The colors of the ribbons bring excitement to the room as they flutter through the air. The children are concentrating hard to get their ribbons to follow the pattern of the teacher. You can palpably feel the enthusiastic and electrical … Continued
The young child splashes in the rain with his sister. “This is fun! I like the rain and the puddles,” she says. The child begins to overcome feelings of fear and starts to splash in the water, which he now … Continued
Stand in front of the mirror. Turn on a recording of the song you are going to teach. Raise both hands, palms up, to the mirror. Move your hands to the beat and flow of the song as you sing … Continued
You are humming a tune in your head and unknowingly you start to hum out loud! Oops! If you are like me, it is a little embarrassing when that happens in public<grin>. That phenomenen of humming something in your head, … Continued
WEEK ONE (click on the name of the activity to go to that page) Younger: 7 Hops Around the World This movement activity has the children hopping 7 times, stopping, then swinging their arms around and over their heads … Continued
Patsch, pop, patsch, pop, Grab, pop, tap, pop. Instructions for opening a soda bottle? No, instructions for a very fun movement activity to go with the song “The Church of Jesus Christ.” Here is a video: To teach this, I … Continued
I stand up at the front of the room holding two rhythm sticks (dowels cut to a 12″ length). As I hold them up, I state: “Here is the pattern.” I begin to do the pattern. Patsch, tap foot, (switch … Continued
Twelve pieces of colored paper. Twelve numbers in a grid. Six matches underneath those colored papers. Even just looking at this display in the front of the room will excite the younger children! When you tell them the rules, immediately … Continued
I taught a music workshop this weekend. I ask people to stand up or sit down according to different ways they learned. When I made statements such as “I hate reading instruction manuals”, “I love lists”, and “I am good … Continued
When I’m at the playground watching children, it is SO noticeable that they twirl, jump, and hop much more than any adult! How can I use that particular quality of a young child to help them learn the song “The … Continued