We had a special set of instruments this week, which the kids were a bit confused by at first! Seeing a set of spoons with a funny handle attaching them caught the interest of our little ones, but you could see their confusion about what they were supposed to do with them. Once I did a little demonstration, though, they were giggling and eagerly anticipating their turn to rhythmically tap the spoons on their laps!
This week's class at Rosalie Hall was lots of fun! Though I had thought of a list of songs to lead with, one of the moms was eager to give me her requests. Her two requested favourites were Little Green Frog and The Rooster Song. I happily obliged. It was great to see the moms interested in some of the songs and performing them so well for their babies.
This week's class at Robertson House was very well attended and filled with laughs. Thanks to the enthusiasm of the moms in the group, the kids were such great listeners, and really followed along well in the class. A definite highlight was when one of the moms suddenly did the splits during our rendition of What Are You Wearing? I insisted we pause the song to give her a round of applause. It is so great for the kids when the parents set great examples of participation.
The class had high energy and enthusiasm today. I started off with shakers and did some shaking songs such as Twist and Shout and Shake It Baby Shake It. The class was really excited about the special Instrument of the Week that I brought. I demonstrated and passed around the Kalimba (thumb piano) and the older kids were able to do it all by themselves and were really proud of that.
Our class today was full of energy - the first few minutes had more running around than singing! So we moved quickly into all kinds of active songs and, wow!, were those kids ever into it! I think everyone's favourite today was singing What Are You Wearing? They were ready to stand up, show off the colours of their clothes, and spin around!
There was a lot of energy in the room today, so we kept it busy this week. All of our songs had lots of actions! Whether it was making big sun arms, itsy bitsy spiders, clapping, stomping, dancing, roaring, chopping, or yaaaaaaaaawning - we were in motion the whole time. I wondered if we were too wound up for our instrument of the week, but it turns out that castanets are a hit with this crowd. We turned them into duck bills and went quacking all around the room!
We had a great class at Robertson House this week. The moms in the class seemed especially enthused to be singing and moving around with the young ones. Though one young girl was a bit shy throughout the class, her mom was setting a great example by singing and doing as many actions as she could. This was great to see! The climax of the class was definitely when we all came together in the centre of the room for a big "blast off!!!" during our rendition of Zoom Zoom Zoom. Looking forward to more great classes.
The kids were fascinated and intrigued by the Tibetan/Nepalese singing bowls that I brought to class today. They were a little fractious at the beginning of class but as soon as I brought the bowls out it was like time stood still. They were quiet, still, and became pensive. They all took turns clanging the wooden mallet against the singing bowl but they treated them gently which was nice to see. We observed how different sized bowls make different tones and we practised singing the different tones as a group.
We had a lot of fun practising our rendition of Turtle In My Shell this week at Rosalie Hall. With each time we repeated it, it was great to see more and more actions around the circle. Our moms and staff were doing a great job of engaging the babies in the class, especially with a great big "peek-a-boo" at the end of the turtle song. Looking forward to next week's class.
We were all about songs that have to do with travel this week. We rode bicycles, rowed boats, and went "CHOO CHOO" on our train. Despite all this musical wandering, everyone was eager to get to their favourite part: the jam! But even in our jam we sailed away under the sea on our Yellow Submarines. Bon voyage!
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