Music Monday-You Are My Flower

One of my dear friends and favorite people, Shelley, introduced me to Elizabeth Mitchell. Her music is so wonderful I am going to spotlight a c.d. each week this month. (September... yes I know it is still August but I'm thinking ahead!)


The first album I recommend is: You Are My Flower.


There are many delightful songs on this child friendly album. There is a great rendition of This Little Light of Mine, Shoo-Fly, and Jingle Bells (among others). My daughter's favorite song on the album is number 3: John the Rabbit.

My favorite song is number 7: Little Sack of Sugar. My family and I sing this song to our little guy daily while playing with him. The chorus is: "Jiggle, jiggle, jiggle, jiggle. Tickle, tickle, tickle, tickle. Little sack of sugar I could eat you up..." If you have a baby or toddler you MUST listen to and familiarize yourself with this perfect song to sing to your "little sack of sugar". *WARNING: It is the kind of song that EASILY gets stuck in your head; but at least it is a happy, fun song.

Food Activity - Making Butter

This activity can be done at home or in a classroom setting and it is sure to put smiles on faces.

What you need:

Clear glass jar with secure lid

Whipping Cream



What you do:

Pour the whipping cream into the jar.

Put on the lid and make sure it is tight.

Shake.

*There are recipes that recommend adding salt and other things, but my experience has been that this works just fine.*

Placement of children:

Have children sit on the floor in a circle.

This can be done as a whole class activity along with a lesson about having unity in the class and working together to help each other. This can also be done as a family to teach the same thing. In either case it is a good idea to have a little chant or sing a little song as you go around so every child has the same amount of time to shake the jar (I usually allow about 10 seconds per student to keep it moving around the circle). I have also done this where I read a story or put in a story on a c.d. so I have my hands free to count down time for each child with my fingers so they know when it is time to pass the jar to the next child.

Once the butter has been made, simply scoop some out and put on any yummy bread of your choice. The butter doesn't have a lot of flavor but children enjoy watching the change from the liquid to solid form.

Happy buttering!!!

Quick Tip - Art vs. Skill-Focused-Projects

Quite often people who work with children confuse art and skill-focused-projects as the same thing. (There are a plethora of skills, but for today's post I am referring to skills usually associated with art.) Each have their place within a classroom or home setting but they are NOT the same and therefore the terms should NOT be used interchangably. In my classroom I not only teach them separately (although many projects are a combination of both) but I use those two terms with the children so they can learn the difference.

Skills: following directions, cutting, cutting along a line, glueing, coloring INSIDE the line, drawing straight lines, drawing shapes, etc.

Skill Focused Projects: a classic example of a skill focused project that is often confused as "art": handing children pieces of construction paper with pre-drawn lines on them, telling the students to cut out the objects on the paper, and glue the cut pieces of paper together... all of the students end up with almost identical "creations"...snowmen, frogs, teddy bears, lions, etc.; the only difference is the quality of cutting, glueing, and placement of the glued papers. I am not anti skill-focused-projects; they have a place in a child's development and should be used (in fact I will post some good ideas for those I have used in future posts), but DO NOT CALL THE END RESULT OF THESE PROJECTS "ART"!

Art: any activity where children can use self expression to create something. Yesterday's post about music art, is art... they used self expression to create drawings or paintings. Another example of art is giving students modeling clay and allowing them to mold/sculpt it into something, and depending on the type of clay used, they can also paint it once it has dried. It is okay and in fact good to teach skills while completing art projects, if children ASK for some pointers it is okay to provide some feedback and guidance...but let each student's art be a creation of their own. Sometimes it may be hard to stop yourself from saying something when you see a child using a medium in a way that is different to you, but bite your tongue and allow them to explore (provided they are not ruining furniture or the medium itself so it cannot be used again in the future when applicable). That is the best way for them to learn.

Here are a couple of books I have used either as is, or as a springboard for other SKILL-FOCUSED projects (yes I know that the one says art activities...but you now know better):




Here is a book I have used either as is, or as a springboard for other ART projects:




Happy Projecting!!!

Art Activity-Music Drawings

Two things children love: free reign coloring and music.
Free reign coloring and music=music drawings.

Step One: select fun lively music - one of my favorites for this activity is a c.d. my sister gave me- Herb Alpert's Whipped Cream and Other Delights-one of the great things about this music is that it is likely different from music many children are typically exposed to and every child I have played this music for has had a good time listening to it...even a few students who usually keep to themselves can't help but move to the rhythms.





Step Two: play music and let children dance to music in any way they see fit (without hurting themselves or others.. this can be difficult in a classroom setting so lay out expectations of keeping enough distance between peers that they can stretch out their arms without touching anyone, they must sit out for a song if they can't do this...)

Step Three: stop music and provide each student with a large piece of paper and markers, crayons, or for a lot of fun...finger paints (I like to get messy)!!!

Step Four: explain to children that they can only use their coloring tools on the paper when the music is playing and that they are supposed to "color to the music". Do NOT even attempt to explain what that means. Let the children engage in self expression and discover their own interpretation of what it means.

Step Five: play music and watch the children have fun. After a minute or so on a song I switch to a different song to keep the children interested by hearing different songs.

Step Six: have the students show what they did and allow them to verbalize what they did, IF THEY WOULD LIKE. Self expression is personal. Some children won't want to share so don't make them. Giving them the freedom of choice will help these children enjoy self expression activities because they dont' have to worry about what other's will think of their creations.

*A variation of this is to pour washable finger paint in shallow pans outside on a sidewalk or other large paved area. Have the children take off socks and shoes, step in the paint them dance around to the music (best if children are wearing shorts or skirts). Giving students different colors and assigning groups of children to specific colors will make great TEMPORARY sidewalk art. After it has dried have the children look at the footprints and challenge them to select and follow a trail of footprints...which could also lead to a science activity about animal tracks and trails.

Home Book Activity-The Kissing Hand

In a previous post I suggested some books for the start of the school year. I have a tradition that I do every year at the start of school with my daughter. The morning of the first day of school we take a few minutes together after she is all ready for her day and read The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn.





-In the story the raccoon is nervous for the first night of school (since he is a nocturnal animal and goes to school at night... side note: children love seeing the pictures of the animals going to school outside at night). His mother kisses his hand and says that it is a "kissing hand" and that whenever he misses her he can use his kissing hand to remember that his mommmy loves him. The illustrations in the book show a red heart in the center of the palm of his "hand".

While reading the book I kiss her hand and speak to her just like the mother speaks with her son. Then when the book is over I draw a little red heart with a marker on the palm of her left hand (since she is right handed so it doesn't rub off as fast) so she has a little reminder that her mommy loves her. Then when we say good-bye at school one of the last things she does is show me her kissing hand and the little heart on it. In this picture she was a little shy to show me in case someone in line was watching so she put it right up to the camera so no one could see.


*Also if you like The Kissing Hand there is another kissing hand/Chester book by Audrey Penn called A Pocket Full of Kisses. This is a great book about a new baby in the family. Chester learns about his mother having enough love for Chester and his little brother.