GOOOOONNNNNGGGG

It was a busy day at the shelter today, as there were various workshops taking place for residents. I arrived a little bit early and helped the staff members set up the room. I also took a bit of time to walk around the cafeteria to meet and greet some of the people I didn't know so well. After encouraging a couple ladies to come and sing with us, we began with prepping for Halloween Week. Songs included Pumpkin Pumpkin based on the tune Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. It was funny to see a couple of the grownup faces light up with recognition of the tune's melody. I also taught them a particularly creepy chant titled I Shut The Door. Other songs sang throughout the class included Roly Poly, I Wake Up My Hands, The Tickle Song, Sticky Sticky Bubblegum, Clean-O, The Bicycle Song, Wheels On The Bus and Zoom Zoom Zoom. We also practiced "Rolling The Ball". The instrument of the week was the Chinese Gong. I gave a brief history and passed the instrument around, demonstrating how to vary tempo and dynamics using the mallet. It was tricky for some children, as sharing is still a challenge for this group. When I sensed a pending meltdown from a couple of participants I quickly brought out the big bag of instruments, and handed out instruments to everyone. I realized that sometimes the grownups are shy and need a bit of encouragement to play something they haven't had much experience with. We jammed to All De' Nations, Three Little Birds and Hot Hot Hot! After putting all the instruments away with greater success than last week, I brought out the parachute for some more shaking!