Climbing Up and Sliding Down

There are any number of times when I'm sitting waiting.... waiting..... with baby M.
At the pediatrician's.... at a family member's house..... while he's supposed to be sleeping..... etc, etc....

Any baby chants are good for having a fun little tete a tete while killing time... And, these below involve using your fingers to "climb" and "slide" on your little precious baby. These will be enjoyed by most toddlers out there too.... :-)

Rhymes with these tapping motions are fun games to involve your child in while also incorporating his or her ability to feel a beat or pulse. The happiness and giggles for all involved make these a win-win. :-)

The first, a very well known nursery rhyme and oh-so-fun:

1. Hickory, Dickory Dock
Hickory, Dickory Dock,
The mouse ran up the clock.
The clock struck one
and down he run,
Hickory, Dickory, Dock.

Motions: 
1st 2 lines: "walk" or "run" two fingers up from baby's foot to head.
"The clock struck one" - tap baby's head or nose once.
"and down he run.." run fingers back down to toes.

 2. Climb Up the Ladder
Climb up the ladder,
hurry to the slide!
Sit at the top
and down you slide!

Motions: 
Walk 2 fingers up baby's legs and tummy, fingers start to run on "hurry to the slide."
"Sit at the top" - Land on baby's shoulder.
On last line, "slide" fingers down baby's arm.

3. Johnny, Johnny, Whoops!

Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, Whoops!
Johnny, Johnny, Whoops!
Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, Whoops!
etc..

Motions:
Get baby's little hand in your hand, and starting with baby's pinky, use your pointer finger to tap on the top of each finger, until you get to the Whoops! where "Johnny" (your finger) slides down and then is back up and tapping again until the next Whoops! - which can happen wherever, of course. There's no need to follow the above text to a "t" or anything.
When you do the Whoops! do it in a higher pitched voice.... usually makes for more giggles. :-)
I still remember seeing elementary-aged kids doing this to each other, so there must be something exciting about it that extends past baby-hood. :-)

Have fun getting those babies giggling! Here's a giggling baby M for your entertainment:

Good Friday

I don't know what you're doing on this lovely weekend, but we're talking about Easter - and for us that means more than just eggs, chocolate bunnies and peeps; it means most significantly that we learn about and celebrate Jesus' death and resurrection - and the amazing grace that is offered to us all as a result.

K and J are just coming around with understanding these types of things, which is fun because K is asking more serious questions and J is learning the basic ideas of the story.

So, today we made a paper "stained-glass"cross for talking about Good Friday (or Holy Friday).
We used some colors of Easter. Those being,

Purple - Jesus is King, and the robe he wore upon being mocked was purple
Red - Jesus' blood that was shed
White - Jesus' sacrifice washes away our sins, and the color of the angel's garment at the empty tomb
Yellow - for the sun that dawned on that Resurrection morning when the women went to the tomb.
Green - New life in Jesus

We added this song that incorporated some of our Easter colors - to the tune of "Jesus Loves Me"
They were antsy to get outside after the craft, so we sang it while they were getting dressed, and I'll reincorporate it as we go throughout the day... (Again, no fancy song or "official" music time needed, but music throughout the day helps get these little tunes and their message into our kiddos' heads.)

"Red means Jesus died for me,
White says I am clean like He,
Purple was the robe which He had worn,
Yellow shone the sun that Easter morn.

Thank you God for Easter, Thank you God for Easter,
Thank you God for Easter, When Jesus rose again."

Easter Egg Maracas

This post is dedicated to my friend, Katie, who reminded me of this idea, since she is a musically-inclined momma too!

Plastic eggs can turn into great little shakers, and these are super easy to make.
Here's what we did to make our festive toys:

Gather some empty plastic eggs, a basket to put the finished ones in, some painter's or strong scotch tape, and things to fill eggs with (like dry beans, rice, pasta, pony beads, etc.). We used stickers to decorate these eggs. I chose to go temporary with these things since I'll need the eggs on Sunday for an egg hunt!

I thought I'd take this one more "musical" step forward by filling the eggs with different materials. Then, we could talk about the timbre (pronounced tamber... just in case you're not used to using that word...) and match sounds after putting them together.

So, we gathered random materials. K thoroughly enjoyed being put in charge of collecting the sticks.

 We used beans, rice, jingle bells, pennies, pom-poms, little sticks and little plastic CARS figures (which was very perplexing to K.. who wondered why on earth does mommy want me to put cars in eggs... She's lost it).

Next, the boys put some of each material into their eggs so we had two eggs of each.

A little messy, but not too bad....

Mommy taped the eggs closed and then the boys decorated them with stickers.

All the eggs were put in the basket and we each chose two whose sound we liked best (no one chose the pom pom ones... can't imagine why...) and sang "If you're happy and you know it, shake your eggs (SHAKE, SHAKE, SHAKE).... Then we switched to the other person's eggs and sang again.

J was ready to be done by now, so K and I moved on to identifying same sounds.
I made a list of each material and he had to check it off as he found the match.

We also talked about each sound as each egg was shaken.

He did great and identified them all easily. Guess I'll need to move on to something more challenging next time...

Have you made your egg shakers yet this season??
Have fun!

If These Old Walls Could Hear...

One of the most important things we can do to help our children learn how to carry a tune is to carry one ourselves! Which leads me to my question of the day...

Are you singing?

Is happiness, grief, and anything in between coming out of you in song throughout the day?

When was the last time you walked around the house singing some tune that was in your head? When did you feel so inspired and content that your heart led you to a song?
Hopefully, it wasn't that long ago.

Kids hear that, you know... and it does them a lot of good.

As stated before, I think that singing is the most important part of training a child to know and understand music - hearing melody in fast and slow, high and low tones does wonders for opening up their musical mind. And then pair all that with a strong emotion. Powerful stuff.

Do you ever hear your child singing by themselves somewhere in the home and think, "that's so wonderful. I love to hear him/her sing..." Well, they think the same thing about you!

So, again, when was the last time you sang as you went about your daily tasks? Or as you were driving in the car? Or as you were working outside?
Are you singing in front of your kids? Are you teaching them the tunes you loved as a child?

You don't even need to have a "music" slot in your day - just let the happiness, sadness, contentment, weariness, joy - whatever in your heart come out in song throughout the day. Sing like no one is listening... but I bet you someone is. And they love to hear it.

Beautiful music... can calm the agitations of the soul. 

It is one of the most magnificent and delightful gifts God gas given. 

-Martin Luther

"Fingers and Toes" Chants

These chants are not only fun and produce lots of giggles, but they help baby become more aware of their amazing appendages! One good way to engage various parts of the body is to incorporate them into a rhyme.

We'll start with your favorite, and mine,
"This Little Piggy Went To Market" 
If you need a reminder, here it is:

This little piggy went to market,
and this little piggy stayed home.
This little piggy had roast beef,
and this little piggy had none.
But THIS little piggy cried "wee, wee, wee!"
All the way home!

Motions: 
1. Get baby's adorable little feet in your hands.
2. For each little piggy, gently squeeze and wiggle a toe, starting with big toe and moving out.
3. On "but THIS little piggy cried..." wiggle the little toe, then travel your finger/s back along baby's toes to "home" which could be the bottom of baby's foot, back to the big toe or (my personal favorite) tickle all the way up the body to the ticklish part of their neck.

Option #2:

These are Baby's Fingers
These are baby's fingers,
These are baby's toes,

This is baby's belly button,
around and round it goes!

Motions:
Grab and/or tickle baby's fingers, then toes then poke belly button and move finger around in a circle around belly button.

Option #3:

Five Fingers
Five fingers on one hand,
five on the other one too!
Two eyes, two ears
and ten little toes,
Precious little baby are you!

Motions: Similar to the above rhyme, engage each body part as you go through it. On the last line, hug baby or do a tickle on their sides, or clap through the line then point to baby on "you!"

Option #4:

Ten Little Fingers, Ten Little Toes
Ten little fingers,
Ten little toes,
Two little eyes and
one little nose.
Two little cheeks
and one little chin,
One little mouth where "pudding" goes in!

Tap on each body part as it is mentioned.
You can also substitute another food of your choosing, of course.

These are great to do while baby is on the changing table, while you're waiting forever for the doctor at the pediatrician's office, or anytime! :-)
Have fun!

Why Music?

Some of you may be wondering why you, me or any parent needs to spend time trying to do musical things with young children... even babies.  I mean, really... do they NEED music?

Well, you can probably guess where I'm going with this... but it's not down the path of... "music's great because it makes your child smarter. It helps them participate with others. It helps with math. It helps with reading." That’s like saying: ice cream is important. It allows you to make a milkshake and provides a catalyst for sprinkles and cherries. It’s really important for chocolate, providing a vehicle for this important food item to be presented. Are all those things true? Sure. But, when it comes down to it, ice cream is just pretty stinkin’ great in and of itself.
Same thing with music. As we musicians say, music for music's sake.

Why bother with music so early? Why not wait until my kids get it in school?
Often by then, it's too late.

A famous composer, Zoltan Kodaly, when discussing the importance of music in early childhood, made this comment:
"What a child has heard in the first six years of life cannot be eradicated later. Thus, it is too late to begin teaching at school, because a child stores a mass of musical impressions before school age; and if what is bad predominates, then his fate, as far as music is concerned, has been sealed for a lifetime."

Any research will tell you that the most critical development in a child is between 0-7 years. These are precious, formative years in children. 

Think of a flower - Changing from a seed into a flower is extremely complex - and the most dramatic change is in its first part of life - morphing from a kernel to roots, stem and bud.

 Each child is born with the natural ability to talk and problem-solve, they are also born with an innate musical ability. This musical potential in each child is vulnerable to positive influences and to negative ones.... but perhaps the most common negative affect is that of neglect.

We must help to form and shape our child's musical ability. All the materials are there in his/her brain for forming melody, experiencing movement and rhythm, expressing ideas, thoughts and emotions through sound... but they can not draw them out and organize them on their own. They need someone to draw these qualities out and nurture them to healthy growth.

An imperfect analogy is that of puzzle pieces scattered on a table… they can form into a cohesive, beautiful puzzle.. but the pieces need to be organized in order for the wonderful whole to be brought about. Children need help to make sense of their musical abilities by engaging in stimulating musical experiences.
Many kids only get about 3 corners of their puzzle set up because there is not enough stimulation of their musical being.

Think about how you teach your child to speak or read. Would you expect him/her to learn the language without you ever speaking to them or using inappropriate grammar to teach them? Certainly not. They learn directly from you. They need our proactive leadership and example in music as well. 

So, before it's too late, get involved in musically crafting your child. You don't need to be an expert, but seek to grow in your own musical ability or creativity so that you can give the precious gift of a musically stimulated mind to your child. 

Seek and Find Game - "Doggie, Doggie"

When I was about to take my first teaching job, my former teacher and dear friend, Janet was counseling me in how to set up a music classroom and was giving me ideas to use with the kids. This song is one she taught me over the phone and it has stayed in our repertoire since then.

It's a simple song about a dog and a bone. Here are the words:
Doggie, Doggie, where's your bone? 
Somebody took it from your home. 


Simple? Yes. That's why it's great. Kids can memorize this little number in a jiffy.
The melody is similar to "Rain, Rain Go Away."
Here are the boys and I singing it for your listening pleasure:

 In teaching kiddos to sing with you, the two notes used primarily in this song are easy for little voices to imitate (the minor 3rd for all you music nerds out there).  So, use them often!

Also, kids voices naturally sing higher than adult voices, so when you teach or sing these songs, sing a little higher than you might be used to and it will be easier for them to pick up the melody than if the pitch is low. Not too high, of course.... I'm sure you get the idea.

This activity/song works best in a group, but if you have at least two kids, you're probably good to go, or if you're having a playdate or need a group game to do in a teaching situation. etc.

Materials:
Dog Bone. (I bought this one for a few dollars, but use one you have around or cut a dog-bone shape out of cardboard.)
Optional: Doggie. (As stated before, my boys do better with these things if there is an animal prop involved).

Teach kids the song (if you have a bunch of kiddos, sit 'em in a circle).

One child is the doggie and covers his/her eyes while another child hides the bone in the room.

"Doggie" opens eyes and tries to find the bone while everyone sings, "Doggie, Doggie..."

When "Doggie" find the bone there is much rejoicing (yay!!) and then that child becomes the hider.

Keep going as long as their interest holds. Don't drag it out... they won't want to play it again. :-/
Some children may need help closing their eyes....

Alteration:
If doing this in a classroom with children sitting in a circle, you can also have hider put the bone behind another student. While hiding, everyone sings the song. Doggie opens eyes and has 3 guesses as to who is hiding the bone.  

Then follow up with a book or two about dogs. My pick today? P.D. Eastman's "Go, Dog Go." All my boys love this one. Enjoy!