Today I brought along the chime bars and had enough for each child to have their own. I had them practice tapping different beats on the chime bar and they enjoyed hitting the chimes five times in a row for The Firetruck Song. We also practiced using the rainbow stretchy rope during movement time, as we moved in a circle to The Train Is A Comin' song.
It was so wonderful to be back at Ernestine singing for some familiar faces and families! In the time since our last session, a newborn baby has appeared! The class was a great mix of 4-6 year olds and babies; the older kids were stepping into their sibling roles and helping the younger ones along. Not only did the kids remember me from last time, but they remembered their favourite songs as well! The big request was the Little Green Frog, so we sang and made funny faces and the kids got into near-theatrics. They listened patiently as I introduced the instruments in our instrument bag, and mostly remembered to keep the hand drums for hands and maracas for shaking. I can't believe how quickly the class went by, and I can't wait till the next one!
Today was a huge class at the Plaza. The largest one yet! The newcomers were welcomed into an enthusiastic environment, as one of the younger kids who had attended since the first week couldn't help but yell “YAAAAAY!” in between (and during) all of the songs. However, larger numbers also meant some chatty parents and older siblings, so it was a bit of a struggle to get everyone's attention at times. A quick round of Five Little Monkeys got some of the restless energy out, and delighted the parents to see their kids jumping around. The kids did a great job sharing the cowbell around the room, and enjoyed it so much that I may have to bring it back for an encore later in the session!
Lots of energy today at Robertson House! Before the class even began, two boys were already starting a jumping dance party to my warm-up music. There were many more kids than grown-ups, so focusing was a bit of a challenge. Once we settled in, it was clear that the kids were happy to be there. They especially loved jumping to 5 Little Monkeys, which we played today accompanied by the caxixi! Looking forward to more great classes this session.
We had a great class with our CultureLink participants this week. Lots of smiling faces around the circle as we passed the Instrument of the Week, the caxixi, around. As we practiced playing the caxixi, it was great to see the kids and grown-ups working hard to try to accurately play the rhythm I set as the example. Looking forward to more classes to come!
Today I brought costumes and spooky, scary props to sing some Halloween songs with the Birkdale residents. The moms got super excited when I taught them a bit of the Thriller choreography. The kids loved meeting the very scary spider and the happy pumpkin friends that I brought along to teach songs with.
Halloween was in the air, and while the kids didn’t have costumes, the spirit was all in the room. I was told by one of the staff members that not all the kids were familiar with Halloween, but most of them were, so I stuck to mostly familiar songs with Halloween variations, rather than too many super holiday-specific songs. The big hit of the day was I’m A Scary Witch. The kids loved calling out different things to add to the witch’s brew, and their suggestions brought many laughs. Halfway through, the kids started to get a little more restless than usual, so I got them up on their feet, but had a hard time keeping them in a circle. Some of the parents stay around the chairs on the side during classes, but I’ll try to get them to join the circle more, especially during movement songs to keep the kids from running around too much. Plus, the more the grown-ups participate, the more everyone will get out of the classes.
Another great class this week at Robertson House! We started off with a bang with some very enthusiastic parents during the Hello song. One mom took it upon herself to insert some ad lib backup vocals in between each time I sang. It's always a nice feeling when the choir shows up! We also had a very fun time passing around the Tibetan singing bowls. The bowls helped bring a nice calm to the end of class. Looking forward to a great second half of the session!
We had a very fun class with our CultureLink participants this week. The kids had energy to spare throughout the class, despite our early evening time slot. One fun moment came during our rendition of Little Green Frog, when the kids decided to hop around the circle like a group of frogs. Very funny to see! Looking forward to another great class next week.
We had a great class today at Birkdale. At first, we brought the energy way up with some renditions of Sticky Bubblegum and Five Little Monkeys. After that, we found our moment of zen with the Tibetan singing bowls as our instrument of the week. The kids were mesmerized by the mysterious sounds of the singing bowls, and they had a fun time trying to play them with their parents. Great energy overall!
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