Week of may 18th, 2015

Grandma’s Feather Bed!

We got some energy out this week in music class while listening to a classic favorite by John Denver—“Grandma’s Feather Bed!” The kids learned that John Denver was a famous singer who played guitar and had round glasses (check out the video below to see them making pretend glasses with their fingers!). We also read the book “Grandma’s Feather Bed”, a book adapted and illustrated by Christopher Canyon! The children enjoyed the colorful illustrations, and they helped me with sound effects by “oinking” each time the lyric “…and the piggy we stole from the shed” popped up, as well as helping to repeat the phrase in unison: “Grandma’s Feather Bed!”.

We then had a blast by pretending to jump on the “bed”, or stacked mats from the rec room, along with partner dancing. There were plenty of giggles and lots of tired munchkins after our activity!

Don’t miss out on the cute video below and make sure to ask your child about the extender questions. Have a wonderful week!

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR CHILD

1) What kind of animal did they steal from the shed in “Grandma’s Feather Bed?” A piggy!

2) Do you remember what John Denver wore on his face? Round glasses

3) Did you jump on the pretend feather bed? Can you show me how?

Week of April 23rd, 2012

Today in music we had such a fun time dancing with scarves and also reading "Earthsong" (check out the book here on Amazon.com) in honor of this last weekend's Earth Day!

Did you know Joyful Noise is hosting a fundraiser right now that is raising money for endangered species through WWF and ROAR (Animal Planet) as well? Check it out on our fundraising page!

There were many giggles in class as we started our day out with a classic game of Peekaboo with a fun song. No, not even the four year olds were too old or mature to resist the pure joy of popping out from underneath a scarf with a "Ta-da!"

We also explored fast and slow tempos and movements using two Disney tunes: "When you wish upon a star" and "Zippity-do-Dah". We alternated these two songs (moving with our scarves accordingly) and also "froze" when the music stopped.

Additionally, we explored pitch in moving and singing up and down with our scarves, and our older children even practiced "writing" the first letter of their name in the air!

All in all, some great large motor fun and music concepts were explored, and I would highly suggest moving with scarves at home...it's a fun and inexpensive way for your child to express themselves with music and movement! :)