Animal Week at Birkdale

A small enthusiastic group of 11 children and 3 adults celebrated Animal Week. We sang "Crocky Crocodile", "Itsy Bitsy Spider", "Poor Little Bug on the Wall", "Rooster Song", "Listen to the Water" and "How Now Brown Cow". Then we marched around like wrinkly elephants. "5 Green and Speckled Frogs" and "The Frog Song" accompanied the rasping of the Thai Wooden Frogs. The jam session rocked to "3 Little Birds" and "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" before finishing off with parachute phun. Thai Wooden Frogs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand_percussion#Scrapers

Blessing in Disguise

After being sick the last two weeks, I was excited to see all my friends at Jessie's. It was a small group but we had a great time singing a variety of songs, focusing on an animal theme. All the participants were under the age of one so we started with some tickling (The Flea Song), following with some songs about bugs (The Itsy Bitsy Spider, Poor Little Bug On The Wall). We then went to the water and sang The Turtle Chant using a beloved turtle puppet. Listen To The Water allowed us to practice some animal signs for frog, crocodile and duck. Crocky Crocodile and Six Little Ducks had us practicing some specific rhythms using the hands to snap/quack. To finish, we swam even deeper into the water for Baby Shark. Sensing a lull in the energy, I asked the grownups to lie the babies down for Sleeping Bunnies. Many were surprised when the song sped up towards the end, and as a result the energy picked up a bit as the grownups helped the babies "hop" up and down. We stretched our legs singing Elephants Have Wrinkles, finding all the body parts as we marched around. I always like to use this song as a way to make physical contact with each baby by gently squeezing the toes, knees, hips, ears, and nose.

After sitting, I demonstrated how to play the wooden frogs from Thailand. One grownup was familiar with the instrument and was very encouraging to a mom who seemed a bit shy about playing the frog in front of the group. To accompany the "ribbit" sound of the wooden frog, we sang Little Green Frog and Three Green And Speckled Frogs.

Jamming gave us the opportunity to sing a request of The Lion Sleeps Tonight and a new song, Rockin' Robin.

Luckily Jessie's has a smaller parachute that we are able to use for smaller classes and so we shook it out for Jeremiah Was A Bullfrog (Joy To The World) and went up and down gently for one of my favourites Puff The Magic Dragon.

After class, one of the babies sat beside me and strummed the guitar for several minutes. The mom was able to take some video and we got to chatting about her experience with music as a child. It was very clear that she has a deep love of music and is seeking out ways in which her daughter may have a similar experience. I love having moments like this when I can connect and get to know clients in an intimate way and so, having a small class sometimes turns out to be a blessing in disguise. Looking forward to next week!

Peekaboo!

I arrived at Robertson House this evening and had a little boy, who had attended class with me several times already, begin to follow me around as I was setting up. He was so excited and eager for class to start. His giggles and smiles gave me an extra boost of energy and confidence. I decided to run an animal themed class this evening as it is Animal Week this week in Rainbow Songs classes. Children were happy to put on the animal hats I provided and moms enjoyed watching their little ones wear them. We began with a trip to Old McDonald's farm. The moms were a bit timid today but the children made up for it by making many loud animal sounds. Everyone loved the “Turtle Song” with the “1-2-3 PEEKABOO” surprise at the end. We continued with “Baby Shark”, “The Little Green Frog” and “Sleeping Bunnies”, which got everyone up and hopping about. The moms needed some extra encouragement to stand up for “Elephants Have Wrinkles”, but the children were excitedly participating on their own.

The class ended on an upbeat note!

Dance Like Crazy

It's great when you have some children and adults who have been there for 4 or 5 weeks in a row. The only down side was that we didn't have anyone new among the 13 children and 4 adults. To prepare for our upcoming Animal Week celebrations, we started off with "Old McDonald". We also sang "2 Little Blackbirds", "Apples and Bananas", and "What are You Wearing?" Everyone enjoyed the dual sounds of the Ocean Drum, and laughed and danced like crazy under the parachute. Ocean Drum: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_drum

Warm Welcome

It was a great first day at the Gooch Family Drop-In Centre! It was fun getting to know all of the staff there, some parents, and the kids too. There were 19 kids in total, most were aged 3-5, with less than five kids under the age of 1. The littlest children were accompanied by their mothers. I tried to introduce them to some classic songs today like "Wake Up My Hands," "The Little Green Frog" and "What Are You Wearing?", and I must say they're an enthusiastic group! I was completely thrilled by the group's response to all of the music. They were all singing along and the kids were all trying their best to do the actions while they sang. Since it is such a big group, things got a little bit hectic when we stood up to to sing "Down by the Station" and travel around the circle. However, there were a few grown-ups who really helped out and got all the kids moving in the right direction. I brought in the chime bars for IOTW and the kids loved them! There were a few tears from one or two kids when they had to share but with all of the adult support in the room, I am confident that this will improve. They loved the parachute and even pretended to sleep during "Sleeping Bunnies" without my prompting. Yufeng, our Gooch contact, asked me if I could sing a special song for Mother's Day so I came up with a variation of "I love you, You love me," that suited the theme, and all of the moms seemed to really enjoy it.

Overall, it was a great start to the session and I'm looking forward to next week!

Not the Usual Energy

An interesting class today at Robertson. It felt like there was a bit of a last minute scramble to get moms out to class, but we ended up having a pretty good turn out - most of the moms were returning participants. Kristin stated the rules of class (sit on mat, no cell phones, participate with children) before we started. Most of the children were older and they were able to sing and do actions on their own. Because there have been so many older kids participating consistently at Robertson, I'm thinking of doing some more advanced material. I brought the cowbell and agogo this week for instrument of the week which everyone very much enjoyed. The jam got everyone moving and singing more and as always, the children loved the parachute. This evening's class felt a bit off with the energy compared to usual, hopefully next week we can get it back.

Doors, Stores and Firetrucks

The return of some who hadn't been present since early in the session, along with 2 new adults and one new child made for a fun time today. Altogether, there were 12 children and 5 adults who helped me "Shut the Door", go to the "Corner Grocery Store", and "Drive That Firetruck". We also sang about the weather, giving equal time to "Mr. Sun", and "All of the Raindrops". The big sound of the Djembe captivated all. And the familiarity with the programme had the children doing an excellent job of sharing the instruments during the jam session. Djembefola Drissa Kone playing the sumalen in Bamako, Mali (2006): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EH_fdU68UwY

En Français SVP?

It was an interesting class this evening at Robertson House. There was a smaller turnout than usual at the beginning - one returning mom with her two toddlers, and two new moms with theirs. One of the new moms came with her son who is almost three. They are newer to Canada from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and speak French with little English. I pulled out the little French I remembered from high school and asked them some questions and gave some directions. I kept the songs simple today and was reminded of music's universality as the boy was able to follow along with the actions and sing the repeated words in songs like "Roly Poly" and "Baby Shark". We had some more participants arrive to class at the end of the movement portion, just in time to roll the ball which everyone was able to share successfully today. The parachute was a lot of fun as it's always nice to see the children dance and giggle together underneath. We'll see what next week brings - maybe I'll have to start working on some more French vocab!

Ending on a High Note!

I have to say I was a little emotional about this being our last class. Many of these women and their children have been taking the class religiously for up to 1 year so I will definitely miss their smiling faces and abundant energy. I knew I had to cut the class a little bit short so we could do the certificates, cupcakes etc. so I did "the best of ..." songs that were very popular throughout the session for both the children and moms alike. After the sing-a-long, we emptied the instrument bag for a final round of "Three Little Birds" and "Twist and Shout". All in all a great ending to a wonderful session.

Good Things Come in Small Numbers

Small group today after last week's mob. There were 6 children and 2 adults present, all of whom had been there before. But the smaller numbers didn't dampen the enthusiasm as we sang and clapped to "Alice the Camel", "All de Nations", "Johnny Works with one Hammer" and "Sleeping Bunnies". Claves made lots of nice clicks as the IOTW. And the parachute proved to be a big hit as always. Claves: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claves