Joyful Noise Music

Week of January 27th, 2014

SOUND EFFECTS!!!!

We had such a fun time today playing with sound effects! From infant toys to sound machines to synthesizers to a super fun iPhone application that changed our voice, much fun and giggles were had talking about sound effects and how they are a part of music. The children enjoyed playing sound effects on the keyboard and dancing as well, but the absolute highlight for them was getting a turn using a few of my fun, free iPhone apps ("Audio Twister" and "Cartoon Voice"). We hooked my phone up to a stereo system in Fellowship Hall and the giggles could be heard all the way down the hallway! Scroll down for the fun pics, cute video and hilarious audio clip from our four year old class.

ENJOY!

Check out this hilarious clip of the four's singing the ABC's in chipmunk mode, followed by "giant monster" mode! =)

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR

CHILD TODAY:

1.) What sound effects did you hear?

2) Did you play the keyboard with a partner today?

3) Can you make a funny voice?

Week of January 21st, 2014

WRENCH XYLOPHONES!

We had a total blast today playing xylophones made of wrenches! Thanks to Mr. Dan, our maintenance man at First Presbyterian Church, for lending us lots of different sized wrenches which fit fabulously on the xylophone frames I already had with removable bars! I also experimented with creating a xylophone that balanced on two parallel wooden rhythm sticks.

We discussed the length of the wrench and how it related to pitch, and also worked in small groups and with partners to rearrange the wrenches for differing effects!

This is such a fun project that is mighty easy to do at home with any metal tool that will vibrate when struck with a mallot (or anything you have lying around--a popsicle stick, a spoon, etc!).

The kids also enjoyed listening to a short song about a mystery animal that turned out to be a polar bear--the clues were sung to them and included facts like a home in the north pole, white fur, and looking like a brown bear dipped in white paint. ;)

See all of the great pics below and also the questions to ask your child about music class today! Have a great week!

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR CHILD ABOUT CLASS TODAY:

1. What did you use to make a xylophone today in music class? (Wrenches, of course!)

2. Did you work with a partner? Who was he or she? (Only 3 years and up worked with partners today, but our two year old class did share with groups of four at their table).

3. What animals did you sing about? Was it an animal that lives in the North Pole? (It was a polar bear!)

Week of January 13th, 2014

HAPPY THAI PONGAL DAY!

Thai Pongal Day, celebrated on January 14th each year in Sri Lanka, was our culture focus for

the month!

This annual festival is a celebration of prosperity (traditionally by farmers) and includes gratitude for the sun, natural elements, cows and the staple food: rice! We learned all about where Sri Lanka was on the globe, and also how people celebrated Thai Pongal day.

We did this through some fun play acting! The picture above are from a group of children in the fours class who were proud to be in the "cattle herd"! Their cattle herder adorned them with beaded necklaces as part of the Thai Pongal celebration (a part of tradition) while other children were cooking pretend pots of rice and milk (our rice was cotton balls!), making floor designs (another element of celebration) and also painting around the house and fixing things up! We did this with plain paintbrushes and pretended.

The kids absolutely loved this play acting, and we took turns participating in the various activities. I also sang the children a traditional Sri Lankan nursery rhyme about a little duck, entitled "Mage Podi Thara". Listen to the MP3 here:

MAGE PODI THARA (MP3 download)

Also don't miss the cute video of our four year olds recapping the information we had learned in class. Reviewing is an essential part of our learning process! (See your at home review questions

below as well!)