The BIG List of Boomwhacker Songs and Play Alongs

Looking for the ultimate collection of Boomwhacker songs? Grab this big list of easy K-5 songs and play alongs PLUS buying and storage tips!

Check out my favorite Boomwhacker play alongs by season!

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🌈 Boomwhacker Songs and Play Alongs

Pop Music Play Alongs

From K-Pop to older classics, let’s play them on those colorful tubes! We’ll keep up with the latest songs by checking in with Trending Clean Pop Songs for Kids and the Classroom.

Seasonal Boomwhacker Songs & Play Alongs

Back-to-School

Coming Soon!

Hispanic Heritage Month

Coming Soon!

Fall

Coming Soon!

Halloween

Stranger (Things) Rings-Notes BAGE

Christmas & December

Coming Soon!

Winter

Coming Soon!

TPT Resources for Boomwhackers

Each of these resources is a multi-lesson unit filled with the song, Orff arrangements (for most), and activities that include for Boomwhacker! The slides guide your teaching and your lesson plans just got EASY!

Bought Me a Cat uses mi, re, do (BAG) patterns
The Mitten uses so, mi, re, do (G EDC)
Cobbler uses a pentatonic activity-do, re, mi, so , la (CDE GA)
Miss White uses la-based so, la, do, re, mi (DE GAB)
Turkey Strut uses a diatonic melody D, E, F, G, A, Bb, and C
Waltz of the Drumsticks uses chord playing to a “cantabile” song.
Over the River uses the diatonic melody in C of this classic song.

Boomwhacker Songs With Book Connections

Allegro (K-3)

The story of a boy who hates practicing the piano and goes on a Classical music journey. A follow up is a keyboard activity using Boomwhacker colors that is the perfect echo play experience. Check out full lesson plans on the Musical Storybooks blog post.

Trombone Shorty (Grades 3-5)

Learn all about Trombone Shorty through his read aloud book and then play a fun Boomwhacker piece to “Where Y’At?” Check out the full lesson plans on the Musical Storybooks blog post.

🌈 How do you teach and introduce kids to play Boomwhackers?

Like any instrument, you need to have a few routines and procedures in place.

How to Pass Out and Collect Boomwhackers

There are many ways to pass out and collect Boomwhackers. The objective is to get it done quickly and safely. Here are some options.

• If your storage is portable, such as in buckets, you can place them in several locations in the room and let students get their instrument. The different locations will prevent congestion to keep things quick and safe.
• Another option is for the teacher to be in charge. This will take longer but will let you give them to the students who show readiness.
• Designating student leaders works efficiently. One student can hand out all the Cs and Ds, another the Es and Fs, etc.

How to Play the Boomwhacker

What’s your verb going to be? “Play” your Boomwhacker? Or hit, tap, whack? 🙃 The end goal is to make beautiful music. (Well as much as you can expect from a plastic tube called a Boom Whacker!) I thought tap sounded the best-descriptive with a lightness to it! haha Here are some possible ways to tap it.

• Tap hands-a nice light sound.
• Tap the floor-a sharper sound and there was a BIG rule to tapping the floor. The ENTIRE Boomwhacker tapped, not just the end. If they tap the end, the Boomwhackers will eventually bend and get misshapened.
• Tap your foot-a kid favorite and thunky sound. Going back and forth between both feet (sitting on floor) gives a fabulous tremolo.
• Tap a chair-It has to be a light tap on the back, seat, or leg of a chair to keep from bending the instrument.
• Tap with a mallet-Place on the floor and lightly tap with a mallet. This wasn’t my favorite way because the sound isn’t very loud and kids tend to want to smack the heck out of the tube with their mallet to get it to make more sound.

Resting Position

Always designate a resting position so that when the you give the designated phrase or signal, the instruments will be put in this quiet spot.

Resting positions can be on the flat on the floor with your hands in lap, holding it on your shoulder, lay it across your lap, etc. This will need to be practiced first with a pretend Boomwhacker and then with the instrument.

Boomwhacker Safety

The bottom line, a Boomwhacker is an instrument to make beautiful music and should never be used to hit or touch anyone or anything. Make this clear before you hand out a single instrument.

🌈 Boomwhackers! How many do I need?

How many sets do you need? Amazon is a mess when it comes to looking. West Music and other companies are better, but the actual Boomwhacker site is the BEST!
Whether you are playing mainly diatonic pieces or a mix of diatonic and pentatonic activities, the Classroom Pack (BW54TB) is the best deal. It comes with Chroma-note stick ons and a tote bag. While you can buy the same items individually $14 cheaper (less the tote and stickons) if you are going the diatonic route, it’s substantially cheaper for the ability to play pentatonic melodies too.

Let’s break it down. Four diatonic sets will give you 32 notes for diatonic melodies and 20 notes for pentatonic. (I’m not counting high C) If you do count high C, you could then get away with buying one less pentatonic set and save an additional $20 by not buying the classroom pack.

🌈 Storage Ideas

Finding the right Boomwhacker storage doesn’t require expensive, purpose-built organizers. Many music teachers successfully store Boomwhackers using repurposed classroom containers such as magazine holders, hanging shoe organizers, plastic buckets, bins, and drawer units.

These storage solutions make it easy to sort boomwhackers by color/pitch, keep them visible for quick student access, and maximize limited classroom space.

Whether you need vertical storage, portable containers, or wall-mounted options, creative Boomwhacker storage can improve classroom organization and speed up transitions during music class.

Buckets are a great option and the one I used in my classroom!

Storage Buying Options