Hi, It's Jedda from This Little Project. I'm here to share one of my favorite tools for interacting with kids that is also a great way to teach music and movement: PUPPETS!
Showing posts with label Children's Music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Children's Music. Show all posts
Monday, November 26, 2012
Movement and Music: Using Puppets!
Monday, October 22, 2012
Movement and Music: Fall and Pumpkins!
Hi, I'm Jedda from This Little Project. I'm excited to share some ideas about how you can incorporate Movement and Music into learning to make it more meaningful and fun for the kids you interact with and teach.
Pass the Pumpkin is a game I made up for us to play when I want to review something. If it's geography, each child says a country or state when the pumpkin gets passed to them. If it's numbers or colors or presidents the idea is the same. The kids stand in a circle or in two columns and pass the pumpkin back and forth to each other down the line, or around the circle.
You could use a orange ball, but we use a clementine, orange, or tangerine with a face painted on so we have a yummy snack to celebrate with at the end of the game!
Below I've included some songs that make learning fun and full of movement for a variety of ages.
Where is pumpkin song: (Ideas for older kids below)
Where is Pumpkin? Song:
When I want to do a variation on this song (above) for kids a little older, I
hide other things under the leaves that we are reviewing, such as
shapes of states, pictures of composers, or numbers, etc. When we lift
up the number, if the pumpkin isn't there we say, "Oh it's not the
pumpkin, it's a SEVEN!" Or, "Oh it's not the pumpkin, it's Mozart!",
etc.
Kids can play this in pairs too and they love to be the one to hide the objects underneath!
Leaves Song:
Nursery Rhyme about leaves:
I like that the second half of the song doesn't have singing. It tests the memory of the words and melody for the students.
Pumpkin maracas! These make singing and getting the sense of rhythm even more fun! Just fill the inside with anything that makes sound (ours came from the rice and beans in our October sensory bin!) and glue closed. You could also use an orange plastic egg and draw a face on!
For more learning fun, be sure to come by This Little Project and say hi!
Monday, September 24, 2012
Movement and Music: Going on a Bear Hunt!
Hi, I'm Jedda from This Little Project. My daughter is a big fan of the We're Going on a Bear Hunt book right now. I love it when you can take a book interact with it with movement and music--instead of just reading it. Today I'll show you what I mean, by using the book, We're Going on a Bear Hunt.
I love using this book with my own kids to teach them listening music skills at the piano. The words "over" and "under" and all the action words like "splash, splosh" are great for teaching about high and low notes and making different kinds of sounds at the piano. If you would like to use this book to teach some musical skills, and "play a story" on the piano, I've written more details here.
Here is a movie of the book We're Going on a Bear Hunt that is great, especially if you aren't familiar with the book.
I recently had some preschoolers at my house to explore this book together. We played a game where we used our EARS and a lot of energy to take turns hunting
and finding a bear, and had a Bear Hunt snack. I've written more about these ideas here.
When you can put actions to a story it engages even more senses for the children. Here are some action ideas, given by the author:
Monday, July 23, 2012
Butterfly Lifecycle--Movement and Music!
Hi, I'm Jedda from This Little Project.
We are enjoying a lot of butterfly fun at our house right now. We rescued a monarch from the middle of the road this past week and have been watching a friend raise some monarchs from egg to chrysalis. Today I'll share some Movement and Music ideas to go along with that beautiful transformation from caterpillar to butterfly.
It's a miracle every time!
This movie shows the transformation of of
a butterfly from an egg to a monarch butterfly. It's perfect to watch
before learning and singing the songs below.
This movie is a song about the life cycle of a butterfly, with
pictures. It's short and easy for young kids to sing. (Note: usually
the "house"a butterfly makes is referred to as a chrysalis and the one a
moth makes is a cocoon.)
We made some fun Butterfly Finger Puppets to fly around the room.
By using pieces from a glove they are easy to make and slip on little fingers.
For directions to make yours, go here.
Here is another song about the butterfly life cycle-no pictures, but the kids would love coloring this one to go with it. Just cut out each piece and glue to it a popsicle stick and hold it up for each part of the song.
I love this way of acting out the life cycle. You just need a blanket, some butterfly wings, and some "leaves to eat". This is a wonderful way to incorporate movement into learning.
A Snack Craft!
is a fun way to do some hands-on learning. This gummy worm is the
caterpillar and then the kids turn him into a butterfly. For peanut
allergies, substitute marshmallow cream for the peanut butter spread. Directions here.
I hope you enjoy learning about butterflies as much as we have!
Be sure to stop by This Little Project for more learning fun ideas!
Monday, June 25, 2012
USA Movement and Music
Hi, I'm Jedda from This Little Project. With Independence Day coming up, we've been working on our country's geography in one of our favorite ways: with music and movement!
I have a four-year-old and she goes around the house singing the names of all 50 states in alphabetical order. I love the magic that music gives children!
Here is the song she's been singing:
I love how this video shows the shapes of the states. It helps her to "see" the state she is singing about and now she can point to and name all her states on a map too.
I love how this video shows the shapes of the states. It helps her to "see" the state she is singing about and now she can point to and name all her states on a map too.
My six-year-old son already knows his states so he's been singing along with this song that is about each state and the order they joined the union:
This song is fun for learning or reviewing the state capitals:
One game we like to play with the US map is the, Map Munching Game AND the"Don't eat the State" games! This is a really fun way to review and learn new state geography.
Another game we like to play is with an inflated globe. We call it "Where in the U.S. is....?" or "Where in the world is....?"
I hope these movement and music ideas make learning even more fun for you too!
Happy Fourth of July!
Monday, April 23, 2012
Movement and Music: Exploring Space!
Hello again! I'm Jedda, from This Little Project. Today, I'm here sharing some ideas of how to explore SPACE with movement and music!
My kids and I have been studying the planets and one of our {little projects}
was making a solar system.
was making a solar system.
I wanted a fun way to teach my 4 year-old about the planets. I sang this song (below) with her a few times to help her learn their order.
Then a week later when we went to a planet exhibit at the museum and she sang it by herself all the way there! She remembered it!
Music is a great tool for learning!
This song is about the order of the planets in the solar system:
This song teaches a little bit about each of the planets. It's nice for an introduction to the solar system.
We have also been enjoying the music about each planet that Gustav Holst composed. He composed a piece of music about each of the planets, except for Earth, and I have movies of each of them below for you to enjoy.
It would be fun to read a book about a planet before you listen to the music, so it's fresh in your mind.
It's also fun to dress up in the color of each planet and dance along. Each song in this Planet Suite has a personality and it's fun to move in different ways while you learn about each planet (see the video above).
The Planets Suite by Holst is probably not something that most kids will sit through at one sitting. It's kinda long. But listening to the music of each planet as you learn about each planet is really fun!
The Planets Suite by Holst is probably not something that most kids will sit through at one sitting. It's kinda long. But listening to the music of each planet as you learn about each planet is really fun!
Mercury, The Winged Messanger; by Gustav Holst:
Venus, The Bringer of Peace; by Gustav Holst:
Mars. the Bringer of War; by Gustav Holst:
Venus, The Bringer of Peace; by Gustav Holst:
Mars. the Bringer of War; by Gustav Holst:
Jupiter, the bringer of Jollity; composed by Gustav Holst:
Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age; by Gustav Holst:
Uranus, the Magician; composed by Gustav Holst:
Neptune, the Mystic; by Gustav Holst:
Try drawing a picture about each of the planets as you listen to the music too. If you look at pictures or a book about each planet before doing your art work, it will be fresh in your mind and easier to think and imagine about.
Which planet is your favorite?
I hope you have fun exploring space with music and movement!
For more Music and Movement ideas on this site, click {here}.
And come see me at This Little Project for more kid-friendly learning fun :)
Thursday, March 1, 2012
B. Lively - Music Lasts a Lifetime
In our lively family, we have...
...a 7 year old who is obsessed with drums, guitars, a great beat, and a catchy tune.
...a 5 year old who can not wait to play the piano and is always singing along to the radio.
...a 3 year old who just loves noise!
...a 1 year year old who is CRAZY about "woofs"
and
...a mom who is always on the look out for great toys. Toys that encourage purposeful play, look enticing, and maybe even appeal to all 4 little ones at the same time!
As I have mentioned before, I am especially impressed with B. Toys. Since musical expression is such a hit in our home I was excited to buy the kids Meowsic, a colorful keyboard with a retractable microphone. The kids love the chance to play their own songs, experiment with tempo, and discover the different tones of the keys based on the instrument buttons they choose.
Well, you can only imagine how excited our quartet was when B. Toys sent Woofer {a ruff raff guitar} for our review!
Woofer has 8 buttons that allow for play of each guitar chord from C to C. The guitar can be played in acoustic or electic guitar mode. For some extra hound dog fun there is also a howling mode which howls out each chord strummed. The younger kids have the chance to strum along to pre-recorded songs, but there is also a great option for our 7 year old son to play his own progressions. The pre-recordings include 29 songs: several familiar sing alongs and a handful of creative puppy tunes.
Gibson {3} wants me to be sure I also tell everyone that "Woofer is blue and blue is my FAVORITE color." While it is true that Woofer has a fair share of blue on it, true to B. Toys there are also many other colors making it B. You tiful!
The mamas and papas in the crowd will be glad to know that Woofer also has a volume control knob and an automatic shut off.
Check out Woofer in action!
Woofer has 8 buttons that allow for play of each guitar chord from C to C. The guitar can be played in acoustic or electic guitar mode. For some extra hound dog fun there is also a howling mode which howls out each chord strummed. The younger kids have the chance to strum along to pre-recorded songs, but there is also a great option for our 7 year old son to play his own progressions. The pre-recordings include 29 songs: several familiar sing alongs and a handful of creative puppy tunes.
Gibson {3} wants me to be sure I also tell everyone that "Woofer is blue and blue is my FAVORITE color." While it is true that Woofer has a fair share of blue on it, true to B. Toys there are also many other colors making it B. You tiful!
The mamas and papas in the crowd will be glad to know that Woofer also has a volume control knob and an automatic shut off.
Check out Woofer in action!
Now, all our little garage band needs is a great percussion section!
In the classroom Woofer would be a creative prop for Readers' Theatre. {Here is a great collection of scripts to get you started: Reader's Theatre.} Students would enjoy using the instrument to create an introduction to their production, a background tune, and sound effect drops.
In my classroom we often came up with our own special chants and songs for reviewing spelling words, celebrating everyday accomplishments, following through on orderly transitions, encouraging our brain breaks . It may be fun to use Woofer to compose a tune for these chants and have a different student in charge or playing these tunes each day.
There are educators who have devoted themselves to studying the "Music of Math" and offer many ideas for integrating music into math instruction. One great idea would be to have Woofer, Meowsic, and Piccolo Carousel Bells all available for students and encourage them to use the instrument to create and practice many different types of patterns.
On a related note...
March is National Music in our Schools Month!
The theme of this year's celebration, promoted by the National Association for Music Education is Music Lasts a Lifetime!
Friday, January 27, 2012
Happy Birthday Mozart
Arts Alive has put together a resource packet for teachers to use when exploring the life and music of Mozart.
Bright Hub Education has a Kindergarten lesson plan for introducing students to Wolfgang Mozart. The lesson objective states:
The objective of this Mozart lesson plan for kindergarten is to provide students with an introduction to this classical composer through discussion and hands-on activities. At the end of this lesson, children will have an understanding of what classical music is and know who Mozart (among other composers) was.
Making Music Fun has a home school lesson plan to be used in teaching students about Mozart. You will find a printable word search and multiplication practice sheet at the link.
Read excerpts from The Official Weblog of W.A. Mozart.
The Music Kit has posted a list of children's books about Mozart.
Share a familiar song with your children. They may be surprised to learn that Mozart was the composer.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Movement and Music: Heart Healthy for Valentine's Day
Hello again! I'm Jedda from This Little Project. Each year around Valentine's Day I like to take some time to teach about how to help our hearts be healthy. Everything seems to be centered around hearts at this time of year so it's great timing for some movement and music learning that's focused on making sure we have happy and healthy hearts.
This one is, appropriately, "HEART and Soul." Wouldn't it be fun to have a big piano to dance on like this? Turn on some music and pretend your feet are making the tune like they do!
heart and soul
I think this "Stomp Song" is lots of fun. Trying stomping your feet to the music. You could use this song or any song that is fun to march around the room to make your own "stomp song."
Stomp Song
This is a famous "love song" that is great for kids to be able to recognize and name. It is said that Beethoven loved Elise and wrote this song for her. What kind of movements or dance does this song inspire in you?
"Fur Elise" (For Elise)
Learning is even more fun when your heart is involved and for some kids, the movement makes the learning happen even more efficiently. So get ready to jump out of your chairs to learn!
These Heart-Heatlthy Games gets you moving around while you spell, learn the sounds of letters, and
some Valentine Words--LINK to the games.
And for more about the science behind how our hearts work, check out this game and this site.
Try these fun ways to get your heart involved with your math:
Math "exercises" are really exercises when you get up off your chair!
Greater/less than number recognition game: use a deck of cards to play "war." The number that is higher wins and kids take turns doing that many jumping jacks (or sit ups, etc.)
Exercise your Answer: When you find the answer to your addition, subtraction, or multiplication problem you can "exercise" the answer. Take that many seconds to skip, jump, or dance. Or do like above, and the answer to your math problem tells you how many jumping jacks or sit-ups to do.
For more fun Valentine's and movement ideas stop by This Little Project for the Music @ my House series.
Have fun taking music and movement to heart!
Staying active is one of the best ways to help our hearts be healthy. So today's music links are about active music-making, with some heart science and games at the end!
This one is, appropriately, "HEART and Soul." Wouldn't it be fun to have a big piano to dance on like this? Turn on some music and pretend your feet are making the tune like they do!
Monday, November 28, 2011
Music and Movement: Large muscle coordination and Music Memory
Hellow again! I'm Jedda from This Little Project. I love it when a song comes on at our house and my kids say, "Hey, I know what song this is!" One of the best ways to teach kids songs is by getting their large muscle movements involved. And the bonus is that it's waaaaay more fun that way too!
We did an activity like this last month when I was writing about skeletons and the the song, "In the Hall of the Mountain King." These kinds of activities are very memorable for the children and make learning and recognizing tunes and classical music easy and fun.
Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies
Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies is one of my daughter's favorites. We get our "wands" out (which could be a finger or a pencil or whatever) and we tap our wands "123" every time the music does the bell sound 3 times. We skip, walk, fly, or dance around the room.
It gets her to really listen to the music and get ready for that part of the song where she gets to sprinkle "magic fairy dust" with her wand. Be sure to tell the children the name of the song. You could tell them about magic sugar plums that they are gathering to help them remember the name.
Here is the music:
Russian Dance
Russian Dance from the Nutcracker is a fun song to jump to. There are some great crescendos (where the music grows louder) that tells you it is almost time to jump! My little boy loves this one. To increase the difficulty put something on the floor to jump over or try to jump farther to a certain place on the floor. You could also wave a scarf or ribbon in the air (like my daughter likes to do) on each jump.
Be sure to tell the children what song it is. You could say, "Russian" for the first jump and "Dance" for the second jump. And "Tchaikovsky" for the third jump. He's the composer who wrote this piece.
Here's the song:
Waltz of the Snowflakes
This is a fun song to pretend you are a snowflake and move around like a snowflake does. You could also make a paper snowflakes and put it on string to help it float around. I have the kids listen for the "da da da" tune (at the beginning and again at about 4 minutes) that the flutes play and shake their paper snowflake to the rhythm.
You can also sing along along with the chorus of "ah ahs" at about 3 minutes into the song and again at 6:50 when the snowflakes fall on the stage.
Be sure to tell the children the name of the song.
Here is the song:
Dressing up always makes it more fun too!
Silver Bells
This is a fun song to "see" because the lights are timed to the music of Silver Bells-which my kids love!
Get out any kind of bells and ring them each time you hear "Silver Bells."
Here is the song:
You can do all kinds of things with bells to explore different movements.
Here my little daughter was balancing the bells as she walked:
Feliz Navidad
This Feliz Navidad movie is with lights again- it's fun to see the music "come to life."
For this song, right after you hear, "Feliz Navidad" you do this large motor skill: clap clap clap, clap clap clap (or stomp stomp stomp). The rhythm is 123. 123.
So it sounds like, "Feliz Navidad" 123 123...
Tell the children that this is how you say, "Merry Christmas" in Spanish.
Thanks for joining in with me today for some great music and movement!
I hope you enjoy learning to recognize some well-known tunes for this holiday season while gaining some great motor skills and exercise!
If you would like more ideas on what you can do to learn and share music with kids, come visit my blog, This Little Project. The first Monday of the month is always about music!
Monday, October 24, 2011
Movement and Music--Skeletons/body!
Today we are going to explore some Movement and Music with our Skeletons.
Hi, this is Jedda from This Little Project. I always like to do some body awareness for my kids at this time of year when skeletons are hanging all over the place. When my kids realized that they have skeletons and that they were part of the body that made it moved they weren't so scary :) Below are movies and activities to help you experience and learn about the bones in your body.
This little movie will get you started at looking at where your bones are:
If you want to learn the "real" names of the bones, my niece sings a song with the different bones ( to the tune of Macarena) that will help you can learn some of the real names of the bones. Click Here and it will take you to the movie. She doesn't point to each bone in the movie--but you can while you sing it!
This next music piece (In the Hall of the Mountain King) is fun to dance to at this time of year. The first part of the music is so quiet that you can hardly hear it. Start with everyone in a circle and tip toe your skeletons around as close to the ground as you can. As the music grows louder and faster you can grow taller and walk faster and faster around the circle.
In the Hall of the Mountain King by Edvard Grieg (from Peer Gynt).
Kids LOVE this game and it's a great way to teach about dynamics and tempo in music as well as a fun way to explore the idea of their bones moving while they dance/run around.
This song is about skeletons dancing around. What kinds of shapes can you make with your skeletons while you dance around?
Dance Macabre by Saint-Saens, a french composer:
Fun songs for learning about bones:
Use the hokey pokey with the names of the bone instead.
("You put your right phalanges in...")
or
or
Use the "Head, shoulders, knees, and toes" song:
(Skull, clavicle, patella, tarsals, patella tarsals, patella, tarsals....)
This is a fun dress up activity. What covers your bones?
Can you make your body/bones with leaves and sticks?
Thanks for joining in with me today for some great music and movement!
I hope that you find joy learning about music and movement and dance with your children and students!
If you would like more ideas on what you can do to learn and share music with kids, come visit my blog, This Little Project. The first Monday of the month is always about music!
Monday, September 26, 2011
Movement and Music--in Scotland!!
Today we will be learning about the music and movement in the Scotland!
Hi, this is Jedda from This Little Project. One of the things that I love about being a musician and a dancer is that it brings me full circle in what I am learning about. It's one thing to read about a place in a book. But if you really want to get to know a people you've got to listen to their music and language and watch (and try!) the movements of their people's dance. That's where you will find a true reflection of a people's traditions and culture.
Since I can't share my personal library with you, I'll be sharing some links online. Some come from youtube, which can be a great resource. Please be cautious and supervise your students/children when they view them.
I have performed Scottish dance in the ghillies before and it is a fun and physical dance. Check out the links and then try the activities below to learn and experience a little bit of Scotland!
These are Scottish Highland dancers in some traditional costume. Many times, the hands are held in the "stag" hand position while they are in the air. This resembles the stag antlers of a deer. It looks like this:
Listen to "Scotland the Brave," the National Anthem of Scotland:
Edinburgh Castle with military band:
Loch Lomond is a song about a beautiful place in Scotland:
Dancing isn't just for girls. Watch this Male Highland Sword Dance (begins at :45)
Thanks for joining in with me today for some great music and movement!
I hope that you enjoyed traveling around the world-in the comfort of your own home-to learn about cultures as well as the joy of music and movement and dance with your children and students!
If you would like more ideas on what you can do to learn and share music with kids, come visit my blog, This Little Project. The first Monday of the month is always about music, or search "Music" for past posts at This Little Project.
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