Love Grows and Planting Seeds of Love

Love Grows One by One
Kathy Reid-Naiman
Album: Reaching for the Stars

Both of these beautiful songs are wonderful program pieces, lend themselves to easy hand motions or sign language, and teach a worthy message.

Love Grows, One by One

Words and music by Carol Johnson
You can hear the entire recording by Kathy Reid Naiman HERE.

Because this piece is copyrighted, I will not give all the lyrics for this gorgeous song. You can find the complete lyrics HERE.

Here are the easy hand motions we are using for the chorus:

Love grows, (crossing hands over heart)
one by one  (single finger on both hands)
Two by two  (two fingers, both hands)
and four by four (etc..)
Love grows (crossing hands again)
'round like a circle (extend arms overhead in circle and opening down at sides)
And comes back knocking at your front door. (right fist taps left palm in rhythm)

The verses lend themselves to easy motions as well - keep it simple. In the second verse the lyrics suggest holding hands, and as we sing "reach for all our sisters and our brothers" we lift up our joined hands. 

I nearly start crying every time.

This link goes to purchase digital
download on Amazon.

Planting Seeds of Love

Words and music by Pam Donkin

Pam Donkin has generously dedicated a website to sharing this wonderful song for FREE. 
Find it HERE at plantingseedsoflove.com
The site also features accompaniment and karaoke tracks AND sheet music, as well as lesson plans and enrichment activities across the curriculum. AMAZING!

Youtube Version HERE

Verse One:
I am planting seeds of love in my heart
I am planting seeds of love in my heart
And as they grow, I’ll take them everywhere I go
I am planting seeds of love in my heart

Other verses feature planting seeds of Peace, seeds of Song. 

Chorus:
And as they grow
They overflow
In every part
Of my heart
Heart to heart
Friend to friend

Pam Donkin suggests adapting this song for children to sing the song directly to their parents by singing "YOU are planting seed of love in my heart"
See her adaptation HERE.

This song lends itself to using American Sign Language. There are video dictionaries online to help choreograph this. I recommend keeping it VERY simple.
Here's "Love" from ASLpro.com
Here's "Grow" from signingsavvy.com

PDF of complete lyrics

Mr. Troll May I Cross Your Bridge?

This game is based vaguely on "Three Billy Goat's Gruff". The kids always love it!
It uses listening & creative skills, as well as taking turns and following

directions.

The kids line up at one side of the room, and I put out a "Bridge" in the middle of the room.

In the past I have used a low bench and held their hands for safety. This year I am going to construct something lower to the ground.

I tell them that they will have to ask the troll if they may cross the bridge.

Then we all sing (in a sing-song voice)

ALL: "Oh Mr. Troll, ---  may I cross your bridge?"

And I pick a child and say:

TEACHER: "You may cross my bridge if you ask me in a ___________ voice!"

(soft, loud, high, low, growly, happy, sad, robot, squeaky, whispering etc...)

And to help them understand, sometimes I demonstrate that voice, saying:

TEACHER: "May I cross your bridge?" in that kind of voice.

The child then asks:

CHILD: "May I cross your bridge?"

TEACHER: "Yes, you may!" 

After we have played the game once or twice, I usually don't need to demonstrate the voice types. The kids can also start to come up with their own funny voices.

Once they have crossed the bridge, they sit at the other end of the room while other children have a turn.

THE BRIDGE
For safety this year, I'm probably just going to use a board on the floor -- maybe with low pavers underneath if it is stable and won't flip up when stepped on.
No one got hurt in the past - this is just cautionary. Children's footwear fashions are tending towards stiff & chunky soles - not good for games requiring agility.

Apple Starts with "A", GREAT Phonics Song!

Just before storytime, I teach the kids one new letter of the alphabet, and we practice making its sound. Then we practice saying the names of the letters we have learned so far, and finally we sing The Learning Station's ABC Phonics song - just up to our new letter.
So far this year we are up to the letter K.

They are always so eager to move on to the next letter. This week they were so disappointed they could not sing the letter L for Lion until after Christmas!

The pace is lively enough to make it fun, but not too fast. The melody is super simple. I'm always impressed how much the kids enjoy singing this; they take learning their letters very seriously.

ABC Phonics 

by The Learning Station

Apple Starts with A,
ah - ah - apple,

Bear Starts with B,
b - b - bear, 

... and so it goes. So simple and effective.

Christmas 2015 ~ A Funny Jingle Bells, The Mitten in the Snow Song

Hi Sunshine Parents!

Here is a list of all our Christmas songs this year. I don't like to teach Christmas music all through November, so if you want to help your kids learn these songs I welcome the help.

Jingle Bells

This year we are not using the "Dashing through the snow" verse,
but are singing our special Sunshine verse instead:

A day or two ago, 

I thought I'd take a ride,
And soon my Sunshine Pals 
were seated by my side. 
Our horse was running fast, 
as fast as he could go,
He tripped over a snowball and we all fell in the snow! OH!

Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,
Oh what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh, HEY! 
Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,
Oh what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh, HEY! 

The Mitten in the Snow Song

This simple song is sung to the tune of "The Farmer in the Dell",
and goes through all the animals in Jan Brett's telling of "The Mitten".
If you have a copy of this book, you can sing the song as you tell the story.

The mitten in the snow
The mitten in the snow
Help us please so we won’t freeze!
The mitten in the snow.

A mole squeezes in
A mole squeezes in
Help us please so we won’t freeze!
A mole squeezes in


Then for then next SEVEN VERSES it goes through all the animals who join the mole in the mitten! (For the purpose of our program, we probably won't sing every verse!)

Rabbit
Hedgehog
Owl
Badger
Fox
Bear
Mouse

And finally:

The bear says, “A-choo!”
The bear says, “A-choo!”
All the animals fly out of
The mitten in the snow!

All the other songs...

These songs are described in last year's Christmas post (link)
Peppermint Stick
Up on the Housetop
Ring the Bells
Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer 

And...
Away in a Manger (first verse)
Ring those Bells and Turn Around
We Wish You a Merry Christmas

"Too Much Noise" and other dramatic participation stories

"The bed creaked. 

The floor squeaked."

And that is just the beginning of Peter's troubles.
I quickly go over the sounds to make: creak, squeak, swish, & hiss before launching into the story. (Hand motions are fun too)

The children won't have any trouble helping you with the animal sounds (encourage this).

And there is a lovely, quiet resolution.

"Ah. Oh,"..."How quiet my house is."

Caps For Sale


"Caps! Caps for sale! Fifty cents a cap!"

This classic story begs to be interpreted dramatically.

The children can call out the peddler's market banter.

Then when the peddler interacts with the monkeys, you can be the peddler, and the class can be the monkeys. This is so much fun.

BOTH of these stories feature an individual with a problem. As soon as it is obvious what the problem is, you can ask the kids how they would solve it.


More dramatic participation stories

I tell three from this one nearly every year.

To tell these stories, you'll want to memorize the basic idea, and then ad lib the actual telling.

Make it fun! When the prince goes riding to fight the wizard, make everyone bounce up & down as you call out silly obstacles  "He rode through the pizza forest!"

Over the years, my artsy daughters have created puppets to aid my storytelling, and the children love them, especially the beautiful Snow Queen.

I give the children a chance to pet my dragon puppet before I tell the story about the lazy dragon. See, not so scary.

The story about the Emperor invites exploration into all kinds of sounds: chimes, gongs, clocks, and all manner of bird songs. You could spend a whole class on this story.

And don't forget your favorite from summer camp: "Goin' on a Lion Hunt". Always works.

Connie Kaldor's Honey, Honey, Honey! A Song about a Bear and a Bee

This song NEVER fails to bring BIG smiles.

Honey, Honey, Honey by Connie Kaldor

Honey, Honey, Honey

A bear climbs a tree and makes a piece of toast.

He then demands ALL of the honey from a hard working bee.

What happens next?

The reason this song works so well is the simple chorus:

"HONEEEEEY! honey honey honey honey honey"

When I teach it to the kids, we learn this part first, throwing our hands wildly in the air with the first loud "HONEY!", and shaking them down with the five repeated honeys. They love it. We change the emotion of the chorus as the story progresses, and always over the top.

I also made magnets to tell the story: a bear, a piece of toast, a bee, and a jar of jam.

For copyright reasons, here is a link to the lyrics

AND, here is Connie's performance on Youtube!

Lyrics and Music by Connie Kaldor, available as a download through Amazon or other sources, but check out the whole album for other winning tunes.

Naughty Pussycat as a Game

The version of this little song I have used for years is different from the one I find all over the internet. This year I have changed mine a bit to make it even more fun. (see options below)

To use this song, (any version) as a game, choose one child to sit in the center of the circle. They will be the pussycat, and they will get to "Meeeeow" like a cat two times before they Scat! I praise them for their unique cat sounds.

Naughty Pussycat! (wag your finger)
       Child in center says "Meeeeow"
Messy kitty cat! (wag your finger)
       Child in center says "Meeeeow"
You have  (pizza, playdough, ice cream etc...) on your whiskers 
(fingers to cheeks, pull away showing whiskers)
Naughty Pussycat - SCAT! 
(toss your hands out with the word Scat)
Child in center scoots back to the circle, the next child becomes the cat.

The simple melody I use is
Sol Sol Mi Mi Sol,  
Sol Sol Mi Mi Sol, 
Sol Sol Mi Mi Sol Sol Mi Mi, 
Mi Mi Re Re Do

The kids love making suggestions for what could be on the cat's whiskers.

There is a popular version of this song all over the internet with these lyrics:

Naughty Pussycat
You are very fat
You have (butter, ice cream etc...) on your whiskers
Naughty Pussycat

... but I don't like calling anything fat, so I changed the lyrics

In past years I used a version of the song that went like this:

Naughty Pussycat
Go and catch a rat!
You have cobwebs on your whiskers
Naughty Pussycat - SCAT!