Musical activities: Say, “meow,” and invite the class to join in. Be playful. Ask if they know what animal you are imitating Creates voice play with a question-answer game using “meow.” Meow the class a question and ask the class to respond with their own meow answer. The children may echo exactly until they become comfortable with the game. There are […]
Musical activities: Stand, and sing a cappella. Spin to macrobeat during the first verse, “Spinning like a top”. Flop over, bending your body at the waist during the rest after “Kerplop.” Roll up, and say “oooh” with increasing volume as you rise. Change the movement and lyrics for each verse. Incorporate animal variations as follows: […]
Musical activities: Distribute shakers. Turn on Shake to the microbeat through the first verse. Choose a new shaker variation at the start of every verse. Replace “Daddy” with the children’s names. Use nonsense syllables for verses where lyrics are not included. Observe the children’s variations, and incorporate these into the accompaniment. If time, continue a cappella, incorporating suggestions from the children. Resting […]
Musical activities: Move to the uneven feel of 7/8 meter (1-2-3-4-5-6-7). In this rhyme, they are grouped into one group of three beats, followed by two groups of two beats (1-2-3, 1-2, 1-2), so all movements are long, short, short. Tap lap on beat 1, and say, “Whoooooo!”. Keep the spacing long to reflect the […]
Musical activities: Circle arms around each other, starting high above the head, and slowly roll them to the ground, landing as a fallen rag doll. Follow with vocal play, using a high to low “whoooooooooooooop!” Reverse the movement and sound. Repeat several times, creating a game. Begin singing the song, while circling arms in front […]
Musical activities: Turn on “Dai, dai…” section A, clap and march to microbeat. “La, la…” section B, use a different large movement variation each time & move to the macrobeat (ex: rock, jump, kick, twist). Observe the children’s movements. Are they moving with more confidence? Are they able to move in ways they couldn’t before? Are they […]
Musical activities: Distribute bells. Tap bell quickly, and sing ba-da-ba-da-ba or another silly sound on D (low bell). Use vocal play to give an ascending “Whoop!” as you raise your arm over your head. Repeat the game several times, incorporating loud and soft vocal play. Observe the children. Are they imitating this music babble? Tap […]
Musical activities: Wiggle fingers as if to tickle, and say, “hee, hee, hee.” Wiggle high, and use high voice. Wiggle low, and use low voice. Observe carefully. Are children engaging in this musical babble? Open your hands with palms facing the children, and rock hands side to side to the macrobeat. Begin reciting the rhyme. […]
Musical activities: Sing a cappella while clapping your hands or sing accompanied with piano, guitar or ukulele encouraging the children to sing along. Sway left and right to the triple feel while singing all of the children’s names where indicated.* Limited time? Sing goodbye to the boys, girls, teacher(s) and then into “So long, farewell, I […]
Musical activities: Sing the song inserting each child’s name where indicated. Suggested accompaniment: piano, guitar, ukelele, tambourine or clapping hands. Move around the circle making eye contact with each child when their name is sung. Use a “hello” hand movement when singing the children’s names. Return to clapping hands or your instrument when all the […]