We have what can often be a very active group of 2-3 year olds, so the more active we can be in our singing, the better! Today we sang Sleeping Bunnies and once everyone got the hang of when to "sleep" and when to hop, then we couldn't stop! Even after four rounds of the song, those little bunnies could have hopped on forever!
I showed up to the shelter to a very excited group today. Unfortunately, some of the kids were being a bit rowdy beforehand and had been put in time out by the time I arrived, but hopefully they’ll be back and ready to sing next week. We started off with a small but attentive group of three, and people gradually filtered in as the class went on, which meant that we ended with even more energy than we started with. I brought the wooden frogs in today, and the kids not only loved them, but shared them around the circle without any fuss, allowing everyone to have a turn with them while we sang Little Green Frog, and 5 Green and Speckled Frogs.
In order to keep the moms engaged today I decided to shift gears and use some familiar favourite songs during parachute time. We all enjoyed doing some disco dancing during parachute time to Staying Alive, and then flashed forward to the 1980s and shook the parachute out to Caribbean Queen by Billy Ocean. I demonstrated the chime bars today, and we practiced taking turns as we passed them around while singing Hurry, Hurry, Drive the Firetruck.
Another small but mighty class! The kids had so much energy at the start of class, so I quickly shifted gears into movements songs and we spent most of our time standing up! Once I got them to focus I had them sit and really exercise their patience by bringing out the ball, the number of the week, and the instrument of the week, as we practiced our sharing! We had an extra long jam session, and I could see the parents really enjoying themselves as well. We're on the verge of families attending for their 3rd time, so I really hope the CD gets them excited about the classes to come!
The kids were a little tired today due to the rainy, gray weather. I went with their energy levels and we sang songs about the rain, the sun, and did the classic, The Itsy Bitsy Spider song. They livened up when we did Sleeping Bunnies. We experimented with the rainbow rope and tried The Wheels on the Bus.
Since it's October, we're starting to learn some fall songs, including ones about pumpkins and Halloween! While we did the rhyme 5 Little Pumpkins, there was a lot of participation when the 4th pumpkin says, "Let's run, and run, and run!" We pumped our arms like we were running fast, and got lots of giggles with it as well!
Though it took a little while to get everyone settled on the carpet at the start of class today, excitement was in the air in anticipation of a 4th birthday. We celebrated with a Happy Birthday parachute and some special request songs (lots of frog and bouncing related ones, as per usual). Today seemed like a particularly great day for parental engagement, as the parents were not only participating in the songs more than usual (and adding some well timed clapping), but I could also see them connecting with their children through the songs and taking joy in their children's excitement, which is what it's all about!
Today I brought the Cuban clave sticks and taught the kids, caregivers, and staff the clave rhythm. They were excellent at keeping the beat to the point where I could split up the group and have 2 groups doing different complementary rhythms. I then taught the grownups how to do the Batchata Latin dance during parachute time. They loved the dancing aspect of the class and the kids hopped around happily to the music.
Our class was small today but it was the most fun I've had in a long time! Because it was only a brother-sister duo and their mom, the kids felt comfortable and weren't afraid to really join in and participate! And because they were much older, we had lots of fun with activities, such as sharing the instrument of the week and the number of the week, where we got to practice our numbers and colours. The biggest hit was the movement songs Walk, Walk, Walk, and Stop, and The Bicycle Song, where we did lots of running and stopping in unison. The centre staff assured me next week would have a bigger turnout since the long weekend just ended, so I'm sure next class will be even better!
Today I arrived at class and realized that I didn't have my guitar. But we made lemonade out of lemons and focused on a capella songs and rhythms on the instruments and the kids enjoyed themselves immensely. I brought two Latin American instruments and taught them some more complicated Latin rhythms. Not only did the caregivers pick up the rhythms quickly but some of the older kids got them too.
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