"Who's this Magic Guy?"

It was a treat for me to fill in for Rebecca at Jessie's Centre. It's been eight months since I taught an RSF class, and it was a lot of fun to sing with these babies and mothers. The room the class is in is called the Parent Child Centre, and it is such a bright and sunny place. The staff were super warm and welcoming, and while some of the mothers were a little shy at first, I think I earned their trust, and soon had them singing along and joining in with the actions.

Before class started, I asked what some of their favorite songs were so far, so I was sure to include "Zoom, Zoom, Zoom," and "Roly Poly." I thought it might be fun to try out some songs they might not have learned yet, such as "That is the Right Hand," and "Clap Your Hands and Sing 1 2 3." And while we were up on our feet, we sang "the Hokey Pokey."

I brought with me a special instrument, the Tibetan Singing Bowl. When I pulled it out of its bag, one of the mothers burst out, "I know what that is!" So I followed her enthusiasm and asked her to demonstrate for us how to play the bowl. One boy was more interested in putting a toy cow in the bowl than trying to play it. While everyone was having a try, I told them that if you put water in the bowl, the water will bubble and fizz. "No way!" They didn't believe me. So I asked Barb if I could use the kitchen sink in the centre. I quickly ran to fill the bowl. The mothers were stunned! They joked it was some kind of magic trick or illusion. Science! I couldn't explain what was going on, but it was fun to be able to show them unpredictable phenomenon. Here's YouTube video that demonstrates water in a Singing Bowl.

After class, I was leaving the centre and a different staff member was sitting with a five year old girl in the front foyer. They asked what was in my bag, so I took the opportunity to give a mini demonstration of the singing bowl. I took it out and showed the girl how to hold the bowl and make it sing with the wooden mallet.

It was my pleasure to fill in for Rebecca. I had a lot of fun singing with the families at Jessie's June Callwood Centre.