Music Lab for Kids: Textured Noisemaker

The Project: Noisemakers from Pool Noodles
We've all seen the musical instrument that looks like a wooden block with a piece of sand paper glued to one side. When you rub two together, they make a satisfying sound that adds depth to a musical combo.

The real version of sand blocks is also a great musical tool for preschoolers. The only thing they don't do when you make them out of pool noodles is loudly clap together...but like the teacher in the above video mentions, that sound is the enemy of every adult in the room. So maybe it's okay if our noisemakers can only be rubbed together.

If you're an avid reader of my blog (which almost no one is, so don't feel bad), you might remember this project from last summer when we made it during our huge Build Your Own Musical Instrument program. Since there were several options for instrument projects at that program, I made this poster to explain how to turn a pool noodle into a safe, fun, and easy noisemaker:

Today's group was much smaller and more attentive, so I was able to verbally explain the directions and there was no need for a sign.

To prep this craft, all I did was cut pool noodled into 3-inch pieces. I left them otherwise intact, leaving the splitting in half to the kids and their grownups. I figured it was a good opportunity to develop some fine motor skills. And don't worry, I handed out very dull plastic knives so there were no injuries to tiny fingers.

After everyone had cut their noodle in half, we learned two chants and a song that you can use the instrument with. 

Chant 1: Rain on the Rooftop

Learning this chant happened in several stages.
1. Practice counting to four on an even beat (one-two-three-four-one-two-three-four etc.)
2. Each time you say a number, scratch your noisemaker one time.
3. Change it up; scratch the noisemaker on "one," "two," and "three," and put them on your shoulders on "four."
4. When thee group mostly gets that down, say the rhyme instead of counting out loud.

If you're musically inclined, you will recognize this as being in 4/4 time starting on the down beat.
Here is the rhyme, showing where each number of the beat falls:

Rain on the rooftop
   1     2         3    4
Rain on the tree
   1     2         3     4
Rain on the green grass
   1     2         3        4
But none on me!

         1     2    3     4

And here it is with Xs showing when you should scratch your noisemaker:

Rain on the rooftop
   X   X         X 
Rain on the tree
   X   X         X   
Rain on the green grass
   X   X         X     
But none on me!

         X     X   X   

With this exercise, I gave the parent tip that breaking down simple 4/4 rhythms by counting is a great way to start understanding how rhythm works.

Song: B-I-N-G-O

Our second exercise was one everyone knows. After the mind-bender that was Rain on the Rooftop, we needed something fun and easy. We sang the song B-I-N-G-O, but every time we dropped a letter, we scratched our noisemaker instead of clapping. The group loved it! I hung up this visual aid to help the grownups (and any kids already reading words) follow along.

Chant 2: Hippo on the Bus

Even though the kids were getting pretty wiggly by this point, we had ten minutes left in the program and I had one more chant up my sleeve. I've used it before and it's always a major hit. Instead of the usual method of making a beat by slapping our thighs, today we made the beat with our noisemakers. We tried out a few different speeds, including a super fast one that was just for fun. This seemed like the perfect way to end the program.

A hip, a hip, a hippopotamus
Got on, got on, got on a city bus
And all, and all, and all the people fussed...
STOP SQUISHING US!
(On that last line, squish your cheeks in from both sides so your mouth looks funny and speech is distorted, as if you were being squished by a hippo. Today we squished our faces with the halves of our noisemakers, which made it extra funny.)

Even though running this program kept me busy, I was able to get the group together with their noisemakers for a picture at the end. I'm so glad they had fun!

Learn and Grow with Rhythm and Flow: Rhythm Sticks

My Learn and Grow with Rhythm and Flow (LGRF) format is:

Hello
Warm Up Motor Skills
Heckity Peckity Bumble Bee
Movement Song
Pass Out Instruments
A Capella Instrument Rhyme
Movement Songs with Instruments
Collect instruments
Mellow Movement Song
Goodbye
Bubbles

Note: This post shows all the songs and chants I use when I run this program with rhythm sticks. I don't use every song and chant every time; that would make for a several-hour-long program and some very wiggly preschoolers!

Hello
"Hello, Hello"
Since LGRF is so high energy, I like to start the programs with a more mellow good morning song than other storytimes. I like this one because it has built-in movements and stretches.

Warming Up Motor Skills

"Open, Shut Them"
On this song we do the movements described in the lyrics: open our hands, close our hands, clap three times, put our hands in our lap, creep our fingers up to our chin, and don't let them in our mouths.

Heckity Peckity Bumble Bee

The "Heckity Peckity" chant is a great way to practice call-and-response, get to know our new friends by name, and practice counting the syllables of words.

Me and my bumblebee finger puppet

Heckity peckity bumblebee,

Won't you say your name for me?
Bzzzzz (Bee buzzes up to a child and asks their name. Let's say it's Harold.)
Everyone say Harold. (Group says name)
Can we whisper it? (whisper the name)
Can we do it on our legs? (Repeat name and pat thighs with each syllable)
Can we clap it? (Repeat name and clap with each syllable)
Now let's turn off our voice (Do a clicking motion with hand on throat and make clicking sound)
And let's just clap it (Group claps the syllables without speaking)
How many claps was that? (Group answers)
Harold's name is two claps! Who is next?

Movement Song

You could pretty much use any movement songs in this program, but there are several that I've noticed go over extra well when the kids are excited about puppets and instruments, and just need to shake their wiggles out. I usually go with one of these ten...

"Bob 'Til You Drop" by Greg and Steve

"It's Time to Stand Up" by Susan Salidor

"The Goldfish" by Laurie Berkner

"Can't Sit Still" by Greg and Steve

"Tooty Ta" by The Kiboomers

"The Freeze" by Greg and Steve

(weird video, but you can hear the song pretty well)

"Jumping and Counting" by Jim Gill

"Arms Up"

"Clap Your Hands"

"Hokey Pokey"

Pass Out Rhythm Sticks

When it's time to pass out the instruments, I tell the kids they must be sitting down calmly in order to get one. If they're extra wiggly, I might do a calming song like "Everybody Do This Just Like Me" or "Eyes are Watching, Ears are Listening," but this is only necessary about half the time. Once they see kids who are sitting down getting handed rhythm sticks or egg shakers, they get the idea and assume the position themselves. Also, since it's impossible to be handed a musical instrument and not make noise with it right away, I don't make them keep it quiet until everyone has theirs. 

A Capella Rhythm Stick Rhymes

"Little Clapping Mouse"
(each * is a time to clap or hit rhythm sticks together)

Behind the tree * *
And under the house * *
There lives a teeny * *
Tiny mouse * *
She loves to sing * *
She loves to tap * *
But most of all * *
She loves to clap * *
She claps all night * *
She claps all day * *
She claps to frighten * *
The cat away! * * * * * * * *

Jbrary does it with clapping, but this rhyme is also excellent with instruments.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"If You're Happy and You Know It"

If you're happy and you know it, tap your sticks *tap tap*

If you're happy and you know it, tap your sticks *tap tap*

If you're happy and you know it, and you really wanna show it,

If you're happy and you know it, tap your sticks *tap tap*

Repeat with...

If you're happy and you know it, rub your sticks *rub together*

If you're happy and you know it, hit the floor *hit hit*

If you're happy and you know it, do all three *tap tap, rub together, hit hit*

Try to get the whole room singing with you!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Rain on the Rooftop"

Rain on the rooftop

Rain on the tree

Rain on the green grass

But none on me!

Use rhythm sticks to make the beat. Hit the floor twice, then hit them together once. The rhythm is in 4/4 time. Using the first line as an example, if each beat has a number...

1-hit the floor (on "rain")

2-hit the floor (on "on")

3-hit sticks together (on "roof")

4-rest

This video will show you how the song goes, although it's not exactly the words I learned. It works as a song or a chant, depending on your level of comfort singing in front of people.

Movement Songs with Instruments

I can only keep the attention of a room full of preschoolers with musical instruments for so long, so this is the point in the program where I let recorded music do the majority of the work. I encourage the kids and grownups to dance and sing along, as well as follow the directed movements suggested in the lyrics. These songs are all fantastic for working with rhythm sticks, because they acknowledge the instruments and show the kids several different ways to use them.

"Tapping on My Sticks" by Kathy Reid-Naiman

"Lummi Stick Tap" by The Tumble Tots

"Point Your Lummi Sticks" by The Tumble Tots

Collect Rhythm Sticks

I don't try the "only those sitting down can put their instruments away" method for collecting... It does not work. By the end of the second song, they're either over using the instruments or so attached that they will sob if I try to take them away. For this reason, I simply encourage everyone to be good helpers and clean up all the instruments until they're all back in their bin. The prospect of helping me clean up is usually enough to get the clingers to relinquish their toys, especially when it's coupled with the promise that they'll get to play with them again next time.

Mellow Movement Song

The last thing I like to do before singing the goodbye song and having bubbles is one more movement song to help the littles re-compose themselves after the trauma of having to say goodbye to the toys. The best one I've found is Ella Jenkin's "Follow the Leader." 

Goodbye

"Until We Meet Again" from Out of the Box
Before singing this song, we learn a vocabulary word: clave. Clave is a type of rhythm used mostly in Afro-Cuban music, characterized by it's three-two beat. When I teach the word to preschool-age kids, I have them count to three, pause, and count to two, then do it again with clapping. The Out of the Box goodbye song uses a clave pattern, so after we learn what the word means, we practice clapping the clave pattern as we say goodbye to our friends.

Bubbles!
The last thing I do at every storytime is blow bubbles. The kids go crazy over them! I play the same songs every time so they get to know that after we say goodbye, we have bubbles for the duration of two songs, and then storytime is over until next time. Our regulars know this is the way it always goes, which is a great introduction to establishing routines in other aspects of life as they grow.
One Little, Two Little, Three Little Bubbles
Yo Gabba Gabba Bubbles Song

Learn and Grow with Rhythm and Flow: Egg Shakers

My Learn and Grow with Rhythm and Flow (LGRF) format is:

Hello
Warm Up Motor Skills
Heckity Peckity Bumble Bee
Movement Song
Pass Out Instruments
A Capella Instrument Rhyme
Movement Songs with Instruments
Collect instruments
Mellow Movement Song
Goodbye
Bubbles

Note: This post shows all the songs and chants I use when I run this program with egg shakers. I don't use every song and chant every time; that would make for a several-hour-long program and some very wiggly preschoolers!

Hello
"Hello, Hello"
Since LGRF is so high energy, I like to start the programs with a more mellow good morning song than other storytimes. I like this one because it has built-in movements and stretches.

Warming Up Motor Skills

"Open, Shut Them"
On this song we do the movements described in the lyrics: open our hands, close our hands, clap three times, put our hands in our lap, creep our fingers up to our chin, and don't let them in our mouths.

Heckity Peckity Bumble Bee

The "Heckity Peckity" chant is a great way to practice call-and-response, get to know our new friends by name, and practice counting the syllables of words. 

Me and my bumblebee finger puppet

Heckity peckity bumblebee,

Won't you say your name for me?
Bzzzzz (Bee buzzes up to a child and asks their name. Let's say it's Harold.)
Everyone say Harold. (Group says name)
Can we whisper it? (whisper the name)
Can we do it on our legs? (Repeat name and pat thighs with each syllable)
Can we clap it? (Repeat name and clap with each syllable)
Now let's turn off our voice (Do a clicking motion with hand on throat and make clicking sound)
And let's just clap it (Group claps the syllables without speaking)
How many claps was that? (Group answers)
Harold's name is two claps! Who is next?

Movement Song

You could pretty much use any movement songs in this program, but there are several that I've noticed go over extra well when the kids are excited about puppets and instruments, and just need to shake their wiggles out. I usually go with one of these ten...

"Bop 'Til You Drop" by Greg and Steve

"It's Time to Stand Up" by Susan Salidor

"The Goldfish" by Laurie Berkner

"Can't Sit Still" by Greg and Steve

"Tooty Ta" by The Kiboomers

"The Freeze" by Greg and Steve

(weird video, but you can hear the song pretty well)

"Jumping and Counting" by Jim Gill

"Arms Up"

"Clap Your Hands"

"Hokey Pokey"

Pass Out Egg Shakers

When it's time to pass out the instruments, I tell the kids they must be sitting down calmly in order to get one. If they're extra wiggly, I might do a calming song like "Everybody Do This Just Like Me" or "Eyes are Watching, Ears are Listening," but this is only necessary about half the time. Once they see kids who are sitting down getting handed rhythm sticks or egg shakers, they get the idea and assume the position themselves. Also, since it's impossible to be handed a musical instrument and not make noise with it right away, I don't make them keep it quiet until everyone has theirs. 

A Capella Egg Shaker Rhyme

"One, Two, Shake it on Your Shoe"

(To the rhythm of "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe")

One, two, shake it on your shoe (shake eggs near shoes)

Three, four, shake it on the floor (bend down and shake eggs near floor)

Five, six, stir and mix (pretend shakers are the spoon mixing in a large bowl)

Seven, eight, hold them up straight (hold shakers above your head)

Nine, ten, do it all again (shake eggs excitedly)

Movement Songs with Instruments

I can only keep the attention of a room full of preschoolers with musical instruments for so long, so this is the point in the program where I let recorded music do the majority of the work. I encourage the kids and grownups to dance and sing along, as well as follow the directed movements suggested in the lyrics. These songs are all fantastic for working with egg shakers because they acknowledge the instruments and show the kids several different ways to use them.

"Going to Kentucky" by Laurie Berkner

"Shake Your Sillies Out" by Raffi

"Milkshake" by Old Town School of Folk Music

"Shaky Shaky" by The Wiggles

Collect Egg Shakers

I don't try the "only those sitting down can put their instruments away" method for collecting... It does not work. By the end of the second song, they're either over using the instruments or so attached that they will sob if I try to take them away. For this reason, I simply encourage everyone to be good helpers and clean up all the instruments until they're all back in their bin. The prospect of helping me clean up is usually enough to get the clingers to relinquish their toys, especially when it's coupled with the promise that they'll get to play with them again next time.

Mellow Movement Song

The last thing I like to do before singing the goodbye song and having bubbles is one more movement song to help the littles re-compose themselves after the trauma of having to say goodbye to the toys. The best one I've found is Ella Jenkin's "Follow the Leader." 

Goodbye

"Until We Meet Again" from Out of the Box
Before singing this song, we learn a vocabulary word: clave. Clave is a type of rhythm used mostly in Afro-Cuban music, characterized by it's three-two beat. When I teach the word to preschool-age kids, I have them count to three, pause, and count to two, then do it again with clapping. The Out of the Box goodbye song uses a clave pattern, so after we learn what the word means, we practice clapping the clave pattern as we say goodbye to our friends.

Bubbles!
The last thing I do at every storytime is blow bubbles. The kids go crazy over them! I play the same songs every time so they get to know that after we say goodbye, we have bubbles for the duration of two songs, and then storytime is over until next time. Our regulars know this is the way it always goes, which is a great introduction to establishing routines in other aspects of life as they grow.
One Little, Two Little, Three Little Bubbles
Yo Gabba Gabba Bubbles Song

Toddler Time 2-28-18: Dinosaurs

Today, I once again strayed from my regular hello routine, and sang "This is the Way We Wave Hello" a capella instead of "Hello Friends."

I use totally different lyrics, but this video will give you an idea of the tune:

Here are the lyrics we use:

This is the way we wave hello,
Wave hello, wave hello.
This is the way we wave hello,
Hello, hello, hello.

Repeat with clap, tap (stomping feet), and then close it out with another chorus of wave.

Our first story today was Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs by Byron Barton. He has a bunch of great books appropriate for toddlers. While my favorite is Bones, Bone, Dinosaur Bones, I thought this one would be more appropriate since it shows the dinosaurs alive. Maybe we can read the other one if we have a fossils themed storytime.

After the story, our movement songs were "We Are the Dinosaurs" and "One, Two Hands," both by the amazing Laurie Berkner. 

Next, we did a flannel board story called "Five Dinosaurs." The kids and grownups all had fun calling each new dinosaur in and then slapping their thighs to make the sound of the dino running over.

Chant:

[One dinosaur is placed on the flannel board]

One dinosaur went out to play

In the Arizona desert one day.

He had such enormous fun

He called another dinosaur to come!

Ooooohhhhhh dinosaaauuuurrrrrr! 

[slap thighs like a drum roll to show dino is running over]

[Repeat with two, three, and four. When fifth dino is added...]

Five dinosaurs went out to play

in the Arizona desert one day.

They had such enormous fun

They laughed and played 'til the day was done!

At the end, it's a good opportunity to say goodbye to each dinosaur and count backward from five to zero as the dinos are put away.

Then we did another movement song. I found this really cute counting song called "One Friendly Dinosaur." During the song, we practiced counting on our fingers.

Finally, it was time to say goodbye. The kiddos were pretty riled up from roaring like dinosaurs (every chance they got, encouraged by me to the detriment of my classroom management #sacrifices), so bubbles were an extra crazy baby mosh pit today. It was chaotic, but so much fun. 

Here is the list of dinosaur books I displayed:

• If You Happen to Be A Dinosaur—Bailey 
• Bones, Bones, Dinosaur Bones—Barton 
• The Berenstain Bears’ Dinosaur Dig—Berenstain 
• Dad and the Dinosaur—Choldenko 
• Rory the Dinosaur (series)—Climo 
• Dinosaur Rescue—Dale 
• The Good Dinosaur: A Friend in the Wild—Disney 
• Tig and Tog’s Dinosaur Discovery—Garland 
• Duck, Duck, Dinosaur (series)—George 
• George and the Dinosaur—Hayes 
• Drumheller Dinosaur Dance—Heidbreder 
• T. Veg: The Story of a Carrot-Crunching Dinosaur—Prasadam-Halls 
• Dinosaur vs. (series)—Shea 
• Dinosaur Kisses—Stein

Baby Lapsit 2-23-18

The new "This is the Way We Wave Hello" song was such a hit in Toddler Time this week, I decided to use it for the babies as well! The only difference is, most of our babies are not yet standing steadily on their own. So instead of tapping our feet, we wiggle our fingers!

I use totally different lyrics, but this video will give you an idea of the tune:

Here are the lyrics we use here:

This is the way we wave hello,
Wave hello, wave hello.
This is the way we wave hello,
Hello, hello, hello.

Repeat with clap, wiggle (wiggling fingers), and then close it out with another chorus of wave.
After that, we continued with the rest of our regular Baby Lapsit hello, minus the first song. Then, our first book was Where is Baby's Puppy? by Karen Katz. I don't usually use lift-the-flap or pop-up books in storytime because of the size of the group, but our Baby Lapsit rarely has more that 30 people. Plus, today it was nice to have a more interactive book since I had one older sibling in the room. She is almost three, and really enjoyed that I let her lift the flaps for me before we showed the surprise picture to all the babies.

Next it was time for our lap bounce journey and it began, as always, with "Bumpy Road." I have a few regulars who have come to Baby Lapsit continuously since their babies were only a couple months old, and they know this chant by heart now. Grownups are instructed to seat their baby facing forward on their laps and bounce along with me as I demonstrate with a roughly baby-sized teddy bear. Here is the chant:

Bumpy road, bumpy road. (Bounce baby on lap)
Smooth road, smooth road. (Move baby smoothly back and forth)
Bumpy road, bumpy road. (Bounce baby on lap)
Smooth road, smooth road. (Move baby smoothly back and forth)
Rough road, rough road! (Bounce baby higher than before)
Bumpy road, bumpy road. (Bounce baby on lap)
Rough road, rough road! (Bounce baby higher than before)
Hole! (Hold baby under armpits and let them fall between your legs)

Since it's been a while, I brought back the "pop" theme for our musical lap bounce today. "Pop Goes the Weasel," and then "Popcorn" by Raffi (twice through because it's very short).

Our second board book today was Olivia Loves Owl by David McPhail. Short and sweet with cute illustrations, this one was a big hit with the grownups.

Before recorded songs with gestures, I did an a capella fingerplay today. "Two Little Blackbirds" is a bit of an antiquated nursery rhyme, but I'm trying to bring it back. I like to sing it to the tune of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," which adds an extra line onto the end of the original version:

Two little blackbirds sitting on a hill
One named Jack and one named Jill
Fly away Jack and fly away Jill
Come back Jack and come back Jill
Two little blackbirds sitting on a hill
One named Jack and one named Jill

The fun thing about this song is, once you learn the original melody you can substitute "Jack and Jill" for any set of opposites. It's a great way to teach rhyming words and opposites to any age of child. Example:

Two little blackbirds sitting on a gate
One named Early and one named Late
Fly away Early and fly away Late
Come back Early and come back Late
Two little blackbirds sitting on a gate
One named Early and one named Late

You can even give your fingers personalities that match their names; Late could move slower than Early to show he is always late. Here is Jbrary giving a great example of this song.

I plan to teach more songs where you can substitute the words as a fun game. It's something I grew up with, and I feel it's very important for kids to grow up playing with language and letters. It helps them become better communicators later on, and also makes them more confident and comprehensive readers.

Our next song was "One, Two Hands" because these are great hits with the kiddos as well as grownups, and there's no limit to how often babies and toddlers should practice the names of body parts.

After that, we said goodbye to our friends until next time!

Toddler Time 2-14-18

Today, for the first time since I started working in Mesa, I used a NEW HELLO SONG in Toddler Time! I got this song from my programming partner Sara. This song is a capella; no background music means the kids and parents have to sing along louder. It's also got built in movements with it, and those movements help you keep the beat while you're singing!

I use totally different lyrics, but this video will give you an idea of the tune:

Here are the lyrics we use here:

This is the way we wave hello,
Wave hello, wave hello.
This is the way we wave hello,
Hello, hello, hello.

Repeat with clap, tap (stomping feet), and then close it out with another chorus of wave.

Another reason I love this song is it lends itself perfectly to a goodbye song as well. At the end of storytime, the kids are already familiar with the goodbye song even if it's their first time!

After out new hello song, we continued with the rest of my regular storytime intro (minus "Hello Friends").

Our first story today was actually a flannel board story: Teddy Wore His Red Shirt. If you are familiar with "Mary Wore Her Red Dress," this is the same song and concept. We repeated the song for Teddy's red dress, blue pants, yellow hat, green socks, black mittens, and then Teddy's whole outfit.

Teddy wore his outfit,
Outfit, outfit,
Teddy wore his outfit
All day long.

For our two movement songs today, I went for classics: "Happy and You Know It" and "Hokey Pokey." I think it's adorable that some of my storytime regulars and their parents know my version of "Happy and You Know It" includes tickle bugs.

Click here for my version of the Hokey Pokey

Our book today was The Day it Rained Hearts by Felicia Bond. I chose this one for the day because it's Valentine's Day! It's a cute story about a girl making valentines for all her friends using the hearts that fall from the sky. 

Our last movement songs were "Baby Shark" and "Peek-a-Boo." 

Click here to listen to the version of "Peek-a-Boo" I use

Then, we sang our new a capella goodbye song, followed by bubbles.

This is the way we wave goodbye,

Wave goodbye, wave goodbye.

This is the way we wave goodbye,

Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye.

Repeat with clap, tap (stomping feet), and then close it out with another chorus of wave.

After saying goodbye I invited everyone to our Valentine's Day Party in the children's room of the library. They all joined me for cookies and valentine making!

Preschool Storytime 1-30-18: Dragons and Monsters

Welcome to the last installment of my January of amazing themed Preschool Storytimes. Today we talked about dragons and monsters, because I found tons of good dragon books and monster songs, and only had one week left before I turn the preschoolers over to Sara for February. So, I decided to do both in one!

After our regular hello, our first book of the day was Dragons Rule, Princesses Drool by Courtney Pippin-Mathur. This book is totally hilarious; princesses invade the dragons' habitat and make everything flowery and glittery. Meanwhile the dragons are just trying to teach the princesses the law of the land, which is basically to breathe fire and burp loudly after every meal.

After the book, we did an action song to the Sesame Street classic, "Games Monsters Play." I like this one because it directs movement, so kids have to practice following directions while they're dancing.

Instead of a second action song, we did a rhyming chant together. I had it written out on the white board so everyone could read and follow along, including grownups. It's similar to "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear," but it's "Dragon, Dragon."

Dragon, dragon, turn around.
Dragon, dragon, touch the ground.
Dragon, dragon, fly up high.
Dragon, dragon, float in the sky.
Dragon, dragon, shake your tail.
Dragon, dragon, show your nails.
Dragon, dragon, give a roar.
Dragon, dragon, sit on the floor.

This chant served the dual purpose of being another great directed movement exercise, and ending in a calm position on the floor so the kids were wound down enough to listen to our second story.

Monster Party by Annie Back is really cute and cleverly written all in rhyming verse. It also very realistically captures all the emotions attached to getting a party invitation, having a great time at the party, and being sad it's over before the cycle begins again with another invitation. The kids loved it.

Our final movement song before saying goodbye was "Ten Little Monsters." The gestures I do with this song is always counting on our fingers up to 10, and then back down to zero. It helps develop fine motor skills, and also helps younger preschoolers make the connection between the word for a number and how many that actually is.

After bubbles, we made a dragon breath craft; SUPER simple to prep and make. Simply punch a hole in the bottom of a green paper cup with a pen, and then tape or glue red streamers to the other side's opening. When you breathe through the bottom of the cup, it looks like your dragon snout is breathing fire!

Baby Lapsit 1-19-18

We had a huge group of babies this morning! Usually we have 6-7 babies, each with one grownup. Occasionally two parents bring one baby, or one parent bring 2-3 kids. Today, we had 13 babies, and many of them came with 2-3 adults! It was the biggest Baby Lapsit I've done in a while, and it was also one of the most fun sessions I've ever done.

After our usual introduction, we read I Love Hugs and Kisses by Sandra Magsamen. It worked well for a first book because it only has a few pages, and the illustrations are bright and eye-catching. It was also a good opportunity to identify animals and what sounds they make (if applicable: pandas do not, to my knowledge, make a distinct sound). We had a couple of older siblings in class today, so this worked out well.

Next it was time for our lap bounce journey and it began, as always, with "Bumpy Road." I have a few regulars who have come to Baby Lapsit continuously since their babies were only a couple months old, and they know this chant by heart now. Grownups are instructed to seat their baby facing forward on their laps and bounce along with me as I demonstrate with a roughly baby-sized teddy bear. Here is the chant:

Bumpy road, bumpy road. (Bounce baby on lap)
Smooth road, smooth road. (Move baby smoothly back and forth)
Bumpy road, bumpy road. (Bounce baby on lap)
Smooth road, smooth road. (Move baby smoothly back and forth)
Rough road, rough road! (Bounce baby higher than before)
Bumpy road, bumpy road. (Bounce baby on lap)
Rough road, rough road! (Bounce baby higher than before)
Hole! (Hold baby under armpits and let them fall between your legs)

I tried a new lap bounce today, that went really well: the old children's music standby, "BINGO." I encouraged everyone to sing along, and we bounced babies on our laps for most of the song. At the missing letters, I encouraged them to hold babies up above their heads, or even gently toss them. The babies had a great time, and I could tell the grownups thought it was fun, too!

video

Our second lap bounce song was "Milkshake," one of my favorite storytime songs because it works with all ages. Makes a great lap bounce because you can "stir" baby (similar to the "smooth road" part of the above chant), and of course bounce and gently shake them while making your milkshake.

For our second book we read the board book How Do Dinosaurs Learn Their Colors? by Jane Yolen. The How Do Dinosaurs... series is adorable, and I'm really happy that they published some board books for the series as well. The board books are better for the baby and toddler level, while still engaging for the kiddos.

While reading this book, we learned the signs for all the colors mentioned. I also took the time before class to print out pictures of the signs, so the grownups could follow along with the color signs, and hopefully retain them well enough to practice at home with their baby.

 

Colors

Red

Purple

Green

Blue

Pink

Yellow

Brown

White

Black

Orange

Rainbow

Our first movement song today was Mr. Jon's awesome version of "If You're Happy and You Know It," tickle bugs and all. We also practiced the sign for "happy" while singing, clapping, stomping, and shouting yippee.

Before singing goodbye, our last movement song was a new favorite of mine, "One, Two Hands." I like to give the parent tip that practicing naming body parts helps babies of all ages start to figure out where their bodies are in space, and how they have control over how they move their bodies. This song is great for practicing body part names.

Then we had our community playtime and said goodbye until next week!

Preschool Storytime 1-16-18: Dance

Next on my list of storytime themes is one quite near ad dear to my heart (read my bio on the Welcome page if you're not sure why), dance. After singing hello to our friends, we learned the American Sign Language sign for "dance."

Dance

Our first book was Color Dance by Ann Jonas. Even though it's older than I am literally...it was published in 1989), I love this book for storytime. It has simple words, shows the relationships between colors, and gives lots of diversity because it represents children of all colors and genders dancing together. This book would also be great for a color themed storytime.

Next, because of the kids dancing with colorful scarves in the book, we danced with our own colorful scarves! I passed out one per child (and any grownup who wanted one) and we waved them to "Get Ready, Get Set, Let's Dance" by Greg and Steve.

Despite looking all week online and in several print resources, I wasn't able to find a calm-down chant that had anything to do with dance. If you have one, please leave it in the comments! So after we collected the scarves, I used a wonderful song that I have been waiting for the perfect opportunity to use. My one reservation is that the character Joe sings it on Parks and Recreation, and I was a little afraid the parents would recognize it from that. Although I saw a small spark of recognition in one of the regular moms' eyes, but this song went really well and did a great job focusing the kids' attention back on me. I will definitely be using it again.

The second book was Everybunny Dance by Ellie Sandall. It worked out great as a storytime book! First of all, it rhymes, which is always helpful to get littles to pay attention. Second, there are movements you can easily ask the kids to do. Whole pages are devoted to "everybunny" dancing, playing instruments, jumping, and running. 

After our second book, I actually paused the storytime action long enough to make a quick craft. We made ribbon dancers today, and I wanted everyone to have theirs to dance with for our last couple of songs. This craft was extremely easy; tongue depressors, clear tape, and short-ish lengths of ribbon I had a volunteer cut for me ahead of time. Not only was it easy and cheap, the kids were absolutely delighted by them. Plus, it only took about five minutes for all 30 kids and their parents to put together. 

Our final movement song before saying goodbye was "Everybody Dance" by Teacher Dan. Everyone swinging their ribbons around as this calypso beat played was the most fun I've had all week!

Here is a list of dance books I displayed today:

• Everybunny Dance—Sandall
• Dance! A Story About Being Happy—Bendall-Brunello 
• Color Dance—Jonas 
• Giant Dance Party—Bird 
• Dance is for Everyone—Zuill 
• Sock Monkey Boogie-Woogie—Bell 
• Spunky Little Monkey—Martin 
• Duck Sock Hop—Kohuth 
• Cats’ Night Out—Stutson 
• Dilly Dog’s Dizzy Dancing—DeRubertis 
• Naughty Toes—Bonwill 
• The All-American Jump and Jive Jig—Proeller Hueston 
• I Got the Rhythm—Schofield-Morrison

Learn & Grow with Rhythm & Flow 12-8-17

This morning, I was planning to do a program similar to the last time we used rhythm sticks in Rhythm & Flow. I got my lesson plan together, made the playlist on my iPod, and was just about to set up the sound system when I noticed my iPod's screen was blank no matter how many buttons I pushed. Of course it was about 5 minutes before storytime was supposed to begin and there were already some kiddos and parents in the room. I ran to the back of the library and plugged it into my computer, where it was not recognized as a device in iTunes. The computer didn't even register that anything was plugged in! After a minute, I realized that this iPod is completely dead and will not be coming back to life. It has served me well for about nine years, so RIP Tiny Blue Guy.

Thinking fast, I connected a laptop to the room's central sound system and pulled up my Google Drive, where I have a lot (but not all) or my storytime music stored. Instead of using my usual rhythm and music introduction we said hello with the Preschool Storytime introduction, which you can view here. Then we did the "Heckity Peckity" chant and counted the syllables in our names. Today we had three children with two-syllable names, and two children with three-syllable names.

Heckity peckity bumblebee,
Won't you say your name for me?
Bzzzzz (Bee buzzes up to a child and asks their name. Let's say it's Harold.)
Everyone say Harold. (Group says name)
Can we whisper it? (whisper the name)
Can we do it on our legs? (Repeat name and pat thighs with each syllable)
Can we clap it? (Repeat name and clap with each syllable)
Now let's turn off our voice (Do a clicking motion with hand on throat and make clicking sound)
And let's just clap it (Group claps the syllables without speaking)
How many claps was that? (Group answers)
Harold's name is two claps! Who is next?

Next, we danced with semi-directed movement to "Can't Sit Still" by Greg and Steve.

I didn't have time to write the "Little Clapping Mouse" chant out on the white board today, so we skipped it and went right on to passing out rhythm sticks.

After everyone had promised not to hit their friends with the sticks and each child had a pair, we sang an a capella rhythm stick version of "Happy and You Know It." Each verse below is the full, usual verse of the song with the clapping, stomping, and hooray-ing substituted with the following words:

If you're happy and you know it, tap your sticks (*tap tap*)
If you're happy and you know it, rub your sticks (rub them to make scraping noise *rub rub*)
If you're happy and you know it, hit the floor (*hit hit*)
If you're happy and you know it, do all three (*tap tap, rub rub, hit hit*)

Next we listened to "Tapping on My Sticks," a good song to listen to with rhythm sticks because it directs the listener to tap their sticks slowly, quickly, loudly, quietly, in the air, and on the floor.

After that, it was already time to say goodbye! Instead of the regular bubble songs, I had to use Mr. Jon's "Happy and You Know It" as bubble background music.

Even with my tech issues this morning, I had several parents make sure to tell me how much their kids enjoyed the session, so I feel like it went well. We will be taking a break from storytimes for the last two weeks in December, so hopefully I'll be able to get a new iPod before the new year!

Learn & Grow with Rhythm & Flow 10-20-17

Hello again!

After our usual introduction, we clapped the syllables of individual children's names using the "Heckity Peckity" chant.

Heckity peckity bumblebee,
Won't you say your name for me?
Bzzzzz (Bee buzzes up to a child and asks their name. Let's say it's Harold.)
Everyone say Harold. (Group says name)
Can we whisper it? (whisper the name)
Can we do it on our legs? (Repeat name and pat thighs with each syllable)
Can we clap it? (Repeat name and clap with each syllable)
Now let's turn off our voice (Do a clicking motion with hand on throat and make clicking sound)
And let's just clap it (Group claps the syllables without speaking)
How many claps was that? (Group answers)
Harold's name is two claps! Who is next?

Our movement song today was "Bop 'til You Drop" by Greg and Steve. Here are some funny tweens dancing to it:

Then we did our "Little Clapping Mouse" clapping rhyme. I like to have the words written out on the white board so that grownups, and any of the kids who know how to read, can follow along with me the first time I chant it. I do this one at least twice, and usually all the kids catch on to the words and when to clap (each asterisk is a clap below) by the second time through. 

Behind the tree * *
And under the house * *
There lives a teeny * *
Tiny mouse * *
She loves to sing * *
She loves to tap * *
But most of all * *
She loves to clap * *
She claps all night * *
She claps all day * *
She claps to frighten * *
The cat away! * * * * * * * *

And here is a video of the chant, courtesy of Jbrary.

Next it was time for instruments! I used egg shakers again, which are great little maraca-like instruments perfect for little hands to hold onto. 

After passing them out and giving the kids a minute or two to shake on their own, we did an a capella rhyme in the vein of "1 2 Buckle My Shoe."

1, 2, shake it on your shoe

3, 4, shake it on the floor

5, 6, stir and mix

7, 8, hold it up straight

9, 10, wave to your friend

This rhyme gives them a chance to see everything you can do with the shakers besides simply shake them. You can mime a lot of different activities like stirring with a bowl and spoon or waving to a friend with a shaker in your hand, and it makes a different rhythm with every movement. 

We listened to two recorded songs while dancing with our shakers. First was everyone's favorite egg shaker song, "I Know a Chicken" by Laurie Berkner. Then I played Raffi's "Shake my Sillies Out," because Raffi is the god of children's music and everyone knows it. 

I got all my egg shakers back in a somewhat orderly fashion, and then we sang our goodbye song and had bubbles. Click here for my rhythm and music storytime closers.