It was a great first day at the Gooch Family Drop-In Centre! It was fun getting to know all of the staff there, some parents, and the kids too. There were 19 kids in total, most were aged 3-5, with less than five kids under the age of 1. The littlest children were accompanied by their mothers. I tried to introduce them to some classic songs today like "Wake Up My Hands," "The Little Green Frog" and "What Are You Wearing?", and I must say they're an enthusiastic group! I was completely thrilled by the group's response to all of the music. They were all singing along and the kids were all trying their best to do the actions while they sang. Since it is such a big group, things got a little bit hectic when we stood up to to sing "Down by the Station" and travel around the circle. However, there were a few grown-ups who really helped out and got all the kids moving in the right direction. I brought in the chime bars for IOTW and the kids loved them! There were a few tears from one or two kids when they had to share but with all of the adult support in the room, I am confident that this will improve. They loved the parachute and even pretended to sleep during "Sleeping Bunnies" without my prompting. Yufeng, our Gooch contact, asked me if I could sing a special song for Mother's Day so I came up with a variation of "I love you, You love me," that suited the theme, and all of the moms seemed to really enjoy it.

Overall, it was a great start to the session and I'm looking forward to next week!