A gregarious goodbye

Our final class at Ernestine was delayed a bit following dinner, but had the usual attendance and the same amount of happy engagement from the kids. We were able to fit in a lot more songs this time around, because it took less time to get everyone sitting in a circle and participating. I took requests, from which the overwhelming consensus on the class favourite was Sleeping Bunnies (in fact, one of the parents requested that we do it a second time, during the parachute). Unfortunately, it’s hard to say goodbye, especially when it seems like the kids are just starting to be comfortable with the songs in a group setting, but hopefully there will be a little more music in their lives in general now (and they can continue to practice their rhythm with their clappers, which made for some fun high fives at the end of class). I’ll definitely miss this group!

Sharing is Caring!

We had a bit of a hectic start this week, as the ongoing renovations at Robertson House meant that our usual room was unavailable. Thankfully, RH's wonderful staff helped me make a space in the Family Centre. Teeming with toys, books, and activities, I knew this may be a bit of a challenge for easily distracted 2-year-olds, but we did our best to power through! Since we had an infant in the class, we started with a peekaboo song, Open Them, Shut Them, which the older kids enjoyed, too. We practiced the names of our body parts with I Wake Up My Hands and Head and Shoulders, with the older kids helping the younger ones as the song got faster and more challenging. We moved on to some animal songs with the stomp-heavy Elephants are Marching, followed by Listen to the Water, Old McDonald, and Little Green Frog. I pose this question: is there anything more fun than being encouraged to squish up your eyes and stick out your tongue in pursuit of the perfect frog face?

Since the kids were eager to play with the Family Centre toys, we had an extra-long jam time, which we used as an opportunity to practice sharing. With only six kids and dozens of instruments, there were certainly plenty to go around, but with the great variety of instruments to choose from, it's easy to want to play that instrument - the one another kid is using. Sharing really is just like any other skill that a toddler has to practice in order to master, so I was really proud of kids and moms alike for pushing through the tears to a place where the kids started to get the hang of taking turns - sharing is caring!

New faces

In contrast to last week's smaller group, the Genoa room was packed on Friday. There were a few brand new faces, which made for a great "hello" song, as it was a good chance for some of the new kids to be introduced to their peers and get some of their jitters out as they were encouraged to participate by some of the more seasoned kids. There were a lot of bouncing and movement songs this week (I rearranged the order of things to accommodate some restless jumpers who didn't want to sit). By the end of the movement, some kids were even remarking that they wanted to sit down and do a capella songs, which is usually one of the biggest struggles of class. This group loves the instruments in the bag, but jam time can tend to get a bit unruly and there was a little bit of fighting over instruments, which dropped the focus for the latter part of the class. However, when it came time to put things away and sing the goodbye song, everyone was sitting close and attentively, though more than a few kids tried to play my guitar as I was playing. I think next week I'll come a bit earlier and let them strum the guitar before class so they don't interrupt during songs.

Jump Around!

Our group at Redwood was full of their usual energy, and we wasted no time putting it to good use. We jumped as bunnies; we jumped as monkeys; we jumped as sailors. We were even jumping around as elephants! We finally got the jumps out of our system to gather around and learn about playing the spoons, which turned out to not just be for soup after all!

Old favourites and new requests

This week's class at Ernestine was a sunny affair. With the time slot moved back to accommodate dinner, everyone was on time and ready to sing. People were singing together more than in previous weeks, parents were engaged, and we didn't have the usual struggle to get everybody sitting in a circle. The kids are starting to eagerly anticipate certain songs now, and even throw out requests. One spontaneous request was for "hot potato", which I incorporated into the class when it came time to pass the beanbag around. There was a charming moment when the beanbag was tossed gingerly across the room, then brought back by its recipient to continue making its way around the circle without leaving anybody out. I'm sad that next week is our last, but I'm excited to bring out the clapper instruments for the kids to take with them.

Stop and Go!

The ongoing renovations and perfect outdoor weather at Robertson House meant we again had a small class with just four kids this week. This can sometimes make the kids and moms feel awkward, but these kids are boundless balls of energy and excitement, so we had no trouble jumping right into our Hello, Everybody song. Since three of the four kids were over age 3, I realized we could use this as an opportunity to try some more advanced repertoire with more participation. The kids jumped right into We're All Here Today, and What Are You Wearing, where they loved the opportunity to point out the colours around the room. I gave them a chance to jump around with Sleeping Bunnies, and walk with Walk, Walk, Walk, and You Walk, and Stop. These songs all had great moments of stop and go, fast and slow: opposites that are extremely fun to act out. Afterwards, we practiced sharing with two pairs of musical spoons for four kids. Sometimes sharing in a small group is harder than in a big one, but the kids worked very hard and kept their excitement in check while they passed the spoons back and forth. I'm sure they found it a gratifying experience, but I could tell they were relieved when it was finally time to bring out the big bag of instruments and play to their hearts' content!

Small but Mighty

This week was a smaller group, as a number of families took the opportunity to go outside after being cooped up inside from the rainfall the previous few days. However, the kids (and one parent) who showed up were engaged and smiling throughout the whole class. Not only did they remember all of the songs from the previous week, but they took to new songs almost instantly. Sticky, Sticky, Bubblegum seems to be the running favourite in the class, along with any songs that involve dancing or movements (Hokey Pokey and I Feel A Lot Like Singing, in particular). Everyone did a great job of sharing the bean bag around the circle, but when it came time to bring out the big instrument bag there was a bit of sibling rivalry over the tambourines. Ultimately, however, everyone left smiling and looking forward to next week.

Chime Bar Fun!

I experimented with the kids today and brought only two chime bars to see if they would be able to share nicely with one another and take turns playing the role of the firetruck that would "Ding" its bell. They handled this challenge beautifully! I then challenged them even further, and asked two children to take turns hitting the C and G bars alternatively, and they managed to figure that out as well. I was really proud of how well everyone shared today.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

It was a soggy day outside, so this week we used it as an excuse to sing all about it. Itsy, Bitsy, Spiders fought valiantly up their waterspouts! Thunder pounded on the floor! Some of our raindrops even transformed into lemon drops! But, of course, our time together wouldn't be complete without all kinds of dancing around.

Eager Beavers

This week was less chaotic than last: nobody crawled on my guitar, very few tears, and lots of participation from parents. The group is still having a bit of difficulty sitting in a circle around the carpet, but that’s only because they’re eager to be closer to the guitar, which doesn’t seem to hamper their focus or participation at all. The oldest one in the group knows all the songs at this point, which is great, but she tends to make a point of singing ahead of the rest of the class, so I’ll emphasize the importance of singing as a group more next week. This week started a bit late because of dinner at the shelter again (and people filtered in throughout the class), so next week we’re going to begin at 6:30 instead of 6, which should work better for everyone.