Tag Archive for: kindergarten

Christmas Tree

I love this song on my album, Santa’s on His Way. This song is a favorite. It involves the simple activity of decorating the Christmas tree. As the children hear the items such as a stocking, star or bell, they simply put the item on the Christmas tree.

Teachers or parents, you can use a small Christmas tree for your child or children to decorate or you can create a felt tree for children to decorate and make the items to put on that tree. Gather the ornaments that we sing in the song or make them for your felt tree. This is a festive activity that little ones absolutely love. Little ones feel very involved in the process of decorating the Christmas tree and they also will have to listen to the cues on the song to invite them to add the ornament.

Ten Little Pigs in a Pen

This is a song that teaches little ones how to count, how to subtract, how to take turns, how to listen to directions and how to listen to the words and instructions in a song being sung to them. That is a lot of things isn’t it? Yet the song is so simple.

You will see from my photo that I was lucky enough to find a lot of little pigs for a very good price. I have them in a little crate or a pen. That pen sitting on my table for a week is what inspired me to write this song. I just had to figure out what I was going to put in this pen, and when I found these cute little pigs I knew.

I wrote this song in a very soothing lullaby style which allows the children to relax, slow down and listen as I am singing. This was quite different from my normally very energetic songs. I instruct the children to listen to the part in the song where I say, “one ran away” before they can remove a little pig. One child at a time passes the crate around until all of the pigs are gone.

I used the number ten for the song. I can personally sing any number when I do it live with the children. There are other ways to illustrate and interact. You could create a felt activity where the children one at a time come up to remove a little pig.

This song is on my CD, How Do You Walk Like a Dinosaur? and on my lullaby CD as well. With the little stuffed pigs the little ones adore this activity. This is a great counting activity for little ones.

How Do You Walk Like a Dinosaur?

This is a favorite for those who buy my music.  This song is so useful in preschool classrooms 

Little ones love this song.  All I have to do is ask them, “How do you walk like a dinosaur? We have to walk really heavy.” They love it! I then continue the song with other animals that they have to copy me do: a frog, a bird, a cat, an elephant, a monkey and then we go back to the dinosaur. This song works well for toddlers, preschoolers and kindergarten children.  As  is true with many of my songs, this song is valuable for teaching little ones to follow directions, a skill that is invaluable for little ones as it totally prepares them for skills they will need for the rest of their lives in order to succeed. Sounds kind of serious, but for them it is just fun. It allows them to move and to act like their favorite animal.

Here is the link to the YouTube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMPtlTcqJTE

This song is available on most streaming sites and in CD form also at CD Baby and Amazon. Check out the albums page and the CD, How Do You Walk Like a Dinosaur?

Using Kazoos

Kazoos are such an awesome addition to teaching music and singing with children. They love them.  Even if they don’t get a chance to play them they love hearing them. I love watching a group of children with whom I am singing break into laughter the moment they watch me and hear me play the kazoo. A true moment of delight as I know I have connected with them in a very special way. Making preschoolers laugh is a talent that doesn’t come without understanding and experience. Once I know I have tickled their little funny bones, I know I have connected with them.

But there is something even move magical than that. It is more fun for preschoolers and kindergarten children (and even older children) to be able to play the kazoo. I regularly make kazoos a part of my preschool and kindergarten curriculum. It is not easy to get little ones to sing with you, but if they have a kazoo, they will hum into that kazoo.  The first step is to make sure that the children know just how to do that. You will find that most of them figure it out pretty quickly, but there is often one or two children that will find the skill to be a challenge. It is important to teach them not to blow into the kazoo but rather to hum into  the kazoos. I will hum and immediately put the kazoo in my mouth to suddenly create that kazoo sound and then I will remove and repeat that action. Most often they finally get it. If for some reason they don’t I tell them to hold their kazoo and keep trying and maybe they can work on it with their teacher later. I have them start by humming into the kazoo a familiar song, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. I have them hum in their kazoos along with me.  Then I move to a song that I have written called “I Lost My Kazoo.”  I tell them that they have to put their kazoos in front of them as they will be copying me with some different sounds. What good discipline and how wonderful that they are learning to follow me. And they love every minute of it. “I Lost My Kazoo” is a wonderful song for teaching young children.

Kazoos are in Montessori curriculum for teaching young children and I can see why. I will give you SoundCloud links here but these songs are available on any of your favorite streaming sites as you can see from my album page and also Google Play which will soon be added to my album page.   https://soundcloud.com/sharon-novak/i-lost-my-kazoo    https://soundcloud.com/sharon-novak/i-have-a-kazoo   https://soundcloud.com/sharon-novak/kazoo-therapy  You can also find these songs on a physical CD which is available at CD Baby or Amazon.

 

The Car Song

This is a favorite! Children love the car song activity when they get to drive the cars on the road and into the garage. Children listen to the song while they have a different color car in their hand. When I sing about the color of the car that they have in their hand they drive it on the road and into the garage.  Are they learning anything? Well, of course they are.  They are learning colors. They are learning to take turns. They are learning to time how long the verse of the song takes to allow them to enjoy driving their car into the garage. Most importantly, however, they are having fun! And this means that they are learning all the more.

This activity is so easy to make.  All you need to find is different color cars.  You could use cars as small as hot wheels or you may be able to acquire larger cars. I will point out that when I started doing this activity that I used a road that was not straight from one of the pre-manufactured mats. Because the road was not straight it offered too many options.  A straight road that takes the cars directly into the garage is best. It help keep little ones focused. The garage is very important and it is easy to make. Just use a box and cut off the bottom. Create an opening and voila you have a garage. I recommend keeping it simple for little ones as you have to keep them moving through the song. That they are staying within the time of the song is great as they are learning to pace themselves.  You will find some kids take their time while others will move along quickly and get the job done. Always watch children and help them with time issues if they need that help. Some love “their moment” and have a tough time quitting so just help them move along if you have a class. For one or two children this is even easier. It is also good to know that this song works best for 3-5 year old children as younger ones still are working on mastering their colors and focus issues. But don’t hesitate to try it if you have one super bright and focused toddler.

You can find this song on my CD, Clap Your Hands. I will provide an iTunes and Spotify link here or simply check out the album page for other options. https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-car-song/1434357860?i=1434357872 and it is at Spotify, https://open.spotify.com/track/2ErCnrgfH5BBVTHU8R5o1b?si=O9jmPwK-Rai2DlsWuU_X9Q   I will point out that I’m also at Google Play and YouTube and many other favorite streaming sites.  Just look me up!

 

There’s a Gorilla in My Alphabet Soup

I am going to write about a song I have just recently written but have not yet recorded. I realized about a month ago that I had not written a song for the classroom about the alphabet. Now that’s a tough one for me because everyone knows and loves the traditional alphabet song. How can a children’s songwriter improve on that.

Well, I don’t know if the song I finally came up with is an improvement, but it is definitely a song that can be used for a teaching activity in my preschool and kindergarten classes that I visit or for my shows that I do for young children. This song was so fun because the moment I finished writing it I was amazed how perfect it is. It tells the children that there is a certain letter in my alphabet soup and then proceeds to tell them that there is an animal that starts with that same letter in my alphabet soup. I was so excited about how perfect this song is that I immediately invested in purchasing some letters to paint and some stickers to put on the letters that showed the children the animal that is in the alphabet soup. And the animal being there is so perfect as that reinforces to the children who may be unsure about what letter they have in their hand is that indeed they have that letter. If I say there’s an A in my alphabet soup that may not be enough to tell them what letter it is that they have in their hand. But once I sing that there is an alligator in my alphabet soup, they know that is the letter they are holding and they will put that letter in the alphabet soup.  I think this is a fantastic learning activity.

I can’t wait to record and release this song. I’m already seeing more than one kindergarten age child laughing when I sing it