Everything is Clicking

After getting sick the previous week, I was so happy to return to the wonderful kids at Birkdale for one last music class of the year. After sharing some favourite songs of the week, we started off with a great vocal warmup and tuneup, and the kids sang the song that they had been practicing: Hold My Hand, by Michael Jackson and Akon. They sounded great, and after a bit more tuning and some gentle encouragement, they sounded even better. Then we incorporated some stepping and clapping and they sounded EVEN better. It's so great to see the kids get into the music via movement. We then did a rhythm passing circle, and finished off with some rhythm exercises on the castanets. These castanets (and some stickers that they were very excited about) were their end of session gifts, and I'm so glad I got to see the kids using them all together.  Some of them were very adept at clicking the castanets with both hands in separate rhythms, and other kids were amazing at clicking them in unison incredibly fast. We left some time for the kids to fill out evaluations, and some of their comments nearly brought me to tears. Hope to sing with these kids again in the new year!

Glockenspiel Time!

I arrived early at Birkdale and saw the kids in the program reading books around their respective circles (older and younger kids); seeing them pay so much attention to each other as they were reading was so heartening. We checked in with more favourite songs for our playlist, and the kids shared a bit of a song they've been practicing together. They sounded great but needed a bit of tuning, so we did an extended vocal warmup and tried to tune into each other by moving slowly into solfege. The kids sounded noticeably better, and then we practiced some more singing and listening with the addition of glockenspiels! With all the kids at different tables, they took turns exploring different notes and combinations of notes on the glockenspiels and trying to sing them together. I was a bit concerned that sharing might have been an issue, or sound bleed between tables, but the kids stayed quite focused on the activity, and time flew by. We finished off with another runway to some Beyonce, as requested by one participant who was celebrating their birthday! At our checkout, the kids said they were feeling happy, and both tired and full of energy. I felt the same way.

Creative Energy in the Round

We had a slightly smaller group of mostly younger school agers this week. They all had a really great, positive energy from the minute we started. We did a bunch of circle games, passing rhythms around, then gradually adding more creative variations, until eventually the kids were doing some amazing combinations of clapping, stomping, dance moves, and vocalizations. We did some breathing and vocal warmups, and then did a listening exercise with the ting shaw bells. After the listening exercise we tried singing in tune with one another, and the kids did a pretty impressive job of pitch matching. One of the kids' favourite songs is Levitating by Dua Lipa, so we listened to the song and picked out some rhythmic and melodic elements to mimic. We divided the room into three, and the kids took turns mimicking each element of the song, followed by a great dance break. We finished off with our Runway game from last week, and the joviality was palpable. It's a really amazing group of kids.

A Warm Welcome Back!

It was so nice to return to Birkdale and see some familiar faces, along with some very eager new ones. I can't believe how much some of the kids have grown in such a short time! We started with some playlist creation (the kids seem to have a penchant for 80s music at the moment!), and then did our warmups, like the shake out, some stretching, and some breathing exercises. Then we did some rhythm matching and passing around the circle, and the kids did a great job adding some creative variations. Then we started singing, tuning our voices to one another and practicing listening. We did some circle games similar to the rhythm matching, but with creative vocal explorations. It was great to see how willing the kids were to explore right off the bat! Then we played "rhythm detective", and finished off with one of everyone's favourite activities from last session: the runway! To the tune of Beat It (suggested by one of the kids), everyone took turns walking to the music and posing at the end of the room. Some of the kids did it in group formations, and everyone was cheering each other on. I think that'll have to be a repeat occurrence. During our checkout, the kids overwhelmingly said they were exhausted, hyped, and happy. I can't wait to sing and make music with them next week!

Au Français!

Today was a happy class all around. Starting with I Feel A Lot Like Singing, we had lots of rhythmic and clapping focused songs, like Baby Shark and Sticky Sticky Bubblegum. I showed the kids the spoons, and one of the kids shouted out in French, "pour manger!", to which I replied "et pour jouer aussi!" before showing them some rhythms on the spoons, or should I say cuillères. I didn’t know the French word for spoons before today, so I learned something too!

Fun All Around!

This was a very lively class, with a good amount of parental participation without me having to encourage them too much!  Everyone particularly loved “Walking, I’m Just Walking Along”, and the kids listened very well to all the actions and didn’t get distracted by the various toys as we walked around the entire room.  Grownups were singing along to “3 Little Birds” during the jam as the kids went wild, and we finished off with “I Feel Good” during the parachute. Feeling good indeed!

Full House!

I was so glad to walk into a packed room of eager kids! Today was one of those days where we got up on our feet very early into the class, shaking our sillies out (as the song goes).  Rather than try to resist against the occasional attention pull of the activity room, I leaned into it, and took us on a rocket ship ride that led us to various parts of the room before blasting off back at the carpet.  Even when there are a lot of kids, jumping is always the common denominator that can get everyone focused together.

Full House!

I was so glad to walk into a packed room of eager kids! Today was one of those days where we got up on our feet very early into the class, shaking our sillies out (as the song goes).  Rather than try to resist against the occasional attention pull of the activity room, I leaned into it, and took us on a rocket ship ride that led us to various parts of the room before blasting off back at the carpet.  Even when there are a lot of kids, jumping is always the common denominator that can get everyone focused together.

Songs Bring the Smiles

It’s been great having our classes in the morning at Birkdale.  The kids are fully energized, without the afternoon restlessness.  As the grownups were still processing our morning coffees, I could see the energy start to perk up halfway through the class, and I had to do less prompting to sing along (especially when singing “Three Little Birds” during the jam).  It could have been the coffee, but I have a feeling it was the energy being shared around the room.

Early Birds!

Today was the first Birkdale class of the decade, and the first in the new morning time slot. The morning slot worked out very well, with lots of songs to get us woken up and energized. There was a mixture of zealous kids and parents, and a couple of shy ones, but everyone got some smiles out at one point or another. The best part of the class was the jam, where the grown-ups really leaned in to singing along, especially when I went into Three Little Birds. Excited for more morning energy next week!