Welcome back!
We had another great day making music together with songs centered around Fall and Thanksgiving themes.
Hello to You!
Again, we used the Hello Song to greet our friends and moms with hand shaking, eye contact and waving Hello. Even on a cloudy day, we can have fun with music!
Drums
Borrowing a tune from Music Together (www.musictogether.com), we played together on a gathering drum while singing The Earth is Our Mother. Friends were encouraged to just gather together at the drum and play along. At home, anything you can bang on would work: I.e. a kettle pot, table, floor, bucket, the possibilities are endless! The goal is to bring together family and friends and create music as a whole. Native Americans were an important part of the starting of Thanksgiving and this tune had a similar feel to a traditional Native American song.
Scarves
We used scarves to imitate leaves falling for a dance and movement activity. Leaves are seen falling, blowing, and swirling all around us during this time of year (in Texas). At home, you can use any light weight material that can safely be tossed up to float down. You could also use fake or real leaves while singing this song!
Singing
Another song borrowed from Music Together that we sang was Little Wheel a Turnin’. This song was used to settle back down the energy created from playing with scarves. ASL was added to specific words to encourage participation and teach the sign. This song helped reflect on the idea that we feel a lot of different things in our hearts and those feelings are not always described by an emotional state.
Stretchy Band
Using a stretchy band, we sang a song story called The Feast. The Feast is a story about eating different foods seen at a Thanksgiving dinner and becoming very full from consuming so much food. It has a repetitive a line that we used to “stretch it, stretch it” with the song. At “pop!”, we pushed our arms forward before starting the next verse. You can use any stretchy material or create different rules for when you hear a certain phrase. For example, clap when you hear the word POP!
Top or Bottom
This folder game focuses on positional words top and bottom. You can print out this picture of a tree and find leaf images to use or adapt the words to what you have available. For example, you can use the dinner table and have friends put the cup on top of the table or under it.
Turkey in the Barnyard
This story is about a turkey wearing clothes to disguise itself and run away from the barnyard. Pieces were cut out to increase attention by allowing friends the opportunity to actively participate in the story. “Oh no! I won’t go to dinner!”
Thanksgiving Rock
“On Thanskgiving Day we rock to celebrate!” Using different instruments, play along with this rocking tune.
Goodbye
See everyone next week for more Thankgiving music fun!
Recent Comments