Counting and Clapping in Rhythm

Counting is recently my kiddos' favorite thing to do. So, what a great time to do some simple practice with counting in rhythm!

Did you ever do those hand clapping games on the playground when you were little? Like, "Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack, all dressed in black, black, black, etc...." Or the other ones where you slapped hands backwards and forwards while chanting and counting to astronomically high numbers....? (those were the ones the really smart girls did....)  These types of games are so valuable on a  number of levels:

• They are fun games that make practicing counting (in whatever sequence it involves) a more challenging and motivating activity.  
• They are spoken/sung in rhyme and rhythm, enhancing and strengthening the child's innate rhythm. 
• They involve hand movements which increase muscle-control and agility.
• They are a meaningful and enjoyable activity between friends, bringing smiles and satisfaction.   

So, I'm not going to try anything complicated with my 3 and 4 1/2 yr. old boys yet; we'll start basic!

First we got thinking musically by singing and clapping one of our favorite songs, "A Sailor Went to Sea, Sea, Sea"

Here are the words and for the melody, go Here!

A Sailor Went to Sea
A Sailor went to sea, sea, sea
To see what he could see, see, see, 
But all that he could see, see, see
Was the bottom of the deep blue sea, sea, sea. 

Hand motions: 
You can be as creative as you'd like,
We always clap each other's hands on each "sea, sea, sea" (or "see, see, see").
We also sit up tall on "sailor"
We put our hand to our forehead to 'peer out' on "to see what he could..."
Put our hands up to the side in an "Oh well" manner on "but all that he could..."
Put our hands to the floor on "was the bottom of the..."

We get incrementally faster and faster - it's fun. :-)

Then we moved to a clapping and counting chant.
First have child choose a number.

Then, in rhythm, chant and clap:

"Let's see how high we can count,
watch my count to _____"

Then, with either you or another child, clap hands together in rhythm (as much as possible anyway, depending on your child's age/ability), counting up to that number.

J chose numbers that didn't take us quite as long, like 8 and 12.
K wanted more exciting ones in his little 4 yr. old mind, like "32" and "21 and 11 and 16"
"So, you want 48?"
"Yeah!!!"
You can also have them alternate clapping each others' hands with the front and back of their hands. Keeps it a little more exciting... :-)

This is uber simple and you can adapt it to practice any type of number recitation, but it was great practice and we had fun with it; hope you can too!

Five Little Apples Chant and Finger-Play

Fall is *almost* here, so we're starting to get excited about all things apple (although most of the excitement is geared towards those things involving food).

This chant is about getting apples off a tree and involves a counting pattern from 5 down.

Why are chants or fingerplays worth my time, you may ask?

Well, my two top reasons are: they are rhythmic and rhyming, so they develop innate rhythm, which is uber important to instill at a young age since it is very hard to rectify a deficiency in natural rhythm as a child grows up.

Second, it strengthens their imagination and story-following ability. The rhyme and the actions help them to learn a story or routine; and they can mentally follow along with what's happening that much better.

So, this is one of my favorite chants/finger-plays, and it is easy-peasy to learn.


5 Little Apples - A Counting Chant

5 little apples in the apple tree,
The juiciest apples that you ever did see.
I shook that tree as hard as I could,
and down fell an apple and 'mmmm' was it good!

4 little apples in the apple tree....
3 little apples in the apple tree.....
etc...

The motions we used are as follows:

First, we had to make sure our hand had five fingers.

 Then we began the chant (by the time mommy started taking pics, little J was about done!)

"5 little apples...

...in the apple tree

 

the juiciest apples that you ever did...

 ...see!

 I shook that tree as hard as I could...  (this was the boys' favorite part... surprised?)

and down came the apple...

And mmmm, was it good!

 On the last apple that came down, we changed the words to "it was sooooooooooooooooooooo good!"- where they had to try and see who could hold "soooooo" for the longest. It was silly. :-)

Here's a quick video clip at the end of the fun, so it's not the best, but you get the idea!

Don't forget the Boynton (click:) Philadelphia Chickens CD Giveaway!

Snack&Song - "Five Cream Buns"

Around here, we love snack time.... So, why not pair it with a little counting song?
This is a simple song to the tune of "Mary Had A Little Lamb"

Five Cream Buns
Five cream buns in teddy's shop,
teddy's shop, teddy's shop.
Five cream buns in teddy's shop,
round with a cherry on top.

Along came "______" (child's name) one fine day,
one fine day, one fine day.
Along came "______" one fine day,
and took one bun away.

Four cream buns in teddy's shop....
Three cream buns in teddy's shop....
Two cream buns in teddy's shop....
One cream bun in teddy's shop....

 To make a simple "cream bun," you can do whatever you feel inspired to do, but these are the materials I used for ours:

Vanilla wafers, French vanilla yogurt (for the cream), pink jelly beans for the cherries... and a teddy bear!
You could use any round, sweet-bread-like item for the buns, pudding for the cream, and anything red-ish if you don't have real cherries.

AND - you get bonus points if you make a real "shop" for teddy out of a box.  The points are very valuable... you can earn a..... a..... hmm..... well, you can just be happy with yourself.

So, first, around snack time I made the simple cream buns:

 Five cookies with a bit of yogurt.

Then, top each with another cookie, and a little more "cream" to hold the "cherry" on.

The boys were very excited already about a special snack... since most of the time, it's just goldfish for snack. :-)

First, we got familiar with the song by singing it through once. Then we used our fingers to count down as each boy got one bun at a time.

J had some trouble getting the right amount of fingers... he looked cute trying to figure it out though...

Getting close to the end....










And, mommy got the last one, in case you were wondering. :-)
Then, we get to eat our yummy snack. Fun times.

    

We'll probably try this again next week and maybe the week after.... I'm hoping they can go through it by themselves while I eat all the cream buns watch in loving admiration.

Enjoy!

There Were Ten in the Bed...

I have always loved the song "Ten in the Bed" but do not often have 10 children to play it with... So, today we used our stuffed friends!

One way to encourage otherwise timid kiddos to sing and get involved in action songs is to have them do it with a favorite stuffed animal (K calls all his stuffed animals "puppets" even though none of them are puppets... I think it's cute, though).

The boys had a great time with this song/activity - wanting to do it several times. Unfortunately (or fortunately, for mom) nap time beckoned them away.

If you're not familiar with the song (*gasp*), go here to learn it.

Here's what we did:

1. Collect your "puppets"

2. Arrange animals on a bed where they can "fall out." We had to use the guest bed since their beds are up against the wall.

K counted to make sure we had 10:

3. Start singing through the song and when you get to the part where one falls out, let one drop to the floor.  K wanted to make sure his teddy was at the far end so he got to "sleep" at the end of the song. J got to put his at the end the next time through.
It would be rather tedious for all involved to "roll over" each animal individually, so we pushed from the far end until one fell off. It was fun to call the one that fell off by name too ("...so they all rolled over and Scout fell out...").

J sometimes wanted to just knock them all off the bed, so mommy had to intervene once in a while, but for the most part, we all sang and played and had a great time. :-)

K singing and motioning, "roll over, roll over..."

Little Buddy Teddy (the white bear's name) stays on the bed!

...much to the dismay of the others. :-)