I brought animal week to Birkdale this week. The kids loved taking turns with the turtle puppet and singing, "I'm a turtle in my shell," as well as passing around the beanbag froggie. They shared really well this week and enjoyed learning some new animal-themed songs.
This week was a little more chaotic than last. It took quite some time to get everyone quiet and ready to sing The Hello Song (a mix of criers and distractions from the toys in the room). Once things got started we were on quite a roll, and everyone recognized the songs from last week and were happy to sing them again. Sticky Sticky Bubblegum, in particular, was the big hit of the class, with everyone engaged, including the ones who are normally a bit quieter. The parents were all smiles today, though a bit talkative when the energy got a bit much to handle. I brought out the turtle puppet and wooden frogs from my animal week class earlier in the day, and though the kids were very excited to play with them and pass them around, they sucked most of the energy out of the circle and group effort. Lesson learned: next time I’ll stick to more movement songs for the restless and energetic kids, and minimize the number of objects, as they can become distracting. However, it’s nice to see the kids so engaged with the musical instruments (particularly my guitar), and as soon as we have a better rapport for when to play and when to listen, things will go much more smoothly.
The beautiful weather we've had this week gave everyone an extra burst of energy. There was nothing for it, but to get up and boogie our way through class today! Monkeys jumped on beds, and bunnies hopped up out of their slumber. Elephants marched, and snakes slithered. It was a merry menagerie of fun!
Things got off to a bit of a late start on Wednesday, as the beginning of class coincided with the end of dinner (the shelter coordinator said that dinner would start a bit earlier next week). Though we were only expecting 5 at first, by the end of The Hello Song our little room was completely packed! This group was particularly difficult to get focused for certain songs. A few of the kids were quite taken with my guitar, and often abandoned the circle to either run around or try to play with my guitar. There were a few moments where I had to pause the class until everyone was sitting down again, and the parents and shelter coordinators were very helpful in that regard. One highlight of the class was The Itsy Bitsy Spider, which was met with cheers. We had one very eager older sibling in the class, who knew many of the songs. Going forward, I’ll ask her to help lead / get the other kids focused. Hopefully next week there will be a bit more of a break between dinner and music, to give everyone time to digest and calm down a little (but not too much!).
A combination of renovations at Robertson House and beautiful weather perfect for outdoor play meant we had our smallest class by far this term - just two kids! Luckily, these brothers are always the most enthusiastic and energetic kids in the class, so we jumped right in with no hesitation. Their mom, the RH staff member, and I simply played off their moods and energy. We started off with I Wake Up My Hands and Roly Poly, to give them a chance to move their arms around and practice some songs we've been working on for a month or so. They were still super giddy, so we just rolled with it and let them hop with Sleeping Bunnies and Little Green Frog. We marched around with Elephants Are Marching, and then sat back down for some classics - The Wheels on the Bus and ABCD - as the older boy had been showing off his alphabet skills before class. Since there were only two kids, I brought out our musical spoons to give them a more focused look at an instrument. The boys clicked and clacked as we counted up to ten with This Old Man. In our little session I was reminded of something a conductor once told me: it doesn't matter if you're singing for two people or two million people - music is about spirit and shared experiences!
The kids had a lot of energy today, so we spent a lot of time up on our feet and jumping on the bed as in 5 Little Monkeys, hopping like frogs and bunnies, and swinging our trunks like elephants. I was preparing these kids for a special animal theme week next week. I brought the cowbell and Brazilian agogo - Latin instruments - for the kids to try out. They were quite good at keeping a steady beat on the cowbell, while doing solos with the agogo.
Friday was a wonderful start to the session at Birkdale! We have a nice large room in the Plaza Hotel with lots of space to move around, and the kids certainly took advantage of the opportunity. Though it initially took a little while to get everybody settled into the circle, The Hello Song had everybody focused and excited for their turn to spin around, and set the tone for participation throughout the class. The kids were all smiles as we went through songs with goofy actions and funny faces, like Sticky Sticky Bubblegum, and Little Green Frog. When it came time to bring out / put away the instrument bag, there were lots of excited helpers. I’m looking forward to seeing this group’s energy every week, especially as the songs become a bit more familiar.
On a suggestion from one of our moms last week, I brought in a drum called the doumbek. We learned about the different ways to play it, and then we passed it around. As everyone took their turn playing, we all danced to the fun new rhythms they were creating. Both grown ups and smaller friends got involved! It was really great to see everyone getting involved and having fun!
We had some old faces return to class for the first time in a few weeks, which is always a nice treat for our class. One of the fun things about having the same people in each class is that the kids start to master the signs we use during our Hello, Everybody song! We had a lot of names that start with E, A, and B, and one little boy was proudly showing me those signs before class. We kept the hand action going with One Little Finger and Sticky, Sticky, Bubblegum, before reprising last week's hit, The Tickle Song. There are a lot of siblings in our class, plus these kids are so comfortable with the other moms and children at Robertson House, so the tickling quickly erupted into wild laughter! We couldn't sit still after that, so we sang through some transportation songs held together by the story in How Now Brown Cow, before standing up to travel with Train Is A-Comin', and Zoom, Zoom, Zoom. We passed around the beanbag to refocus the group, which can sometimes be a challenge when you have babies and 4-year-olds in the same class. The beanbag ended up travelling in a less than perfect circle, but I think that was to be expected - we grown-ups were just happy the kids were practicing sharing!
The kids were stir crazy today as the rain had been falling for days now. They had tons of energy to get out. So we did a lot of jumping songs, like 5 Little Monkeys and Sleeping Bunnies, to get their sillies out. They enjoyed experimenting with the Cuban Clave Sticks that I brought for the instrument of the week, and we listened to Cuban music so that the caregivers and kids could hear how the Clave Sticks play a major part in the Latin band.
Powered by Squarespace.
