New Friends

This Wednesday was my very first day at Jessie's Centre! I was very excited to meet everyone, and they were all so welcoming. We sang through a lot of all-time favourites, with particular enthusiasm and dancing for Hands Together, Hands Apart. When it was jam time, I was lucky to have one little friend who knew the ropes show me where the instruments live and how to get them out! It was such a lovely day, we had to mirror that in our jam of You Are My Sunshine, ending in a few extra snuggles. I look forward to getting to know everyone even better over the coming weeks!

Mi Cabasa Es Su Cabasa!

Lots of smiles and dancing at this week's Robertson House class! The kids and parents loved passing around the Cabasa percussion instrument. It was awesome to watch them figure out the tricks of playing the Cabasa. Once they had it, they were eager to show off their new skill. They were also so great at sharing it around the circle – no tears! Such a great energy in the class, especially from the moms who were more involved than ever. Can't wait for the remaining classes!

Prepping Animals!

Today at Birkdale we did a little prep for Animal Week! When class resumes in two weeks, we'll be able to sing lots of fun songs that match the Animal Week theme. We had a medium sized group today, welcoming new friends and familiar faces. The Instruments of the Week were the Boomwhackers, which really showcased some of the kids' talents with rhythm and pitched percussion. A very fun time was had by all!

And B-I-N-G-O was his Name-O

We had another high energy music session today! After our Hello song, one participant requested that we sing her favourite song, B-I-N-G-O, which we did (not just once, but also during our jam session at the end). Other highlights included doing The Monkey, originally by The Wiggles.

Jammin'

We had a great jam session today! Some of our participants were a bit sad that their moms had to leave for other appointments, so we had a bit of a slow start, but by the time we jammed everyone had completely perked up and were ready to play their instruments loudly! We sang a number of songs, but the highlights were Rockin' Robin and Twist & Shout.

Calming Bells

This week at Birkdale we had a very small group – just two familiar faces were in the class. However, we remained a strong group and had lots of fun! Birkdale staff were extra supportive this week, pitching in to help so we had extra hands to assist the children with motions, dancing, playing with various instruments, and, of course, to keep the parachute afloat! Our instruments of the week were the Tingshaw Bells, which we used to align our Chakras. Everyone found the sound of the bells interesting and calming.

Open 'Em!

This week's class at Robertson House was a rockin' good time. The kids had such a good time chanting a rendition of Open 'Em, Shut 'Em. It was nice to see some of the older kids playing peek-a-boo with the babies and toddlers as they opened up their hands and eyes during the chant. Looking forward to another great class next week.

On that farm he had a... POTATO

We had a wonderful return to Parkdale Intercultural Association. Our enthusiastic group came out on a beautiful sunny day, and we sang through some requests and some favourites. During Old MacDonald's Farm we paused to think of what a potato might do. We settled on rolling. The children got to see a Jaw Harp, and we ended with a jam session and the parachute.

The Future of Guitar

Today we had a very small crew, and started out with only one, but that one child was AMAZING to have the opportunity to play with! This little 5 year old wanted to play the guitar, so while I played chords, she strummed every song with my pick! For almost the whole class (even when others joined in), this future guitar player strummed all the songs and was incredible at keeping the rhythm. I was thoroughly impressed, and so was her mom and the other staff at Jessie's!

Feel the Vibrations!

This week's class at Robertson House was lots of fun! There was a great turnout from kids and parents. One highlight was the presentation of the Tingsha bells from Tibet. Each participant was eager to close their eyes and feel the vibrations of the bells as they were played and lifted over their heads. It was a nice moment of calm in a very energetic class. Looking forward to another great class next week!