Row, Bounce, Turn & Sway Your Boat

Nothing like adding a little creativity to an old classic!  This time, we're taking the ever-faithful "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" and adding a little more activity to it.

Songs with motions and movement are excellent for toddlers, Pre-K'ers, Kindergartners, older kids, etc., because movements enhance learning. Those who may not be so quick to pick up a melody may still be able to do simple motions in rhythm, thus still providing great training in musical ideas and patterns.

So, for this activity, grab your kiddo/s and sing through "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" (If you don't know it, just type the name into Google. I would have put a link on, but they're all so cheesy I couldn't bring myself to do it. So, find one if you need to... and I apologize in advance for the cheesiness).

There are tons of things you can do with this simple nursery-rhyme song, but today we used it for some 'pretend play' in boats.

Here's what we used:
1. Laundry baskets (if you're doing this with a class or more kids than you have baskets for, you can stop into any wholesale club like COSTCO, BJ's, etc. and grab some of their many empty, low-sided boxes)
2. Stick for the mast (wrapping paper role or a stick from your yard)  
3. Paper and markers for creating a flag or sail.
4. "rowing" devise (large wooden spoon, etc.)
5. Clear packing tape.

After the kids know the song, have them create a flag for their boat and then tape flag to their mast, and tape mast to boat.

If you have a blue blanket of some sort, that would be great for water. Ours was a little small, but it still worked OK.

 Have kids 'man' their boats and sing through the song - in a round if they're old enough - and do the motions. Then, use some different motions instead of "row" - like sway, speed, drive, shake, run, bounce, turn, tickle, etc. They can make up more as they go. You can help by showing the motions for each word as you all sing it.





Here they are with "hide" your boat, I think... or maybe it was "sleep" your boat...

You certainly don't need a boat to do these - they will be just fine being creative with this no matter what!

After we were done singing, the boys continued to play in their boats for a while - it was neat to listen to their imaginative play. :-)

Be creative and have fun! :-)

"Pete the Cat" - Song and Activity

I, for one, think there is a shortage of fun song-books out there.... But, I'm glad this one is around!
"Pete the Cat - I Love My White Shoes"  by Eric Litwin (Ill. James Dean) has been around for a few years, but I'm just finding it now... takes me a while.

The illustrations are simple, but effective. The song also, is simple and effective to get you and your kids singing. It's a fun, silly little melody about a cat's shoes that start out white and change color throughout the day as he gets stuck in some colorful stuff.
I hope your library has a few copies of this so that you can pick one up and give it a try!

Once you've got your hands on the book, go to this site from the publisher to hear the song and the story being read. Once you've got it in your head, read/sing the book to your kiddos - with a cool groove, of course. :-)


We had lots of fun with the story and song.
They especially liked making sound effects for the wet, squishy shoes. :-)

Then, we colored our own shoes and sang about them. No, not our real shoes, silly.  Just paper ones.

If you'd like to join in the fun, find a black and white printable image of a shoe online, print out a few pairs and have kids color or paint them.

K wanted his to be green, so we figured that he got stuck in a pile of mushy peas (ick).
J wanted his to be gray, so for lack of a better option, we figured he got stuck in a pile of fire ashes (better option, anyone?).
Then K wanted to make another pair and just call them "Cool Scary Star Wars Shoes."
So, we had fun singing about our shoes (I colored a pink pair!), including the Star Wars shoes.

Give the book a try, even if you don't like cats! It's fun to sing about shoes!

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!

Peanut Butter and JELLY!!

Lunchtime sometimes is a bit hectic because K and J and M all have inner hunger-alarms that go off around 12:00ish... So, if lunch is delayed, it's just loud, nonstop, hunger-induced fussiness.... no, that's too mild of a word..... out-leashing of hunger vengeance. Yes, that's better.

I was reminded of this little song/chant recently, and the boys love it... So, it's worth sharing/reminding with you all, who very well may already know the chant. It helps give us all something sequence and song-oriented to do (to distract from complaining) while assembling the oft-encountered lunch of PB & J.

Here's a link to hear a sample of the song: Click Here!


We kind of do a shortened version, and we kind of go nuts on the word "Jelly" by throwing our hands up and saying the word in a high-pitched silly voice....
So, this is our version, feel free to adapt your own!
We do motions with each 'verse' for the words crush, spread, smoosh, bite, etc...

PB&J

Peanut, Peanut butter and JELLEEEEE!!!
Peanut, Peanut butter and JELLEEEEE!!!


First you take the peanuts and you crush 'em, you crush 'em,
you crush 'em, crush 'em, crush 'em.
Then you spread 'em, you spread 'em,
you spread 'em, spread 'em, spread 'em.

 Peanut, Peanut butter and JELLEEEEE!!!

Peanut, Peanut butter and JELLEEEEE!!!

Then you take the berries and you smoosh 'em, you smoosh 'em, 

you smoosh 'em, smoosh 'em, smoosh 'em. 

Then you spread 'em,  you spread 'em, 

you spread 'em, spread 'em, spread 'em. 

Peanut, Peanut butter and JELLEEEEE!!!

Peanut, Peanut butter and JELLEEEEE!!!

Then you take the sandwich and you bite it, you bite it, 

you bite it, bite, it, bite it. 

Then you chew it, you chew it, 

you chew it, chew it, chew it. 

Then you swallow, you swallow, 

you swallow, swallow, swallow. 

Yummm.......  

"BURP!"

Oops.... excuse me. 

Peanut, Peanut butter and JELLEEEEE!!!

Peanut, Peanut butter and JELLEEEEE!!!   Weeeee!!!

So, here's to singing and fun at lunchtime! 

Have fun! 

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!

Practice Rhyming in Song

Remember Raffi? He's done more than just "Baby Beluga," my friends....
He did a fun rendition of "Down By the Bay" and it's been one of our favorite songs to sing around here because of its inherent silliness with the rhyming options (my boys' favorite characteristic) and its musicality (mommy's favorite characteristic).

Not familiar with this tune? Check it out Here.
Not the best video for its creative genius, but it'll teach you the song. :-)

This song allows your child to place rhyming words at the end that involve an animal doing something silly (like... "did you ever see some llamas eating their pajamas?").

So, gather kiddos and teach them the song. I actually find some of the best times to teach kids these songs is when we're not doing anything musical.... like getting ready for bed, driving in the car, getting dressed in the morning, cleaning up toys, etc...

It's a little tedious to have the kids hold the end of each phrase (down by the baaaaaaaay, where the watermelons grooooooooow....) without some cool guitar accompaniment, so I had the boys clap 4 times after each line.
Down by the bay (clap, clap, clap, clap)
Where the watermelons grow (clap, clap, clap, clap)...

I happened to find this great game at a consignment store:

From the above box, I selected combos of an animal and their rhyme that would work in the song (like... Did you ever see a fox hiding in a box?)
You don't need an official game though, you could simply print off pictures of rhyming words or look in your Memory Game box for some rhyming pics that would work... You don't need very many pairs - as many as you think your child will enjoy.

First, the boys had to match the rhyming pairs. Neither kiddo is reading yet, so mommy helped a lot; they did do good with hearing the matching sounds.

We chose three groups at a time to put with the song.
First we sang through the whole song for each pair.
Down by the bay (clap, clap, clap, clap)
etc.....

"...Did you ever see a snake using a rake, down by the bay?"

But, you could also just sing the song once then stick all the rhymes in sequence at the end (which is what we did after the first round because boys were getting a bit rowdy to get outside...)

Ex: "Did you ever see a snail, reading the mail? Did you ever see a goat riding in a boat? Did you ever see a dog playing with a frog, down by the bay?"

Have fun with rhyming and rhythm and singing all in one activity! Yippee!