogging more about the centers soon. This first post will be about a modified version of the classic Guess Who.

I scavenged yard sales, consignment shops, and Goodwill all summer on the look out for games that could be modified for music centers. I found two of these electronic Guess Who games for dirt cheap. This version is technically called Guess Who Extra and features 3 rows with 8 windows in each row. One was at Goodwill for $1.50. The other was at a children's consignment shop for $2.50. Over the summer, I saw a pin on Pinterest where someone modified Guess Who to reinforce US presidents and other historical figures. When I saw these versions, I immediately thought of a musical adaptation. This would be a great way to compare and contrast music instruments.

Object

Guess your opponent's mystery instrument before they guess yours.

How To Play

1) Each player slides the plastic window over to secretly select a musical instrument.

2) Players open all the doors to reveal the instruments.

3) Players take turns asking "yes" and "no" questions to help them narrow down the choices of instruments.

 4) Players only have one chance to guess the specific name of the instrument. If they guess wrong, their opponent wins.

I also included an Instrument Fact Sheet to assist students when asking and answering questions.

Before beginning the center rotations, I demonstrate each game. I shared many examples of questions with the students and they took turns asking questions to discover a mystery instrument I selected.

Some example questions included:

Does your instrument belong to the percussion family? (string? woodwind? brass?)

Is your instrument made of wood? (metal? plastic?)

Does your instrument make a pitch?

Do you play your instrument with both hands?

Do you use your mouth to play your instrument?

Could your instrument fit into a backpack?

Does your instrument have a reed?

I also created a game board using the classic version of Guess Who which features 4 rows with 6 windows in each row. This version was manufactured in 2009 or later.  

Both versions of the game are included in one PDF file and are available for download in my TeachersPayTeachers Store. I suggest printing in color on cardstock and laminating for extra protection.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Guess-Who-Music-Instruments-1648985

 Do you have another idea for a Guess Who game? I have blank templates available so that you do not have to do all the precise measuring. All you have to do is fill in the boxes with text and pics. Both templates are available to download and edit using Microsoft Publisher.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Guess-Who-Extra-Template-1649018

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Guess-Who-6-x-4-Template-1649040

I know your students will have fun using Guess Who to learn about instruments and other content. Keep your eyes open at second-hand stores and you can snag the games for super cheap. You may even get some donations by sending out a request to parents. Good luck on your hunt!