Rhymetime Challenge Weeks One and Two

We are into the third week of the challenge.  I had better catch you up on the first two weeks.

The first week we focused on "Big Red Tractor."  Since we know this song well, I decided to use it to focus on steady beat.  As we recited the words, we used our instruments (and bouncing) to keep the pace of the song starting off at normal pace and then performed it fast and slow.

Here are the lyrics.  The colour changes as you please.

Bouncing up and down on a big red tractor

Bouncing up and down on a big red tractor

Bouncing up and down on a big red tractor

Bringing in the hay! YEA!

The great thing about this song is that it focuses specifically on rhythm by having the child bounce on a lap or by themselves as the song is sung.  Also, on the "YEA!" at the end is emphasised by lifting the young child in the air, giving the end a bit of a oomph.  I bet you just thought this song was about colours.

Last week we focused on Itsy, Bitsy, Spider.  We didn't really do anything interesting with the poem except use our fingers to help us emphasise the words.  Although nothing special was done, I love the children during this song.  Everyone loves it and it is one of my personal favourites.

The Itsy, Bitsy, Spider went up the water sprout.

Down came the rain and washed the spider out.

Out cam the sun and dried up all the rain.

The Itsy, Bitsy Spider went up the spout again.

Itsy, Bitsy Spider is a great poem to practise fine motor movement and improve dexterity when the poem is accompanied by the hand movements.

In case you are interested, here is a little blip about the history of nursery rhymes.

2014 a new year with new songs

I hope everyone had a great Christmas Break.  We will be starting up again this week, beginning with the baby Mini Music Makers at the Owlet Children and Family Centre.

New Songs for Winter Sessions.

I would like to introduce a new hello and goodbye song for the group this term.  The songs will be introduced slowly, by using the old songs too, but eventually we will be using the new songs as our official hello and goodbye songs.

Don't worry, the songs are still easy, but have a bit more to them.  Both songs come from the book "Kids Make Music, Babies Make Music Too" by Lynn Kleiner.  This is an excellent book and the songs can be downloaded from Amazon.co.uk

The Hello song can be heard here on Amazon.  Hello (Echo) Song

Lyrics (the lyrics in parenthesis is the child's echo reply):
Hello (Hello)
Hello (Hello)
I'm glad you're here today.

To sing (to sing)
And play (and play)
And now we're on our way.

See easy.

The Goodbye song, I admit is a little more involved, but I really like it.  The sample is here at Amazon. Goodbye Song

Lyrics:
We'll sing goodbye,
our time has come.
We'll sing goodbye,
now everyone.

We'll sing goodbye,
this song will tell,
That you make music very well.

I hope to see you all this week.

Tracking your child's progress

Wouldn't it be fun to be able to keep track of the progress your child makes during their time with Mini Music Makers? How about making a diary?


Did you know that Mini Music Makers isn't just about playing instruments and singing nursery rhymes, but it is also about preparing your child for nursery and primary school? The Owlet Children and Family Centre and Little Sprout’s Music Studio would love for you to share your journey with us so that we can show other parents that Every Child Matters while allowing you to develop a great diary of your child’s achievements.


The diary would include what you have noticed about your child's development through your observations and photos taken.


Key categories include: 

• Social interaction and confidence 
• Language and communication skills 
• Physical development 

Please see Jessika for more information or if you would like to take part in this activity.

Christmas time

Christmas is on the way and we will be singing festive tunes.  I will be putting up lyrics and suggestions for songs on the website, so have a look and keep up with our weekly themes.

Halloween Week

Fancy Dress Next Week, 

October 30th

Cancellation for today.

Unfortunately, my son is ill today and so I will not be able to come in for the session.  We will be up and running next week.

Make sure you do a bit of singing today.

Skeleton Dance

Our next song will be the skeleton dance and we will sing it with the music because it makes it more fun.

I love this song and have been waiting to teach it for awhile.

Here is the youtube video.



The Super Simple Learning website is really awesome and I use it sometimes for learning tunes to some of the songs.  It also has loads of Halloween and Christmas songs.

There is a lot of repetition in this song, which makes it easy to learn even though it seems long.


Here are the words:

♫ Dem bones, dem bones, dem dancing bones. [Skeleton dance.]
Dem bones, dem bones, dem dancing bones. [Skeleton dance. Move to the right.]
Dem bones, dem bones, dem dancing bones. [Skeleton dance. Move to the left.]
Doin' the skeleton dance. [Skeleton dance.]

The foot bone's connected to the leg bone. [Point to your foot, then to your lower leg.]
The leg bone's connected to the knee bone. [Point to your lower leg, then your knee.]
The knee bone's connected to the thigh bone. [Point to your knee, then your thigh.]
Doin' the skeleton dance.

The thigh bone's connected to the hip bone. [Point to your thigh, then your hip.]
The hip bone's connected to the backbone. [Point to your hip, then your back.]
The backbone's connected to the neck bone. [Point to your back, then your neck.]
Doin' the skeleton dance.

Shake your hands to the left.
Shake your hands to the right.
Put your hands in the air.
Put your hands out of sight. [Put your hands behind your back.]

Shake your hands to the left.
Shake your hands to the right.
Put your hands in the air.
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle,
wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle,
wiggle, wiggle...wiggle your knees. [Wiggle your whole body, moving your hands all the way down your body until they reach your knees.]

Dem bones, dem bones, dem dancing bones.
Dem bones, dem bones, dem dancing bones.
Dem bones, dem bones, dem dancing bones.
Doin' the skeleton dance. ♫

(taken from http://supersimplelearning.com

See you next week,