Sod Room: Week One

Here are a few of the songs we sang this week. We sang about colors and shapes, but there are a whole lot of new songs for you to learn!

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Welcome to Music
(Tune: Shortening Bread)

Welcome to music, music, music,
Welcome to music class today.
Welcome to music, music, music,
Welcome to music class today.

We're here to dance and sing a song,
Come on friends and sing along.
We're here to dance and sing a song,
Come on friends and sing along.

Welcome to music, music, music,
Welcome to music class today.
Welcome to music, music, music,
Welcome to music class today.

Shapes
(Tune: “Row, row”)

Square, square is a shape.
Tell me what you see?
Four corners. Four sides.
A square is what we see!

Red Balloon
(Tune: Mary Wore Her Red Dress)

The red balloon goes sailing, sailing, sailing,
The red balloon goes sailng, sailing...POP!

The Red Balloon song can also be used as a name song. Instead of a color sing a child's name.

For example: "Sarah's balloon goes sailing, sailing, sailing. Sarah's balloon goes sailing, sailing...POP!"

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Goodbye Songs

Skinnamarink

Skinnamarink-ee dink-ee dink.
Skinnamarink-ee doo!
I love you!
Skinnamarink-ee dink-ee dink.
Skinnamarink-ee doo!
I love you!

I love you in the morning and in the afternoon,
I love you in the evening and underneath the moon.

Ooo! Skinnamarink-ee dink-ee dink.
Skinnamarink-ee doo!
I love you! And You! 
Boo-boo-bee-doo!

Here is a wonderfully 80's version of this song. Our hand movement are very similar, but our version is much shorter! This was made in 1984 for the Canadian children's show: The Elephant show. The song was originally written in 1910 by Filex F. Fiest and Al Piantidosi for a Broadway musical called "The Echo."

Open-Shut Them

Open-shut them, open-shut them.
Give a little clap, clap, clap.
Open-shut them, open-shut them.
Put them in your lap, lap, lap.

Creep them, creep them, slowly creep them.
Right up to your chin, chin, chin.
Open wide your little mouth.... (AHHHH!)
But do not let them in!

Wave them, wave them, really wave them.
Right up to the sky, sky, sky.
Wave them once, then blow a kiss.
It's time to say goodbye!

This song is a classic, but incase you haven't heard it, here is a version that is pretty similar to the version we sing.

I look forward to seeing you all again soon!

Happy Singing!

Peepers: A Puppet

One of my favorite "puppets" to use with kids are Peepers. (Be careful googling that!) Peepers are a set of eyes you wear on your fingers and they turn your hands into an instant puppet. Then your job is to fire up your imagination and see what you can come up with.

When introducing Peepers (also known as finger-eyes) to kids, I always start with the same song: "Mister Turkey and Mister Duck."

Nancy Stewart recorded this song and she gives it away for free on her website! She has lyrics and a mp3 of the song. (She has tons of songs for preschoolers!)

The structure of this song is simple. I love to go around the circle and ask my students for an animal that makes a noise.  Then we will sing about Mister Dog and Mister Lion or Mister Monkey and Mister Bumble Bee. We sing about what ever their imaginations can come up with!

The kids also enjoy "Loud and Quite" from the album Sing Along by Caspar Babypants.  This is a fun song where our Peepers get to be all kinds of animals and we get to talk about the dynamics of a song!

You could also easily use Peepers in "Old MacDonald" or any song about animals.

You can order adult-sized Peepers and child-sized Peepers. (Unfortunately, you can't order the child-sized peepers online, but keep an eye out for them in the party favor area of Target.)
PLEASE NOTE: Peepers are a choking hazard. With children under three, only uses with adult supervision. 
The child-sized peepers linked to above are much more durable, but the adult-sized tend to lose their googly-eyes. (The eyes are easy to pop back in and can be secured with hot glue.)

Happy Singing!

Happy Mother's Day!

Sunday is Mother's day. This is a great time to talk to your children about families. I like to emphasize that all families are different and that is what makes your family special.

This week we sang about all the members of our families... including the furry ones. Then we sang about our Moms.

Who is in Your Family?
(Tune: Little Red Wagon)

A mommy is a person in a family.
A mommy is a person in a family.
A mommy is a person in a family.
Who is in your family?

We sing this song about any person in a family, but when we are singing about furry members of our families we change the words slightly.

A dog is a member of a family.
A dog is a member of a family.
A dog is a member of a family.
Who is in your family?

Happy Mother's Day
(Tune: Happy Birthday)

Happy Mother's day to you!
Happy Mother's day to you!
You're my mommy and I love you.
Happy Mother's day to you!

M-O-M-M-Y
(Tune: Bingo)

I love her and she loves me.
Mommy is her name.
M-O-M-M-Y
M-O-M-M-Y
M-O-M-M-Y
Mommy is her name.

I  like these two songs because they are very simple and to a tune all your kids know. My hope is to give your kids a song to sing to their moms on Sunday to tell them how much they love them! It is sweet to hear your kids say "I love you," but it is even sweeter to hear them sing it.

Elisa and Brenda

That's a picture of my mom and me.  She taught me a lot of about how to work with and respect  children. She is a great mom and grandma! (She doesn't look like a grandma at all... does she?)

Happy Mother's day to all the mothers! You are all important parts of our families and loved very much.

Happy Singing! 

Traffic Light

This week we are singing about transportation. Here is my Traffic Light song. I use my felt board and three felt circles. We get to talk about the color red, green and yellow.

Traffic Light
(Tune: Twinkle, Twinkle)

Look up at the traffic light.
On the corner shining bright.
Red means stop.
Green means go.
Yellow means very, very slow.
Look up at the traffic light.
On the corner shining bright.

Here is another songs about transportation from a previous blog. Going on Vacation gives you the opportunity to sing about all kinds of modes of transportation. (I also use it as an excuse to imagine myself on a warm, sandy beach.)

One Last Note: One of my favorite songs we sing in music class is Drivin' in My Car by Ralph's World. (I know many of the parents and children will agree with me on this.)
Ralph from Ralph's World is playing at a fundraiser in Chicago on Sunday, May 4th.
It is raising money for a great cause and sounds like a great time!

Happy Singing!