What a great class at Robertson House today! Despite the muggy heat outside, people sang and danced with lots of energy. A funny moment happened during our jam when all the older kids decided to stand up all of a sudden and dance. It’s always a treat to see kids and their parents being energized by music. They also had a great time passing around our instrument of the week, the Vibra-Slap. Looking forward to another great class next week!
Today I brought the Cuban clave sticks to class. I taught the kids and caregivers the clave rhythm, which is not an easy rhythm to learn, but the caregivers caught on quick. The kids jumped up and down gladly to the beat as we chanted 5 Little Monkeys with the Cuban clave beat. I kept the Latin American theme by playing Latin music for the parachute, and we worked on the concepts of going up/down, right/left, and in/out.
We had our class outside again this week, in a different location with a bit more shade. There was more space, so some of the kids roamed around a bit, but on the whole they were very engaged. Because we were on the playground, there was a bouncy surface that made for fantastic versions of Zoom Zoom Zoom and Sleeping Bunnies. I love the enthusiasm of some of the new kids, and their older siblings were on the upper deck singing along and enjoying the songs. By the end, more people came down to the playground to enjoy the sunset after class, and it was a joyous family affair.
This was a great week! There were lots more kids, and they were happy and excited for music (one of them even unzipped my guitar case when I put it down so we could ‘have music faster’). I love the enthusiasm of this group, and it is infectious for some of the newer kids. It’s quite amazing: some of the kids know all the lyrics and song structures already, and the rest seem to figure them out by the end of each song. Today’s highlight was Sleeping Bunnies. I took advantage of the dimmer switch in the room for a little lighting effects, and the kids loved it. By jam time, the kids were all working so well together that they all brought the instrument bag over to the circle without any need for me to help (though, on the way back, a hole that was covered with tape ripped off the bottom of the bag, so we needed to have a second clean up). After our goodbye song, the kids were clamoring for more music, so we had a short encore and lots of high fives!
I brought animal week to Birkdale today. They loved playing with the turtle puppet and learning The Turtle Song, as well as learning how to play the Thai wooden frogs, which are similar to the Guiro they saw last week. We marched like elephants, slept and hopped like bunnies, and even acted out our favorite animals.
This week was truly special. The beautiful weather meant that we were able to have a class outside on the back deck during sunset. The kids loved it, and we sang lots of songs about the sun, trees, and frogs. I think the excitement of being outside made the kids more engaged, rather than distracted, and it was a nice change of scenery for the grown-ups as well. We had a couple new kids in the class (who were very curious about my guitar), and some older siblings from previous sessions joining in. Hopefully we can have class outside every week, weather permitting!
It was a bit rainy today, so the kids were a little sleepy when I arrived at the Plaza. The group was a bit small, so there wasn't as much energy bouncing around the walls, but they started to have fun around the Little Frog song. Once we were making funny faces and up on our feet for Head and Shoulders, things started to perk up. We finished with 5 Little Monkeys, which seemed to be the thing that they needed all along. Bouncing will always bring the energy back into the room!
Another fun class at Robertson House this week! After being new and a little shy last week, we had a mom and her two daughters show up with a lot of enthusiasm this week. Always great to see people getting more comfortable with singing and participating. It was so fun to sing Little Green Frog, scrunching our faces up and sticking out our tongues while making rhythmic frog sounds. We added some real spice to the song by adding rain sticks as well. It really felt like we were in the rainforest! Looking forward to next week’s class!
It was great to be reunited with the kids and caregivers after having a week off. Today I brought different types of guiros – a traditional one made out of a gourd, and one that was shaped like a crocodile. The kids quickly picked up the down-up-up rhythm, and we sang songs with that rhythm and they enjoyed dancing around to it.
This week marked our final program together for this session, but it didn't dampen the mood at all. I asked everyone what they wanted to sing, and we went through some classics, from Twinkle Twinkle to Sleeping Bunnies, and finished off with everyone's favourite: parachute time! We then spent some time saying good-bye and getting feedback. I've enjoyed my time at Redwood greatly, and want to thank all of the staff, volunteers, and of course, the residents, for welcoming Rainbow Songs Foundation so warmly, and playing along with us for the past few months.
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