Gong!

Today was a more relaxed day at the Gooch Drop-in Centre. The number of kids (25) was a lot more manageable and there were a lot more adults present too. There were a few new kids that I hadn't met yet, but most were kids that I had already met, and I'm excited to be learning their names and starting to get to know moms better too. We started out with an energetic "I Wake Up My Hands," and sang the "Little Green Frog" again--they remembered it well! Movement was a bit hectic, as it usually is but I can tell it's improving, especially with the staff members helping out.

One of my favourite moments today came when I brought out the Gong for the IOTW. I asked the kids if they knew what it was; one thought it was a cymbal (close!) and one little girl knew its name and proudly announced it. I demonstrated how to play it and gave a little bit of history, and then Yufeng (the program coordinator) had some other really interesting information about it too! She explained to the kids that in China, sometimes the Gong was used to signal the closing of big gates that allowed entry and exiting from big cities. This was really cool! I definitely learned something too!

I had the kids line up to try the Gong one at a time, which worked out pretty well. Our jam session was a lot of fun--I played "Three Little Birds"--and it was great to see how well the kids were sharing the instruments. They played their instruments through the whole jam session, enjoying every moment! No tears today when putting the instruments away--hooray!

Overall, I had a lot of fun with the kids today, and it was a much calmer session.