This is a weekly update of what songs we’re currently singing, yoga poses, movements, the whole nine yards.
In most cases, the song/activity listed is a link so you can listen to me sing and read the lyrics, etc.
June 12, 2023
Today I did a “mouse story” which is a listening exercise. The mouse lives in a hole, and it goes down into the hole to go to sleep, and I indicate this by playing a scale down, and then play up the scale for when the mouse comes up. I play a major chord to indicate when the mouse is happy, and a minor chord for when it’s sad. There is some song melody that happens along the way in the story. For instance, the mouse is sad when she’s asleep, but thinks it would make her happy to go up and see the stars, which I indicate by playing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. And so forth!
I also did a different kind of listening exercise, in which I read a poem. Each line ends in a word that rhymes with either ZIP or BAM. When you hear a rhyme with ZIP, you say zip and do the zip motion that we’ve been doing in ZIP ZIP BAM. Likewise for a line that ends in a work that rhymes with BAM.
We sang through all the songs we’ll be singing for the singalong:
Corner Grocery Store – beans, giraffes, corn and rats!
And they all told us what they’re doing for summer vacation. Thank you for sharing your children with me this year!
June 5, 2023
Boom Chicka Boom, starting with Z and also D (doom dicka doom…)
Corner Grocery Store – with giraffes taking bubble baths, rats as big as baseball bats, sharks swimming in the dark, and plums twiddling their thumbs!
May 22, 2023
Corner Grocery Store – beans were trying on jeans, corn blowing on a horn, snakes eating chocolate cake, ghosts eating French toast, and parrots chewing on carrots!
Boom Chicka Boom – we replaced the first letters with Z’s (zoom zicka zoom) and then with L’s (loom licks loom).
May 15, 2023
Corner Grocery Store – we chatted a bit about what “specs” are, and how this is a song about someone who uses glasses but doesn’t have them on when they go to the grocery store, so things look wacky. Beans trying on jeans, corn blowing on a horn, rats as big as baseball bats, ghosts eating French toast, and parrots chewing on carrots!
May 8, 2023
May Day song – it looks like it will be a perfect day for our May Day celebration on Wednesday. See you there!
Boom Chicka Boom – this time we said, “next time with a Z” and replaced the first sounds with Z’s: “I say zoom zicka zoom….I say zoom zicka zocka zicka zocka zicka zoom…” Then we did the same with the letter D: doom dicka doom…
May 1, 2023
Hello, Everybody
May Day song – I explained that we’ll be watching the weather to see if we can do May Day this week, as it may be too rainy, in which case we’ll wait until next week, 5/10.
I reviewed sign language for LITTLE, TURTLE, BOX and EAT. We tried out some sentences incorporating them (“My little turtle eats spaghetti”). Then we did There Was a Little Turtle
We did a stand up in a circle movement version of Baa Baa Black Sheep
We repeated an activity we tried a few weeks back. Children are paired off, standing and facing each other. I sing, “As I was walking in the park one day, as I was walking in the park, I saw two sculptures that were touching (elbows), as I was walking in the park,” Each pair touches the elbows together, and so forth. We tried it with pinkies, backs, shoulders, ears, etc.
April 24, 2023
Paw Paw Patch
YOGA butterfly turtle tulip, candle mouse snake dog cat
We did more sign language, I reminded them of ASL for spaghetti, then taught them how to say LITTLE, TURTLE, BOX and EAT. We tried out some sentences incorporating them (“My little turtle eats spaghetti”). Then we did There Was a Little Turtle
May There Always Be Sunshine – I incorporated more sign language into this: may there always be gorillas, pie, spiders, balls, cake…
We did a stand up in a circle movement version of Baa Baa Black Sheep
April 10, 2023
We tried the beanbag game again, as we did a couple of weeks ago, but today it wasn’t to be – sometimes the energy just isn’t quite right!
We did more sign language, I reminded them of ASL for My, Friend, and Disappear, and then tried out some sentences incorporating them. Some of the children suggested sentences and tried them out, too.
Elephant in my Shoe – we had kangaroos, alligators, Jello, drills, mashed potatoes and robots in our shoes!
We did a stand up in a circle movement version of Baa Baa Black Sheep
May Day song – We’ll be celebrating May Day with the whole school next month, and we sang this to start getting ready!
April 3, 2023
When I First Came To This Land
We did more sign language, I taught them ASL for My, Friend, and Disappear, and then tried out some sentences on them, like “The gorilla disappeared,” and “My friend disappeared,” and so forth. I also showed them “spaghetti.”
We tried a new thing: Children are paired off, facing each other. I sing a song, “As I was walking in the park one day, as I was walking in the park, I saw two sculptures that were touching (elbows), as I was walking in the park,” And of course, each pair touches the elbows together, and so forth. We tried it with hands, backs, shoulders, and then hand to knee.
March 27, 2023
You Gotta Sing (when the spirit says sing) – I passed out the rhythm sticks to this, and we also played to Ella Jenkins’ song “1 & 2 & 3 & 4” (no link).
We did more sign language, starting with “the gorilla swallowed the worm,” and then I tried other sentences to see if they could understand them them, like “the worm swallowed spider pie” and so forth.
Then we reviewed the signs in my new version of Today Is Monday, which I did last class as well (no link, sorry!). The items are: Monday-popcorn, Tuesday-ball, Wednesday-pie, Thursday-worm, Friday-gorilla, Saturday-spiderweb, Sunday-cake. The refrain is “come on everybody, show me what you see.”
I tried out a new game which can be tricky to learn, and they did very well for their first tine. We all have a bean bag in our hands, and the object is to pass them around the circle simultaneously by placing the beanbag in front of the the person to your left. Of course, a beanbag has appeared in front of your from the person on your right, so you pick that up and pass it, and on and on. Some of them said it was like a machine – indeed it is!
ABC, then ABC: Karen’s Version
March 13, 2023
You Gotta Sing (when the spirit says sing)
We did sign language for: spider pie, spider pie, gorillas love spider pie. (see picture below) Jack suggested we try it backwards, so we did!
As I’ve done a couple of times before, I passed out a long, thick rope and we pulled and pushed and swayed and shook to SHAKE IT ALL OVER TOWN and ROW ROW ROW (crocodile and putt putt verses). We finished with MICHAEL ROW THE BOAT ASHORE
We did a new twist on Today Is Monday (no link, sorry!). Instead of singing a food for each day of the week, we did an item in sign language: Monday-popcorn, Tuesday-ball, Wednesday-pie, Thursday-worm, Friday-gorilla, Saturday-spiderweb, Sunday-cake. The refrain is “come on everybody, show me what you see.”
We did more variations on Bug On the Wall
A quick sing of ABC: Karen’s Version
March 6, 2023
When I came in, Garrett and Nathaniel were singing Wheels on the Bus, facing each other with their feet outstretched and touching, and moving them back and forth as the wipers on the bus. What a cool idea! So we all sang Wheels On the Bus and tried to figure out how we might use our feet instead of our hands for many of the movements (horn? doors? wheels?)
I showed them sign language for spider, pie and gorilla, then we did sign language for: spider pie, spider pie, gorillas love spider pie. (see picture below)
We got to the last page of Bug On the Wall, so I’m now providing the link!
We All Need More Kindness In This World (we stomped and clapped to this, lying on our backs)
ABC
I briefly introduced them to the version of ABC that Karen learned as a child: ABC: Karen’s Version
February 27, 2023
Magic Penny, passing around the heavy red ball.
We continued my version of a song called Bug On the Wall, but I’m not putting the link up for it yet. That will have to wait until we’ve done the whole thing!
YOGA mountain moon elephant star square triangle warrior1
Freeze Dance
February 13, 2023
Magic Penny, passing around the heavy red ball.
I handed out “zips” and “bams” (a zip is a strip of paper and a bam is a circle of paper). The, having done this before, demonstrated how to make a pattern with them and then play it (e.g., zip bam bam zip zip bam). Introducing them to music literacy! They were quite focused on this, coming up with all kinds of patterns and ways to read them.
We began my version of a song called Bug On the Wall, but I’m not putting the link up for it yet. That will have to wait until we’ve done the whole thing!
February 6, 2023
YOGA butterfly turtle tulip candle mouse snake dog cat
January 30, 2023
We passed around the heavy red ball and sang Magic Penny
I handed out “zips” and “bams” (a zip is a strip of paper and a bam is a circle of paper). I demonstrated how to make a pattern with them and then play it (e.g., zip bam bam zip zip bam). Introducing them to music literacy! They were quite engaged with this.
YOGA I added a couple new poses to this sequence: mountain moon elephant star square triangle warrior1
January 23, 2023
We passed around the heavy red ball and sang Magic Penny
We played a game called “Monkey Around,” in which everyone gets a “banana” which is actually as bean bag. Then each child picks a card and we all do what it says. Sometimes it involves the beanbag (balance the banana on your shoulder and walk around) and sometimes it doesn’t (walk on your tiptoes). A perfect rainy day activity!
Speaking of which, we also sang It’s a Rainy Day
I CAN’T IMAGINE LIFE WITHOUT POPCORN – we couldn’t live without rainbows, aliens or worms!
YOGA: mountain moon star square triangle and back to mountain.
January 9, 2023
I CAN’T IMAGINE LIFE WITHOUT POPCORN – we couldn’t live without sandwiches, jelly beans or owls!
I passed out a long, thick rope and we pulled and pushed and swayed and shook to SHAKE IT ALL OVER TOWN and ROW ROW ROW (crocodile verse). We finished with Michael Row the Boat Ashore
YOGA: candle mouse snake dog cat and backwards to candle. Also, mountain moon star square triangle and back to mountain.
December 19, 2022
I lost my voice! While I wouldn’t want this to happen much, it’s a great way to engage the material in a new way, and the children step up to the challenge. First we just passed around the red ball, and I played Magic Penny. Gradually more and more children joined in singing the song.
I reminded them of what will be happening for the lantern walk, and we sang through most of the Lantern Walk songs (Here’s the link to all the Lantern Walk songs)
We Walk With Our Little Lanterns
We also did freeze dance, in which I show them a stick figure pose which we try out. Then I play guitar and we dance. When the music stops, we freeze in the pose.
YOGA: candle mouse snake dog cat and backwards to candle. Also, butterfly, turtle, tulip
December 5, 2022
I CAN’T IMAGINE LIFE WITHOUT POPCORN – we learned the WOW and OOO cheers, and couldn’t live without popcorn, pickles, penguins or mushrooms!
Skidamarink (We’ll sing this at the Lantern Walk)
I passed out jingle bells and we played them to Jingle Bells and This Little Light of Mine. We even tried singing and playing to Jingle Bells lying on our backs, and stomping our feet at the same time. Someone discovered that they could clap, too, so we tried clapping while holding our jingle bells and singing.
We Walk With Our Little Lanterns – I told them about the Lantern Walk coming up, how we would be marching in a parade with lanterns around the sculpture park and have hot chocolate at the end. Here’s the Link to all the Lantern Walk Songs.
Over the River – a Thanksgiving song which we’ll be singing during the Lantern Walk as well.
November 28, 2022
Over the River – a Thanksgiving song
I passed out all different instruments and we played them to: This Little Light of Mine and What Makes the Fire and We All Need More Kindness In This World. We pass them along so that everyone gets to play numerous kinds of instruments – shakers, claves, wooden frog/turtles, triangle, tambourine, etc. I don’t focus on keeping a steady beat, but let them explore how the instrument works, and in some cases learning the “skill” of playing it, such as holding the triangle so it dangles down and makes a resonant sound when struck.
I again showed them images of a buzzard and a dead tree, explaining these “poses.” Then we learned my version of the song 3 Short-Necked Buzzards. (It has a surprise ending.)
YOGA: mountain moon star square, triangle (then we backwards back to mountain). Then: candle mouse snake dog, and backwards to candle.
Jingle Bells – this was also actually written as a Thanksgiving song. After singing it a number of times, a child asked that we sing it (the chorus) fast; we did this a few times and they were really able to keep up! Then we sang it very slow.
November 21, 2022
I arrived with my guitar in its case, asking what was inside – a guitar, of course. What is a guitar case for? “To keep it safe,” a child answered. Yes! I told them a brief story about how I had a guitar that I leaned against my refrigerator and it slid down and broke. So now I try to keep my guitar safe. This was all as a segue into using lots of different kinds of instruments, which I passed out. I told them that these are instruments that we need to keep safe by playing them in the right way so we don’t break them. Not everyone got to play every instrument, but hopefully they’ll have a chance next time. There were claves of various kinds, shakers of different kinds, something I don’t even know the name of, a triangle, and a frog and a toad whose bumpy backs you run a stick across. We played along to This Little Light of Mine and We All Need More Kindness In This World.
Mysterious Fish Tank – we tried this silently, just doing the motions.
YOGA: transition one to another: mountain moon star square, triangle (then we backwards back to mountain). I also showed them two images, a buzzard and a dead tree, and we did these “poses” to prep for my version of the song 3 Short-Necked Buzzards
November 14, 2022
Mysterious Fish Tank – we even tried this backwards!
I passed out a long, thick rope and we pulled and pushed and swayed and shook to SHAKE IT ALL OVER TOWN and a “toes and knees and tummy and pull” exercise. I taught those who didn’t know it the crocodile verse to ROW ROW ROW (your boat), but first we practiced a quiet scream! We finished with Michael Row the Boat Ashore
YOGA: our poses smoothly transition into each other: mountain moon star square, triangle (then we go backwards back to mountain); and candle mouse snake dog (and back to candle).
November 7, 2022
We did the tai chi-inspired ball exercise where we held and moved an invisible ball which expanded when we breathed in and contracted when we breathed out.
YOGA: these poses smoothly transition into each other: btrfly turtle tulip; and mountain moon star square, and triangle (then we go backwards back to mountain).
YOGA: butterfly, turtle, tulip
Having reviewed butterfly and turtle, we put these to use in this: Twinkle Twinkle (silly version)
October 31, 2022
We “passed a clap around the circle” and then passed around a tap.
YOGA: these poses smoothly transition into each other: btrfly turtle tulip; and mountain moon star square, and a new one, triangle (then we go backwards back to mountain).
Witch Has an Itch – they had a great memory for all the places to itch – feet, arm, knee, back, shoulder, cheek and head!
We All Need More Kindness In This World
I passed out egg shakers and we played along to the Ella Jenkins song “1 & 2 & 3 & 4.” Then we played a rhythm of three clicks (and a rest), and then did this to Miss Mary Mack (playing on “mack, mack, mack…black, black, black…, etc.” We played to All Together Now (Beatles).
October 24, 2022
A couple of songs came up spontaneously: 3 Little Hot Dogs and A B Squeeze.
We “passed a clap around the circle” and then we passed around a tap, and some children ended up creating their own variations as it went around the circle.
I passed out rhythm sticks and we played along to ABC, and an Ella Jenkins song called 1 & 2 & 3 & 4. Then we played a rhythm of three clicks (and a rest), and then did this to Miss Mary Mack (playing on “mack, mack, mack…black, black, black…, etc.” Then we played along to We All Need More Kindness In This World.
YOGA: we’re doing sets of poses that can smoothly transition into each other: btrfly turtle tulip; and mountain moon star square.
I passed out scarves, and we made different kinds of winds, strong and gentle. We twirled them while I sang Pop Goes the Weasel, and threw them up on “pop!” and caught them. Then I sang MERRY LITTLE BREEZE as we moved and danced.
October 17, 2022
We “passed a clap around the circle” and they did great again!
I passed out the egg shakers and we played to ABC, the 1&2&3&4 Ella Jenkins song, and then an old song by the Beatles, All Together Now, and Tingalayo.
I then passed out scarves, and talked a bit about different kinds of wind, and there was mention of hurricanes! Then we talked about gentle winds, and I sang MERRY LITTLE BREEZE and they danced and moved their scarves to it.
October 3, 2022
Paw Paw Patch (no link)
We played around with rhythms, doing 3 claps, then a pause, then 3 claps, repeating this a number of times, then again with 3 stomps. They were great at pausing before the next 3. Listening closely, playing together!
We passed around the red mini-medicine ball again, singing Magic Penny
I taught them a new poem by Calef Brown, Mysterious Fish Tank, which I do as a finger play.
I passed out rhythm sticks and we worked on more rhythm, then played along to ABC, and an Ella Jenkins song called 1 & 2 & 3 & 4. Then we played to: Bling Blang and Building a New Way
We did Alligator Pit again. We even tried it with just the motions, no words!
Yoga poses: butterfly, turtle and tulip.
September 19, 2022
Repetition is key for this age, so we repeated much of what we did last week (introducing the songs to children who weren’t here last Monday), and added some new songs and activities, too.
Paw Paw Patch (no link)
We passed around a red, slightly squishy, heavy, mini-medicine ball, while I sang Magic Penny
After passing around the ball, we then passed around a clap! I clapped (one clap), then the person to my left clapped once, then the next and the next, all around the circle. They did well! (We also tried 2 claps after this, which was a little trickier, partly because it’s hard to stay focused on this exercise for very long, but we made it around!).
We did an exercise in which we held and moved an invisible ball which expanded when we breathed in and contracted when we breathed out. It got very big! We closed our eyes and imagined what color it was (interestingly, many children said “black” – because when you close your eyes that’s the color you see!), and when we were done with it, we made it small and put it in our tummy for whenever we needed it.
Then I passed around the rhythm sticks (one is smooth and one has ridges, so that you can click them or rub them, or play them on the floor, as we quickly discovered). I showed them sign language for “together” (fists together with thumbs up in front of your chest, then move them out and around in a circle and back to your chest). I explained that when we play music, we need to be together, and they were in fact quite capable of being together when we played the rhythm sticks – lovely to hear! We played to:
Bling Blang and Building a New Way
We did a calming song: Ooh Ooh, followed by some Yoga poses, butterfly, turtle and we added a new one, tulip.
Then a stand up song: Here Comes Mouse
And finished with the Goodbye Song
September 12, 2022
It was good to meet so many Studio Purple friends! Here’s what we did today:
Paw Paw Patch (I don’t have a link for this) It was fun learning everyone’s name – I think I have them all memorized now!
We passed around a red mini-medicine ball, which is heavy and a little squishy. Many of us made a tunnel for it to go through by picking up our knees.
I passed out egg shakers and we explored the sounds they make. We figured out how to shake it to make a long sound, and also how to make a single sound, with one shake. Then we played to the ABC’s, with one shake for each letter. We did the same with an old Ella Jenkins song, One and Two and Three and Four.
Then we played the shakers to Tingalayo.
We did a calming song: Ooh Ooh, followed by some Yoga poses, butterfly and turtle.
We sang an old favorite that I have dramatized: 3 Green & Speckled Frogs.
Then we did a stand up song: Here Comes Mouse
And we finished with the Goodbye Song!
Repertoire
(a running list of songs that we’ve sung this year)
Link to the Lantern Walk Songs
3 Green & Speckled Frogs
3 Short-Necked Buzzards
3 Little Hot Dogs
ABC: Karen’s Version
A B Squeeze
A Cat Had a Birthday
Alligator Pit
Alligator Song
Bling Blang
Boom Chicka Boom
Bug On the Wall
Building a New Way
Corner Grocery Store
Draw the Circle Wide
Elephant in my Shoe
Frog Named Tiny Tim
Goodbye Song
Here Comes Mouse
Hickory Dickory Dock
I CAN’T IMAGINE LIFE WITHOUT POPCORN
I Shampoo My Hair
If I Knew You Were Coming
Inch By Inch
It’s a Rainy Day
Jingle Bells
Magic Penny
May Day song
May There Always Be Sunshine
MERRY LITTLE BREEZE
Michael Row the Boat Ashore
Miss Mary Mack
Movie Star
Mrs. O’Leary
My Favorite Flower
My Favorite Things
Mysterious Fish Tank
No More Pie
Ooh Ooh
Open Shut Them
Over the River
Peace Like a River
ROW ROW ROW
Sailor Song
SHAKE IT ALL OVER TOWN
Skidamarink
State Laughs
Tarzan
This Little Light of Mine
Tingalayo
There Was a Little Turtle
Touch the Ground
Twinkle Twinkle (silly version)
Under One Sky
Up Goes the Castle
We All Need More Kindness In This World
We Walk With Our Little Lanterns
What Makes the Fire
When I First Came To This Land
Where’s My Pajamas?
Who Fed the Chickens?
Willoughby Wallaby Woo
Wishie Washie Washerwoman
Witch Has an Itch
Yellow Jello
You Gotta Sing (when the spirit says sing)
Zip Zip Bam