How to Play Closet Key Singing Game for Upper Grades

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If you’re looking for a fun (calm) singing game for the upper grades in elementary music class, you need to try Coset Key. Closet Key singing game for upper elementary school is not only fun, but it can also be used to learn or practice dynamics, piano and forte, crescendo and decrescendo, do re mi, and quarter and eighth notes.

That’s a lot for one 8 measure song. 

On top of all of that, your students will love this song. It’s a singing game the fourth and fifth grade elementary music students BEG me to play. 

Now that you’re convinced that it’s amazing, we can talk about how to play Closet Key singing game.

Below I’ll have instructions, sheet music, and teaching points. I’ll share some of the slides and activities that I use. All of the slides are from my Closet Key lesson pack on TPT. You can do the lesson without it, but if you want to make it super easy on yourself, you can download the slides, printable, sheet music, game directions, and (editable!) lesson plan.

Click here to purchase!

Closet Key Sheet Music

I’ll share the order I typically use to teach this song below, but here’s the game directions:

Closet Key Singing Game Directions

• The finder closes their eyes. 
• The hider hides an object (the “key”) around the room
• The finder walks around the room looking for the object.
• The students help by singing the song loudly if they are close, or quietly if they are far away.

I use a ruler as the “key” in my room. It’s flat and slides into lots of different places in my room.

Pro tips: 

• Have a piece of the object sticking out so it’s a little bit easier (about an inch is good!)
• Set a timer– if they don’t find it in 2 minutes, their turn is up. This game gets tiring after a while.

Introducing Closet Key to 5th Graders

It can sometimes be difficult to get your older students excited about a song, so I like to try and start with a “hook” whenever possible. 

For this one, I show them a picture of a garden. I put a clip art key in the garden somewhere, and students raised their hands if they think they can see it. I let them come up to the board and point until someone finds it. 

We do this 3 times, and the students all want to the be one who finds the key. 

Then I say: Today we’re going to learn a song about losing a closet key in a garden. 

Then I sing the song. While I sing, I have students tap their legs for do, head for mi, and shoulders for re. After I sing it a few times, they usually catch on. 

PS: If you purchase the lesson pack, there are videos you can play– great for days when you lose your voice!

Learning about Dynamics with Closet Key Singing Game 

After we’ve learned the song, we can learn about dynamics! If your students don’t know forte and piano, you can use those, but I typically use this with the older grades and we learn about crescendos and decrescendos. 

To start this conversation, I will put a picture of a key on the board. I’ll tell students to sing forte when I get close, and piano when I’m farther away.

*Note: Make sure you explain what it’s like to have a proper singing voice, and that we are NOT yelling. 

Typically they will gradually get louder and quieter. If not, have them do it again gradually.

If they did it correctly, then you can tell them about crescendos and decrescendos. It should look like this:

• Say: In music, sometime we get loud or quier quickly, and sometimes we do it gradually. When we gradually get louder, we call it a crescendo. Can you say crescendo?
• Put a picture of a crescendo ontheboard.
• Ask: Which side is forte? Which is piano?
• If you have a whiteboard or something you can write on, write f and p on the board so they can see where those are. 
• Say: When we gradually get quieter, it’s called a decresendo. Can you say decresccendo?
• Put up a picture and show the loud and the quiet parts of the decrescendo. 

Then, have students sing the song while you or another student points to the crescendos and decrescendos on the board to change the dynamics. 

Reinforce by saying or asking afterwards what happened. (First we had a crescendo, then a decrescendo, etc). 

Then you can also have students play 16 steady beats on instruments getting louder or quieter. Or they could combine the crescendos and decrescendos with rhythm cards to practice two musical concpets at once!

Next, it’s time to introduce the game!

Closet Key Singing Game Directions

Now that we know about crescendos and decrescendos, we can play the game! After each round, we talk about what we heard in terms of crescendos and decrescendos. 

Pro tip: Have students leave a piece sticking out to see and have a timer. This game gets exhausting when it takes too long. 

• The finder closes their eyes. 
• The hider hides an object (the “key”) around the room
• The finder walks around the room looking for the object.
• The students help by singing the song loudly if they are close, or quietly if they are far away.

Learning Do Re Mi with Closet Key

I love using this piece with older beginner elementary music students, because it’s fun but it’s simple. We typically use it to learn do re mi. 

We will use the body solfege I mentioned above while we sing. Then I’ll have students point to the dots of the notes on the screen. We will talk about what parts are up and down. Even if they don’t know anything about the notes, they can understand that our voices go up when the notes go up, etc.

From there, we will learn about the scale– that the first three notes are do re and mi. We will sing the song on do re mi. 

Adding Instruments to Closet Key

After we’ve learned do re mi, I will put the letters of the notes on the board, and have student get into groups. They will play the xylophone or the boom whackers. Just put the notes on the board and give them some time to figure it out– they will get it!

After a few minutes (and you walking around checking on people) then everyone can play it together a few times to put it together. 

If you’re learning instruments with notes that don’t have the letters written on them, you can do this the xylophones first, then move to the new instrument. I used to teach piano, so I would have students play the song on xylophones, then go to the piano and try to figure it out. Most would be able to understand the tune, and play on 3 consecutive notes, even if it was in a different key. Many of them would find the correct notes!

After letting them try it out for a while, I’d walk around and show them the correct notes. Then we’d all play together.

Compose with Do Re Mi

After we’ve learned to play the song, now we can make different compositions! Give students circles with do re mi or with the notes from the song on them and have them create a pattern to play (these are included in the lesson pack!). 

Students can do this in groups too. If you want an easy way to engage your students, let them work with a partner of their choosing. They will instantly be more excited (though if they can’t behave, then they work by themselves.)

There you have it– lots of Closet Key singing game for upper grades elementary music fun! 

If you want to make this lesson super easy, you can get the lesson pack with the lesson plan, sheet music, slides, and more in my TPT shop. 

Click here to purchase!

Looking for more 4th and 5th grade music lessons? 

Love Somebody is one of my other favorite singing games for upper grades– click here to read or watch about that one!

And if you’re teaching crescendos and decrescendos, you can use the piece In the Hall of the Mountain King. Click here for some of my favorite lessons with that piece!

Happy teaching!

Becca