Scarf Fun with Brahms and a Little Doggie: A New Movement Activity for the Elementary Musi

Looking to add a fresh, joyful movement activity to your elementary music class that blends classical repertoire, creativity, and purposeful motion? I’ve created a new scarf play-along routine set to Brahms' Hungarian Dance No. 5 — and it's designed to bring smiles, giggles, and musical awareness to your young learners. This version of the piece is performed on piano, not the orchestral version, which helps students clearly hear the musical details and phrasing that guide their movement.

In this activity, students follow a little doggie on screen who runs through fields with a pen, drawing the scarf pathway they'll imitate! The visuals guide students musically and kinesthetically through the piece:

🎶 When they see accents, they toss their scarves in the air.
🎶 When the doggie draws squiggles, they twirl their scarves.
🎶 When the drawing resembles mountains, students swoop their scarves up and down to match the highs and lows.
🎶 When a turtle or a bunny appears, it’s a clue that the tempo is about to slow down or speed up—a great introduction to ritardando and accelerando.

I recommend starting with the slow version so students can learn the movements, then progressing to the faster version to add excitement and deepen their musical responsiveness. And of course, feel free to adjust the playback speed using YouTube’s video settings if you want to customize it for your learners.

Manipulatives

💻 You can find teaching manipulatives to help students anticipate musical changes (and enhance your prep!) at my Buy Me a Coffee Extras page.

This scarf activity brings classical music to life through story, movement, and imaginative play—and most importantly, it gives your students a joyful way to experience tempo, form, and expression.

I hope you and your students enjoy dancing along with the little doggie! 🐶🎵