Creeping Bugs & Race Car Spider -- Easy Motion Songs

Sunshine Moms & Dads, here are some of the songs we learned earlier this year.

For this one, the kids sat with their legs flat out in front, and we placed our hands on our toes for a great stretch! Then as we sing the song, both hands "creep" up to our noses & down again.

Creeping, creeping, little flea.
Up my leg and past my knee.
To my tummy, on he goes.
Past my chin and to my nose.
Now he's creeping down my chin,
To my tummy once again.
Down my leg and past my knee.
To my toe that little flea.....
(pause to build up some excitement)
GOTCHA!

Here's a youtube - slightly different, but you get the idea 

Of COURSE we do the Eency Weency Spider, but with variations...
We also use an easier hand posture than the one I grew up using.
Hook your thumbs together, now wiggle your eight fingers. Easy.

after the Eency Weency Spider, there's the
GREAT BIG SPIDER (we sing in a GREAT BIG VOICE)
and then the teeny baby spider (we sing in a teeny baby voice)

a few years ago one boy (Jackson) asked for a

 Race Car Spider. Why not?
 We sing:

The Race Car Spider went up the waterspout -- VRROOOM!!!
(hold "spider" hands  down until the vroom, and then they shoot up all at once)
Down came the rain VRROOOM!!!  and washed the spider out
Out came the sun & dried up all the rain, and the
Race Car Spider went up the spout again VRROOOM!!!

You could make a game of creating all kinds of spiders. Would you share your ideas with me?

 We have also enjoyed "I'm a Little Teapot" and "Head & Shoulders, Knees & Toes" this year.

Our Christmas Songs for 2012

Every year I search high & low for a special Christmas song to go with the theme for the year. Some years it's a real challenge!
I also teach a few "core" songs every year, because they are expected, and for the most part are songs the kids already know. Sunshine Moms & Dads, it would be great if you can help them with these at home. Every year we have just a few lessons to learn all the songs we sing for the Christmas party, because I won't start before Halloween!

Every year:

• Jingle Bells -- we ring the bells on the chorus, but not the verse. (just one verse)
• Away in a Manger -- one verse with hand motions
• Up on the Housetop -- one verse with whole body motions
• We Wish You a Merry Christmas -- with other verses like "let's all do a little clapping and spread Christmas cheer"
• Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer -- with Teacher Teri's cute hand motions

Two special songs for this year:

Old Toy Trains sung by Terry Kelly

Old Toy Trains
Because we have a western theme this year, but I totally failed at finding an easy cowboy Christmas song, I went for a Country Western song that is sweet & simple. If you want to help your child learn this song, please download the same version we are using in school. This artist sings "boys and girls" in place of the traditional phrase "little boy", so the girls don't get left out.
He also sings it in a perfect range & gentle tempo, and has such a warm voice. 
For the instrumental bit, we chug-a-chug like trains.

Simple hand motions I made up:

Old toy trains, little toy tracks (children move a hand like they are pushing a toy train)
Little toy drums (pretend they are playing drum)
Coming from a sack (lift both hands like taking something from a sack)
Carried by a man, dressed in white & red (one thumb hitched over shoulder like carrying a sack)
Boys & girls, don't you think it's time you were in bed (folded hands on shoulder - the "sleep" motion)

Close your eyes (hands over eyes)
Listen to the skies (one hand sweeps air, look up at hand)
All is calm, all is well (lower both hands, palms down)
Soon you'll hear Kris Kringle and the jingle bells (mime ringing jingle bells)

Must Be Santa
Because it is easy & cute, and I just can't do the Hippopotamus song every year. We sing the first three verses only. Here's a link to a you tube with nice illustrations.

Native American Music, and What to do when the kids make oatmeal container drums

Last week Teacher Terri asked me to find some way to use the oatmeal box drums the kids were making in class as part of their Native American Indian unit.

Gladly!

Here's what we did today.

We warmed up with a fun dance game idea (Uhe Basho Sho) I found in Wee Sing  Around the World, but used the
 Holding Hands Song from
"Dancing Spirit: Native American Songs & Dances"
also available on Itunes.

It's a perfect recording for this game, and sounds a lot like the song on the Wee Sing CD, only it's several minutes longer.
Basically, have the kids line up & hold hands. Place some "trees" around the room. I used five chairs. 

As the music plays, step rhythmically & slowly, leading the line around the obstacles in a crazy path. After a few turns, release the hand of the child next in line and tell them they are the leader. Go join the child at the end of the line. Encourage them to take unexpected turns & keep it fun. They will get the hang of it, but it really helps to have a couple adult helpers to coach them. In my class, each child lead for about 20-30 seconds.

Drum Time

First, anytime I give the kids instruments, I warm them up with a simple piggyback song. I can't remember where I found this, but it's wonderful.

tune: "The More We Get Together"

It's time to play our instruments, instruments, instruments, 
It's time to play our instruments in music class.

Play them HIGH (pause & play them up in the air)
Play them LOW (pause, play low)
Play them FAST (etc)
Play them SLOW

It's time to play our instruments in music class, and STOP!!!

At the STOP everyone MUST put their instrument on the floor and put their hands on their lap. It is a fun game which we practice the first time they get instruments, and keeps instrument time manageable.

Because the drums were too big to lift up high, I substituted the "high & low" with "like this" and swished my palm over the top, and then "with your fingers" and we made rain sounds.

Then we had a blast using this song:

 My Favourite Drum from Kids Music Company

Link goes to their website where you can preview this song. You can also purchase this on Itunes from their "Swing With Me" CD.

At first the kids play however they like, then it directs them to play softly or loudly, and at the end of each verse they:

drum and drum and STOP!! (Pause)
drum and drum and STOP!! (Pause)
drum and drum and drum and then I STOP!! (Pause)

This was great fun, like the Freeze Game for drums.

Finally we used:

Social Dance James Peshlakai From the Album Songs of the Navajo

This is an amazing album. (MP3 downloads from Amazon or Itunes)

For this song, I had the kids scoot back from the circle to leave room for dancers, and told them I would be taking each one by turn for a little dance around the room. They could drum to the music while others were dancing.

I watched some youtubes of social dances, and chose to use a simple variation of this idea: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIHOZDk3M-0

While the kids drummed the basic beat, I took one child at at time around the circle, both hands joined (criss cross if possible) facing forward. I used a kind of bounce step to the rhythm, but did not expect the kids to do exactly as I did. When we returned to their spot in the circle, I turned us in a 360, still with our hands locked together, and then released them to sit & drum, and extended my hands to the next child. They understood this very easily.

When everyone had a turn, I asked them to put their drums up on the table and choose a dance partner. We all danced as a group a couple more times around the circle to the music. If they could not figure out the two hands idea, it was fine for them to simply hold hands as usual.

Welcome Songs / Games : Peek-a-boo, Charlie Over the Water

I usually change the welcome song every four weeks or so. I call these welcome games, because the child being greeted gets to perform a fun activity.

"Peek-a-boo"  works great at the very beginning of the year. (By the end of the year they might feel too grown up for this game)

I brought a scarf & demonstrated for the kids by putting it over my head & singing:
The melody I use is in solfege \ down slash means go down the scale, / up slash = go up

Kathy is hiding, hiding, hiding.
 do do re mi do, re \ sol /mi do
Kathy is hiding. Where can she be?
do do re mi do, re \ sol / do

(I take the scarf off my head)

Peek - a - boo! I see you!
 / sol sol mi,      fa fa re
Peek - a - boo! I see you! 
 mi mi do,         re \ sol / do

Then I passed the scarf to a child, and they knew right away what to do. 

This week we learned "Charlie Over the Water"

As usual, I started with a traditional song and changed it to something I could use. It makes no sense whatsoever, but the kids don't seem to care.

To play this fun welcome game, I bring a little beanie toy that has no sharp projections. A simple bean bag would work also.

On "Charlie catch", I gently toss the toy underhand to the child. On "throw it back" they do their best to throw it back to me. They all get praised for their turns. It's too much to expect them to all be able to throw & catch perfectly, but they are learning to follow directions & take turns, so they deserve a "good job!" for this.

Of course, I use the name of the child being welcomed in place of "[Charlie]".

[Charlie] over the water,      [Charlie] over the sea
  do do     do do do do \ sol,   /  do do     do ti do  re

[Charlie] catch the beanbag -- and throw it back to me!
 /fa fa      \ re     re   ti  sol         sol    sol   sol  la    ti  do

6 Picture Books for Preschool Music Class, Storytime Part Two

Here are the books I have used so far this year.

Going to Sleep on the Farm

I made up a simple lullaby melody, and sing the sweet rhyming text. The kids like to volunteer what they know about how animals sleep. I ask them if they would like to sleep like the animals in the story: in the hay, standing up, in a nest, or in a pig pile! 

The Boy With a Drum

"There Once Was a Boy with a Little Toy Drum, rat a tat, tat a tat, rum a tum tum"...

This enchanting story just begs for a drum to help with the telling. I use my Bodhran as a hand drum; my adult helper holds the book & turns the pages.
I ask the children to repeat some of the phrases in tempo, or just make animal sounds: "cluck cluck cluck" in rhythm -- but the drum never stops! At the end of the story, I kept the drum going, and we marched around the circle, making the various animal sounds from the story.
You might have to search for this wonderful book, but it is well worth it!

I am Porkchop  
by Ray Nelson, Kyle Holveck (Illustrator), Aaron Peeples (Illustrator), Julie Mohr-Hansen

Yet another book I picked up at a garage sale, and now realize it is out of print. If you can find a copy, this one is hilarious. Porkchop and his piggy friends have a band, and the farm animals sing along. The text is minimal, the illustrations are over-the-top crazy! The ducks are dressed up like jazz back up singers, the cows look like crooners in tuxedos, the dog is an Elvis impersonator, and the cat -- is Brunhilde -- complete with horned helmet and, um, costume.

I encourage participation by having the kids help me make the sounds of the instruments, or "sing" like the animals in the pictures.

The Owl who Became the Moon

I discovered the key to telling this story is to practically whisper the beautiful text, dramatically -- almost like a ghost story. I read the title first, and asked the children if an Owl Could Become the Moon, and when they said "No!", I told them we would find out in the story. This seemed to get them curious.
The pictures are dazzling, and the kids get very excited to point out the animals. The high train trestle fascinates them as well. They help me with all the sounds throughout the book: the train whistles: choooo choooo, the owl calls: whoooo, whoooo.

I Know a Wee Piggy

 Based on the song "I Know an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly", the piggy is too little to win a ribbon in the pig show, so he runs through the fair, wallowing in things to turn himself into a work of art -- to win a ribbon in the art competition! The story concept was hard for the kids to grasp, but they enjoyed identifying the colors and where they came from: pink was cotton candy, green was freshly cut grass, white was milk, etc... I sang the text, but we spent a lot of time discussing each wonderfully illustrated page.

Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?

This one helps the kids start listening to the world around them. On every page, I had the kids ask the animals what they hear, (with the repetitious chant in the text) and on every page, they made the animal sounds suggested.  At the very end, there are magical illustrations of children in animal costumes. This makes it one of my favorites to use just before Halloween.

The Harvest Game

When I was little, I always wanted my Mom to play "Fruit Basket Upset" when we had parties. Here is a spin-off from that classic game.

I created little cards with pictures of fruits & vegetables, and "laminated" them with packaging tape. I usually use 2 of each kind, but have 3 -- just in case I get a larger group.

I have the children stand around the circle and hand each one a card. Then I sing: (tune I use is like "Bumping up & Down in My Little Red Wagon" -- or "Hurry Hurry Drive the Firetruck")
Where oh where can I find some apples?
Where oh where can I find some apples?
If you're an apple --- jump up and down! (pause while the kids with the apple card jump)
And sit down in my basket!

At that the "apples" sit down in the middle of the circle & stay there. I used to sing "jump into my basket", but some of the kids were a little too energetic doing this and I feared someone was going to get hurt!

Then I will pick a different fruit or vegetable and sing that verse with their motion. Here are the motions I use, but you might think of something better.

• apples -- jump
• grapes -- stomp their feet
• corn --- flap your arms 
• carrots -- spin around
• pumpkins -- jump and turn
• peas  -- run around the circle (just once -- must be the last one to avoid collisions!)

Now all the kids are sitting in the center of the circle. I have them hold their cards up in the air to make it easy for me to collect the cards, and they return to standing around the circle. We will play this one more time, and they must get a different card than the one they had before.

Favorite October Music part three: Knock Knock & I'm a Pumpkin

Knock Knock

There are many versions of this out there. I modified it to be a counting fingerplay.

I created an illustration for this song with
one child in a fairy costume 
two pirates,
three princesses
four kids in superhero costumes
five ghosts (children in costumes -- not scary)


Knock, knock, 
Sounds like more, 
Trick-or-treaters at my door!
(slap palm with fist to "knock" in rhythm with the words)

Open the door and what do I see?
(Spread hands out to "open door")

One little fairy is smiling at me!
(hold up one finger)

Go through all the verses, and at the end, the ghosts say BOO!


I'm a Pumpkin

Here's another that is everywhere on the net!

I really like the Wee Sing version:

I'm a pumpkin large and round,
 (arms out wide)
Sitting on the cold cold ground,
 (pat floor)
Now it's time to leave this place
 (hitch thumb over shoulder)
Take me home and carve a face
 (circle face with finger)

Make some eyes -- clap -- clap
 (point to eyes -- clap -- clap)
And a mouth -- clap -- clap
  (point to mouth-- clap -- clap)
And a nose -- clap -- clap
  (point to nose-- clap -- clap)


I'm a jack-o-lantern now,
Not a pumpkin on the ground.
 (shake finger for "no")
Put a candle in for light,
 (hold finger out for a candle)
I will glow throughout the night.
 (other hand waves behind finger for "glow")

Halloween -- clap -- clap
Halloween -- clap -- clap 
Halloween -- clap -- clap  

shhhhhhhh!
(finger to lips)
(whisper)

Halloween -- clap -- clap 
Halloween -- clap -- clap  
Halloween -- clap -- clap