Fall "Milk and Cookies" for Toddlers and Multi-Age

Our Time (Toddler) and Family Time (Multi-age) classes are in the midst of the "Milk and Cookies" unit---a unit that is about all the busy-ness of taking care of our homes.  We started with building a house with tools, and then pretended to clean the house, work on the garden, and bake yummy cookies in the oven.  As we hit the mid-way point, we are getting into the tea party and having company come over!  The toddlers ALL seem to love this unit. 

Kindermusik Rituals
In the Kindermusik classroom, rituals are so very important.  We start the first 5 minutes of each class with "Gathering Time".  Or, as the kids would call it, "ball time".  The balls provide a fun atmosphere where the kiddos can learn to cooperate, share, and even play together!  Sometimes the ball baskets themselves even become the fun!

 Then, we sing HELLO!  Singing Hello to each child is so important to us.  We love their ideas for different ways to move!  Some of them have their "signature move" and others like to pick something new every time---or just pick whatever their neighbor picked.....that works too! :)

Yes, that is a peacock.  It was Halloween week at Kindermusik!

WEEK 1-3
Action Poems
We have done a couple different action poems in this unit so far.  Remember the Carpenter's Hammer?  This works on smooth and bumpy ("legato" and "staccato" in musical terms) and it also works on loud and soft ("dynamics" in musical terms).


The Carpenter's Hammer
The Carpenter's Hammer Goes RAP RAP RAP (Rapping closed fist on open palm) 
And his saw goes SEE SAW SEE (Swish hands together)
He hammers and hammers!  (Go back to rapping hands together)
And he saws and saws! (Swish hands together)
And he BUILDS A HOUSE FOR ME!  (Make a rooftop over heads)

Then we got out the sandblocks to make the sounds of the hammer and the saw!  We found out that the saw makes a soft, scratchy noise and the hammer makes a loud noise!

Dust, Dust, Dust!
This little activity was one we did in the first two lessons to get the kiddos acclimated to the room and encourage them to move about---dusting!  Our little song went like this:
Oh, in my house I help clean up!
With a dust, dust, dust, dust all day....
I dust, dust, dust!  And dust, dust, dust!
To clean the dirt away! 
(Of course, if you are singing this at home, you can replace dust with scrub, sweep, or whatever!)

Following Directions With Instruments!

This little ditty is great for following directions.  You can do this at home!  It goes like this:

So HIGH HIGH HIGH! (instruments up HIGH!)

So LOW LOW LOW! (instruments down low)

So FAST FAST FAST! (play very fast)

So SLOW SLOW SLOW! (play very slow!)

So FAR FAR FAR (stretch arms out wide!)

So NEAR NEAR NEAR (play close to body)

Now WHERE?  WHERE?  WHERE? (HIDE the instruments behind your back!)

(Pause)

Right HERE!  HERE!  HERE! (The big "reveal"---always followed with squeals and giggles!  This just never gets old!)

We have also been working on bringing our instruments to a full stop, or a musical rest.  We will continue to work on "Shake, shake, shake your eggs---and now let's stop" all semester long!


ROLY POLY
Another little song we do about following musical directions is Roly Poly.  This has us rolling arms, going up high, going out wide,  tapping, and stopping.

The words go like this:

Roly Poly, Roly Poly, UP UP UP!

Roly Poly, Roly Poly, OUT OUT OUT!

Roly Poly, Roly Poly, TAP TAP TAP!
Roly Poly, Roly Poly, Lay them in your LAP!  (Pause......ssshhhhhh.......)

Here is a link to a listening sample: 

CLICK HERE: "Roly Poly" Listening Sample

CORN SEEDS

We talk about HIGHS and LOWS a lot in class.  We do high and low with our bodies, and also listen to high and low pitches in music.  This little poem called "Corn Seeds" works on several things.  The first stance is called the balancing squat, which is feet planted, knees bent, and fannies off the floor.  This engages the vestibular system, the inner balance.  From that squat, we work on straightening the legs to stand and tip toe!  As HIGH as we can go!  In the poem, as the corn grows, so do we!  :)

It goes like this:

I planted little corn seeds (balancing squat)

They were very very small (continue balancing down low)

BUT, day by day they grew and grew...  (Stand up slowly until tip toes!)

...and GREW!  To be THIS TALL!  (Balance on tip toes)

HIGH and LOW Movement
We also use manipulatives to encourage the kiddos to move HIGH and LOW.  Here we are using ribbons to swish and twirl up high and down low.

Go Into The Kitchen Circle Dance
Oh, we had such fun pretending that something yummy was baking in the oven---we took a step in to the circle (the kitchen) and took a PEEK and then stepped out of the circle and tapped, wiggled, and stomped our feet.  The best part was when the song said "swing your sweet", because that was when the kiddos got a wild ride!

Listening Sample: "Go Into The Kitchen"

Peek-a-boo, Cookies!!

Swing your sweet!

LEGATO and STACCATO---SMOOTH and BUMPY
Listening for changes in music is a big skill in our class.  Here we are using bouncy balls to help us react to a song that alternates between smooth (Legato) and bumpy (Staccato) music.  When they hear the staccato beat come in, we bounce to the beat.  Then, when we hear the legato transition, we rock forward and back to the gentle rocking beat of the legato section.  The anticipation always builds for the staccato beat to bounce again!  Here is a sample of the song we use which is a mash up of "Shortening Bread" and "Coffee Grows".

CLICK HERE: "Bread and Coffee" Listening Sample

WEEK 4-7
Rise Sugar Rise!
This little song is so special.  Parents sit face-to-face with their kiddos and hold hands, give high fives, wave hands, tap thumbs and link pinkies.  When the song says, "Rise Sugar Rise", everyone holds hands up high!

Listening Sample: "Rise Sugar Rise"

A Cup of Tea
One of our more recent action poems is called "A Cup Of Tea".  It goes like this:
Here's a cup (Hold out one hand, as if holding a cup)
And here's a cup (Hold out other hand, as if holding a cup)
And here's a pot of tea! (connect both hands in a circle)

Now pour a cup!  (Use the thumb of one hand to pretend to pour into the other hand)
And pour a cup! (Use the thumb of the other hand to pretend to pour)
And have a drink with me! (Pretend to drink from your cupped hand.)

I'm A Little Teapot
Remember this little song?

I'm a little teapot! (bounce)

Short and stout!
Here is my handle (hand on hip)
Here is my spout (other hand out)
When I get all steamed up (bounce)
Hear me SHOUT!
Tip me over and pour me out! (bend over to side---and touch the floor if you can!)

Listening Sample: "I'm A Little Teapot" 

Pouring
Pouring with cups and balls is fun.  BUT, it is also teaching so many things.  Hand-eye coordination is a biggie.  It takes a lot of coordination and timing to tip and pour.  It also reinforces waiting for your turn, cooperation, and learning a "system".  I love watching the kiddos watch and wait for the balls to come around!

Balls and Ramps
Using the balls and noodle ramps, the kiddos get to see how their ball travels down and back up their ramp.  When they hear the slide whistle playing a descending scale down----their ball goes down.   Some of the parents get pretty fancy, making ramps that go back up, connecting more than one ramp together to make a really LONG ramp, and even making a ramp that does a full "loopty loo"!  Some of our classes even experimented with direction, trying to get their ball to land in a target!

Jelly In The Bowl-With Hoops
"Jelly In The Bowl" is a fun little song that helps us to work on the pendulum sway---rocking side to side and off-setting our balance so that one foot comes off the ground as we rock back in forth!  The words to the song are:

Jelly in the bowl!  (Rock side to side in the hoop!)
Jelly in the bowl!
Wibble wobble, wibble wobble!
Jelly in the bowl!

Then UT OH!  The jelly falls on the floor! (Drop hoop to the ground, and jump up and down in the hoop!)
Jelly on the floor!
Jelly on the floor!
Jiggle Joggle, Jiggle Joggle!
Jelly on the floor!

HOOP TUNNEL!
Making a tunnel out of the hoops is so much fun!  The kiddos really love it, and it teaches some great problem solving skills--

 

Toast, Toast!
This little song was a tri-tone song that had a suspenseful tone as we waited for the toast to pop out of the oven!  If you practice this at home, remember that we start in the balancing squat---the same one we used for corn seeds:  Knees bent, bottom off floor.

Put your bread in the toaster!  (Squat down low--balancing squat)
Right in the slot!
Now we wait and wait, it's going to get HOT!

Listening Sample: "Toast, Toast"
Toast!  Toast!  I like it a lot! 
Toast! Toast!  When will it pop?
(repeat as many times as they can take it!)

Toast!  Toast!  TIME TO POP!  (POP up!)

Then, we had some fun and pretended to POP toast out of a toaster by using our parachute!  Boy, we got that toast a poppin'!

 Bubbles!
A favorite ending to our class is BUBBLE TIME!  It signals the end of our time together and gives such joy to these little ones!  A fun treat is the Catch-a-bubble bubbles, the slow float, catchable bubbles!

Before we sing goodbye, a special music stamp marks the end of class!  Til we meet again next time!

We have so much more FUN and LEARNING though MUSIC coming up for the second half of our semester together!  Thank you for making early childhood education a priority for your little ones and thank you for the privilege of working with your little maestros....we have the BEST families in town---FOR SURE!