Hello, everyone! It sure is great to be back and teaching your kiddos music again at Joyful Noise each Tuesday. Thanks again to Miss Holly S. for facilitating class while I was gone on maternity leave! We had a total blast today talking about Mexican jumping beans and the guiro. The kids were absolutely fascinated by the beans (which I left in 3's and 4's science centers.) I explained that they were actually moth larvae inside the bean (actually a flower pod), and that they jump to avoid heat, which they really don't like at all! Therefore, they were trying to escape the warmth of my hand by jumping about. We didn't pester them for too long before putting them back in their home to pass around. A Mexican jumping bean larvae can be dormant for a long time, and the beans will require moisture to sustain them. Once they are full grown they can hatch into a small white moth!
The guiro is a Latin-American instrument with grooves that is played by rubbing a stick (or "pua") along the ridges of the instrument's surface! You may recognize the sound from Latin music, such as Bossanova. To get into the mood for that musical flavor, we sang "La Cucaracha" and some other Caribbean songs with similar time signatures and overall feel. We also passed around various examples of the guiro and got to play them!
Finally, we also danced with scarves to a song about Autumn and had fun with a guiro maze. Make sure to scroll down to the extender questions below to keep the conversation going with your child at home!
QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR CHILD:
1. Is the guiro smooth or bumpy?
2. How do you play the guiro?
3. What makes the Mexican jumping bean so jumpy?