Kindermusik "Hickory Dickory Tickle and Bounce": Village Spring 2011!



Hello, Village Families!

It has been a great semester!  We have enjoyed getting to know you and your little ones!  We have had lots of fun and learning this semester.  Here are a few things we would like you to know about the activities we have been doing over the last 14 weeks!:

1.  Baby Yoga:  It is not uncommon for those little movers and shakers to not want to be confined to the yoga exercises we do at the beginning of class.  No worries.  See if there is a time---like right away in the morning, or during a diaper change, or right before bed---that is a better time to fit these poses in.  The compression and expansion exercises are EXCELLENT for opening up the chest cavity and helping to clear out the lungs which will ward off those upper respiratory infections!

2.  Circle Dances:  We have been doing circle dances with various movements during class.  These are excellent for developing the VESTIBULAR SYSTEM, the inner sense of balance.  When we move, sway, scoop, and twist with our babies, they are constantly adjusting their inner sense of balance, making for more coordinated and balanced toddlers!  (Our work on the sleds during class is also really good for the vestibular system---it's not JUST for fun!  It is also good for them!)

3.  Object Permanence:  We have also been working on playing an instrument or shining a flashlight and then HIDING that object.  We are working on Piaget's concept of OBJECT PERMANENCE.  This is the developing concept of when something is hidden from view, it still exists!!  Your baby is starting to develop this---you will be able to see that transition from doing visual tracking with the eyes, to searching with the hands, to FINDING the hidden object.  Use your baby's current level of development to work on this at home.  Use car keys, a favorite toy, a favorite finger food, a flashlight----the sky's the limit!  Start by hiding it in partial view and then make it trickier as they start to catch on!



4.  Steady beat!  We have been using eggs, jingles, and drums to pat out the beat during our songs.  The babies love to hear and FEEL that rhythmic, repetitive beat!  We help them to really feel that steady beat by doing such activities as bouncing on our big bouncy balls.  Feeling the beat is the base of all musical activities, but did you know that having experiences with hearing and feeling a steady beat will help with walking, dribbling a ball, and even cutting with scissors?



5.  Going UP!  Coming DOWN!  We did lots of work on highs and lows this semester!  Just like the mouse in the book "Hickory Dickory Dock!", we were going up and down in our poems ("The Grand Old Duke of York" and "Giddy Up Horsey!"), our songs ("Sonata for Flute" and "Sing Sing Together!") and also working on watching scarves, bubbles, and balls travel up and down!  Here we used the sleds as a ramp to slide the balls down to the babies.  Some of them even started to roll it down the ramp or pitch it in (like baby "ski-ball"!)



What else comes down?  Those floating bubbles!  We hope your little ones got a chance to "catch a bubble" with our slow float bubbles!  This gives them a little extra time to experience the bubble before it pops!  How fun!

Covered in Bubbles!

Thank you for a wonderful semester!  We have enjoyed your little ones so very much!  Please join us again this summer (starting June 20) or fall (starting August 6)  for more fun and learning with music!  If you haven't reserved your spot in class, I encourage you to do so.  It is a small deposit, and will ensure you get the spot you want in class.  Don't miss out! 

Click here for Summer registration: Summer Registration Link
Click here for Fall registration:  Fall Registration Link

 Have a great break!