--- title: February FUN! - Lunar New Year ~ Valentine's Day ~ Black History Month description: It's tough to decide what to focus on in February!  Whether you want to celebrate Lunar New Year, Valentine's Day or Black History Month, MusicplayOnline has everything! image: https://blog.musicplay.ca/hubfs/Having%20Fun%20in%20the%20Music%20Classroom%20in%20February%20Cover.png --- [![musicplay-logo](https://blog.musicplay.ca/hs-fs/hubfs/musicplay-logo-2.png?width=2701&height=877&name=musicplay-logo-2.png "musicplay-logo")](http://musicplay.ca) Open main menu Close main menu [Blog Posts](https://blog.musicplay.ca/tag/blog-posts) # February FUN! - Lunar New Year ~ Valentine's Day ~ Black History Month [Denise Gagne](https://blog.musicplay.ca/author/denise-gagne) [Share this blog post on Twitter](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=I+found+this+interesting+blog+post&url=https://blog.musicplay.ca/february-fun-lunar-new-year-valentines-day-black-history-month) [Share this blog post on Facebook](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://blog.musicplay.ca/february-fun-lunar-new-year-valentines-day-black-history-month) ![](https://blog.musicplay.ca/hubfs/Having%20Fun%20in%20the%20Music%20Classroom%20in%20February%20Cover.png) It's tough to decide what to focus on in February!  Whether you want to celebrate Lunar New Year, Valentine's Day or Black History Month --- or ALL of them, MusicplayOnline has units, songs in the song list and listening activities for you. ### Lunar New Year Lunar New Year started Jan. 22, but it's not too late to do a fun lesson on the Chinese Zodiac   UNITS - Lunar New Year  ![The Chinese Zodiac](https://blog.musicplay.ca/hubfs/Screen%20Shot%202023-01-24%20at%208-05-00%20PM-png.png) Look up your year!  ![Chinese Zodiac years and animals](https://blog.musicplay.ca/hubfs/Screen%20Shot%202023-01-24%20at%208-05-48%20PM-png.png) Teach a song with animal effects - play the effects on instruments or have fun with vocal effects. ![Animals of the Zodiac song](https://blog.musicplay.ca/hubfs/Screen%20Shot%202023-01-24%20at%208-10-23%20PM-png.png) Create a B Section with word rhythms - Easy ![Word rhythm composition interactive](https://blog.musicplay.ca/hubfs/Screen%20Shot%202023-01-24%20at%208-07-30%20PM-png.png) Create a B section with all the animals ![Word rhythm composition hard](https://blog.musicplay.ca/hubfs/Screen%20Shot%202023-01-24%20at%208-07-44%20PM-png.png) Create a B Section with sound effects ![Sound word rhythm interactive](https://blog.musicplay.ca/hubfs/Screen%20Shot%202023-01-24%20at%208-07-37%20PM-png.png) There are worksheets, printable manipulatives, solfa/note name practice, piano accompaniment - great lesson! ### Valentine's Day [Rig-a-Jig Jig](https://musicplayonline.com/songs/rig-a-jig-jig/?) - A fun song about friends!  ![Rig a jig jig notation](https://blog.musicplay.ca/hubfs/Screen%20Shot%202023-01-24%20at%208-26-31%20PM-png.png) Valentine's is a good time to talk about friendship in class and encourage the students to be friendly with all! The clap game has a kids demo.  The students in the class form a circle (or two circles).  ![children demoing the song game](https://blog.musicplay.ca/hs-fs/hubfs/Screen%20Shot%202023-01-24%20at%208-27-10%20PM-png.png?width=467&height=270&name=Screen%20Shot%202023-01-24%20at%208-27-10%20PM-png.png) The class sings the verse softly while the first student walks slowly around the circle looking for a partner. The first student chooses a partner after the words "a friend of mine I chanced to meet." The singing becomes louder as the two students skip around the outside of the circle. At the next verse, they both walk alone and both choose new partners. Continue until all students in the class are chosen.  There are too many Valentine favorites to describe them all. Search "Valentine" for all the related songs, units and activitiesl. A few more of my favorites include: - in PreK, but can use for PK, K, 1 - "[I like Valentines.](https://musicplayonline.com/songs/i-like-valentines-2/?)" - This is a simple echo song, so easy to teach in 1 lesson. - in K, but can use for PK, K, 1 - Another "[I Like Valentines](https://musicplayonline.com/songs/i-like-valentines/?)" - dynamic contrast, so good loud/quiet practice - in Gr. 1 - "[I Like You](https://musicplayonline.com/songs/i-like-you/?)" - this has Valentine word option OR friend word option.  Always a favorite, with many rhythm reading extensions include word rhythm composition, 1 or 2 sounds, and matching worksheet/manipulatives - in Gr. 2 - "[I Sent a Valentine](https://musicplayonline.com/songs/i-sent-a-valentine/?)" - fun chase game that kids love. - in Gr. 2 but use with 2-5 - "[Tony Chestnut](https://musicplayonline.com/songs/tony-chestnut/?)" - Great tempo teaching song and FUN!!! - in Gr. 3 - "[Love Somebody](https://musicplayonline.com/songs/love-somebody/?)" - great song for working on 16th note rhythms.  I play this as a chase game.  FUN!!! - Love Somebody has many beat/rhythm extensions including sounds on a beat (to label 16ths), Rhythm Sort and Rhythm Erase. - In Gr. 4 - lovely traditional round, "[Make New Friends](https://musicplayonline.com/songs/make-new-friends/?)" - In JJ [Songs for a Brighter World](https://musicplayonline.com/units-list/songs-for-a-brighter-world/?) - Friends Forever, and Sing-A-Long are great friendship songs for upper elementary - UNITS - Valentine's Day - has many great activities - What Makes a Good Friend and Valentine themed Recorder Mad Minutes and interactive ### Black History Month African American Singing Games and African Songs from Our Musical World. ![List of singing games](https://blog.musicplay.ca/hs-fs/hubfs/Screen%20Shot%202023-01-24%20at%208-55-17%20PM-png.png?width=540&height=588&name=Screen%20Shot%202023-01-24%20at%208-55-17%20PM-png.png) Choral Music - Hymn to Freedom by Oscar Peterson is an amazing and uplifting song by a Canadian Jazz icon! A longer lesson on Oscar Peterson can be found in Lesson 16 - January Week 1 - Middle School ![List of choral selections](https://blog.musicplay.ca/hubfs/Screen%20Shot%202023-01-24%20at%208-55-26%20PM-png.png) Spirituals   Read a 2009 article in NAfME journal about spirituals. [https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0027432109351686?journalCode=mejc](http://report.mnb.email/t.js?s=63d0ad742f6c4b42771a55fd&u=47841397&v=3&key=c1a7&skey=ef05c44479&url=https%3A%2F%2Fjournals.sagepub.com%2Fdoi%2Fabs%2F10.1177%2F0027432109351686%3FjournalCode%3Dmejc) ![List of spirituals](https://blog.musicplay.ca/hubfs/Screen%20Shot%202023-01-24%20at%208-55-42%20PM-png.png) NEW - John Jacobson Biopic on Scott Joplin ![Scott Joplin biopic](https://blog.musicplay.ca/hubfs/Screen%20Shot%202023-01-24%20at%208-49-27%20PM-png.png) John Jacobson song - Maple Leaf Rag   The lyrics teach about Scott Joplin - set to the Maple Leaf Rag ![Maple leaf rag lyrics](https://blog.musicplay.ca/hubfs/Screen%20Shot%202023-01-24%20at%208-51-51%20PM-png.png) John Jacobson choreography for Maple Leaf Rag ![Maple Leaf Rag choreography](https://blog.musicplay.ca/hubfs/Screen%20Shot%202023-01-24%20at%208-52-19%20PM-png.png)   Earn PD and watch our webinar on Lunar New Year, Valentine's Day and Black History Month for FREE on [Musicplay Workshops](https://workshops.musicplay.ca/courses/having-fun-in-the-music-classroom-in-february-valentines-day-and-black-history-month-webinar-with-denise-gagne/lessons/watch-the-webinar-here/)! ![Having Fun in the Music Classroom in February Cover](https://blog.musicplay.ca/hs-fs/hubfs/Having%20Fun%20in%20the%20Music%20Classroom%20in%20February%20Cover.png?width=1000&height=500&name=Having%20Fun%20in%20the%20Music%20Classroom%20in%20February%20Cover.png)   ### Leave a Comment ## Related Articles [Blog Posts](https://blog.musicplay.ca/tag/blog-posts) ### [Orff and Drum for Valentine's Day](https://blog.musicplay.ca/orff-and-drum-for-valentines-day) ### Join our Free Wednesday Webinar! ##### **Valentine's Day with Orff and Drum | January 31, 2024** Sign up here: **[...](https://workshops.musicplay.ca/courses/valentines-day-with-orff-and-drum/)** [Carey-Lyn Gould](https://blog.musicplay.ca/author/carey-lyn-gould) [Read More](https://blog.musicplay.ca/orff-and-drum-for-valentines-day) [![](https://blog.musicplay.ca/hubfs/Screenshot%202024-02-05%20at%204.23.08%20PM.png)](https://blog.musicplay.ca/valentines-day-unit-on-musicplayonline-1) [Blog Posts](https://blog.musicplay.ca/tag/blog-posts) ### [Valentine's Day Unit on MusicplayOnline](https://blog.musicplay.ca/valentines-day-unit-on-musicplayonline-1) With Valentine's Day quickly approaching, our Valentine's Day Unit offers a wonderful collection of activities and resources for your classroom. Find songs related to... [Carey-Lyn Gould](https://blog.musicplay.ca/author/carey-lyn-gould) [Read More](https://blog.musicplay.ca/valentines-day-unit-on-musicplayonline-1) #### Our Products - [MusicplayOnline](https://musicplayonline.com) - [Musicplay Store](https://store.musicplay.ca) - [Musicplay Downloads](https://downloads.musicplay.ca) - [Musicplay Workshops](https://workshops.musicplay.ca) - [Musicplay Help](https://help.musicplay.ca) Follow us on Facebook Follow us on LinkedIn Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Instagram ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Denise Gagne", "url" : "https://blog.musicplay.ca/author/denise-gagne" }, "dateModified" : "2023-01-27T21:00:00.474Z", "datePublished" : "2023-01-27T21:00:00.000Z", "headline" : "February FUN! - Lunar New Year ~ Valentine's Day ~ Black History Month", "image" : [ "https://blog.musicplay.ca/hubfs/Having%20Fun%20in%20the%20Music%20Classroom%20in%20February%20Cover.png" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://blog.musicplay.ca/february-fun-lunar-new-year-valentines-day-black-history-month", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://blog.musicplay.ca/hubfs/musicplay-logo-2.png" }, "name" : "Themes & Variations Musicplay" } } ```