This week was a lot of fun. The group was a bit smaller than usual, so we were able to sit for a while and sing some good rhyming songs, including Down by the Bay, and Corner Master Store. Then we stood up and did a couple monkey songs: Do the Monkey, and 5 Little Monkeys. I introduced the clave, and the children did a great job sharing with one another. We finished off with a fun instrument jam.
Class started a bit late today and only the daycare kids came, but we made the best of it. We sang about swimming with minnows, pretended to be trees to sing about the seasons, and had fun with the freeze dance. I brought the wooden frogs as a special instrument, and the children shared them so nicely! I was impressed.
I brought and used the Rainbow Rope for the first time at Birkdale today and the kids loved it. Not only did it keep them calm, focused and sitting in the circle during circle time, but they were amazing at feeling the beat of the songs that I would play and moving the rope right in time. We practiced Roly Poly, Row Row Row Your Boat, and The Wheels on the Bus. Their favourite part was the crocodile verse in the Row, Row, Row, Your Boat song. They screamed so loud and so long, I think we woke up the whole building. Then, we stood up and did movement songs with the Rainbow Rope. Afterwards I showed them the Caxixi from Brazil, and had each kid stand up and take turns trying the Caxixi rhythm. They enjoyed taking turns and having the spotlight on them.
The group was very focused and attentive today. As a result we were able to stay seated for a while before shifting gears. We sang a bunch of their favourites and did a song journey with a few different songs about transportation. The journey continued as I brought out the Sruti Box from South India. The children were eager to open the different "windows" and hear the different pitches. We really worked on taking turns, and while a few of them grew a bit antsy, they all did remarkably well allowing others to explore in turn. We finished off with a fun parachute sequence.
Class had a great feel to it today! I decided to take as many cues as possible from the group when choosing repertoire for the class. A toddler was clapping so we sang Wake Up My Hands, and kept clapping in The Firetruck Song. Then, one of the babies had his tongue out, so we sang The Little Green Frog. Everyone got up for Elephants Have Wrinkles, then the daycare kids stayed standing to shake some extra sillies out. I brought the triangle as a special instrument and everyone enjoyed playing it for the group, hearing their own special chime sound.
I arrived at Robertson House and noted it seemed a little quieter than usual. One of the staff members greeted me and let me know that there probably wouldn't be as many kids this week as many of them had moved out on April 1st. We both agreed - it's wonderful that they've been able to find housing, but you can't help but feel a little sad at how much you'll miss seeing them! We focused this week on some really great animal songs - songs with great melodies, actions, and rhythms. We started small with One Little Minnow, which was a big hit among the babies, as each verse ends with a toe tickle! We moved on to Baby Shark, which let the older kids practice clapping on the off-beat, while the younger kids loved the sudden shark attack part! We had a little bounce with Tingalayo, and learned the sign for donkey before we took a break to stretch our legs with Walk and Stop. We finished off our animal songs with Little Green Frog, and I Had a Rooster, which features the signs for rooster, cow, cat, and mouse. These were all so great because no matter if a child was old enough to attempt the ASL signs or was simply enjoying making or listening to the animal sounds, we all had a blast!
After a week away from the Birkdale kids, I was excited to get back and share more musical moments with them. This time I brought my tongue drum from Africa. I demonstrated how each and every note sounds wonderful together, and then had the kids play duets (two kids at a time striking the tongue drum with their mallets) to practice sharing and cooperation. Each pair of kids ended up working really well together. I had all of the caregivers and children clap for each duet pair, and I think it really made each child feel proud of their contribution! I taught them an African song called Funga Alafia, which is a call and response song. Everyone got really into the song, to the point where a dad hopped up and started dancing, which inspired three more moms to get up and dance. That was the best part of the class!
This week I returned to Gooch after a 2 week break, and everyone was eager to get back to Rainbow Songs. The group gathered 'round as we sang Hello, and then quickly shifted to movement. The group jumped and danced with fantastic energy as we went through song after song. Some of the kids were calling out song titles and I was happily obliging. Eventually we brought out the instrument bag and finished off with a loud and enthusiastic jam session.
Another great turnout at Rosalie Hall today! We had fun with finger play during Where Is Thumbkin? Then a bus dropped us off by the water where we listened for water animals. After that, we continued on an animal adventure with Sleeping Bunnies and Elephants Have Wrinkles. Class ended with the parachute, which everyone always loves!
We had a great mix of older and younger kids at Robertson House this week, but luckily the older kids were keen to teach the little ones as my go-to "assistants". We started off counting up to five with One Little Finger, Tap, Tap, Tap, and the older kids took great delight in shouting out the next number in the song and showing off the correct number of fingers. We practiced our opposites with Roly, Poly, and Hands Together, Hands Apart. The one-year-olds of course didn't quite understand the concept, but they loved watching the older kids tap on the ground and followed suit by the end of the song! We continued with last week's theme of springtime with How Now Brown Cow and Trees Need the Sun, which is a challenge due to all of the sign language. But these kids never seem to back down from a challenge, and by the end of the song the older kids had confidently learned two new ASL signs - "tree" and "we". From counting our fingers to tapping on the ground to using ASL to symbolize the lyrics, our hands were the stars of the show this week and a great way to enhance our music-making!
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