Summer Singing

Do you remember sitting around the fire, or on long road trips, singing songs with your friends or family?  I do.  My mom was the instigator – she LOVED to sing!!!  Silly songs, sweet songs, patriotic songs,  songs to sing as a Round. 

Of course, Kindermusik offers a huge variety of songs on so many subjects.  Have fun pulling out all your Kindermusik CDs and reliving some of the fun songs, and magical moments, that were created when you were involved in a class.  If you haven’t joined a Kindermusik class, check out www.kindermusik.com to find a summer camp near you, or check out the available CDs that will get you singing, and having such fun interacting and bonding with your family!

Here’s a few other resources for you so you can remember the words to some summer classics, and play around with them in some new ways.

 

At www.blackdog4kids.com , you’ll find BlackDog’s Summer Camp Songs, and a lot more.

“Sing your way through summer.  Here are the lyrics to some of BlackDog’s favorite songs.  Print them out, grab some friends and have a cool summer song fest.” 

These songs include:  Allouette, Kookaburra, She’ll Be Comin’ Around the Mountain, Bicycle Built for Two, and LOTS more.  You’re going to LOVE this walk down memory lane. 

Blackdog also lists about 10 of the best songbooks for kids that you can buy.  Check it out!

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If you are looking for something with a bit more background music, esp. for long road trips, you just have to try “All-American CAR-I-OKE” by David Schiller.  It includes the book with the words and great fun ideas to play around with the songs, as well as a CD for entertainment and accompaniment to your singing fun.  Since the backseat folks need words too, it comes with 3 complete lyrics booklets to pass around.  I found mine at a Cracker Barrel store last year, but Amazon has new copies for just around $10, and used ones for much less.

What songs do you sing with YOUR children on a long car ride?

Accessible Music Fun at Home

Here’s a fun idea you can do without buying anything!

Try setting up a MUSICAL FUN BOX !

Children love to explore musical toys, etc. and they love the fascination of exploring new objects – or at least something they haven’t played within the last two weeks. 

Find, and possibly decorate, an appropriate container: 

• a mid-sized cardboard box will do – easy to decorate
• a clear plastic box with a lid  (being able to see inside often entices them)
• A picnic basket that you don’t use (this is one of my favorites, I filled it full of kitchen tools and small cookware that I found or got at Walmart)
• A netted holder that hangs off the back of a car sear for some fun music play in the car (I don’t recommend LOUD sounds for this set).

Fill with fun music based toys / props:

• Instruments appropriate for the child (rattles, wood blocks, shakers, etc.
• Homemade instruments, such as several childproof medicine bottles with each one filled with a different shaker material, ie.  rice, beans, paper clips, acorns, etc.
• Kitchen supplies:  small baking pans, cooking utensils – wooden & metal, small cutting board, plastic containers, etc.
• Toys that make sounds: squeakers, scrapers, etc.
• Some kind of drum – even if it’s just an empty coffee or peanut container.
• Books that make noise, or play music, or have words that you can sing
• A ball that makes a sound
• Props that would be fun to dance, or peek, with, like scarves or dishtowels
• Objects that “connect” with familiar songs, ie. bus, spider, star, moon, etc.  This way they can choose a song for you to sing, even before they can talk.
• Color pictures of the front cover of recorded music you may have, perhaps even stapled together as a book, or strung by one corner on a string.  This way they more fully see the options available, and request that you play certain music (without the ability to get to the CD or tape).  You might want to make one for home, and one for music that you keep in the car.

Guidelines for most effective use:

• Place in an obvious place, where they can easily see it and reach it.
• Keep only a few items in at a time, considering the age of the child(ren).  It is easier for children to choose an item if there are less choices, and they are more likely to fully explore an item longer.  Plus, there is less for you to pick up when they dump it out.
• Change out the objects regularly, around every two weeks.  When presented with “new” objects, children’s brains produce chemicals that help them build neural networks.  As they continue to play with them over time, it strengthens these networks, and helps make connections to other things they know. 
• This type of learning is enhanced if a significant adult or sibling partner plays with them and strives to help them expand on their own learning.  Link over to my other BLOG and find postings in the category “scaffolding”.
• Consider making a set of 3-4 containers, each with a specific set of musical items, to make it easy to trade out.  For example, a picnic basket with kitchen items, a decorated cardboard box with homemade instruments, a clear box with a variety of things to play and explore, and a basket with a variety of things that encourage them to sing.
• A fun music set in the car, or a small set in the diaper bag may help many “waiting” times become more fun learning and bonding times.

You will be amazed at how enticing this set up will be, and how much your children will learn about timbre, steady beat, correlations between ideas and objects, etc. with just a little bit of set up, and not much cost, for these easily accessible music exploration kits.