Music-making with Young Children (and Grown-ups, too!)

Last year on the day of S's 4th birthday, I took him to the dollar store to pick out anything he wanted. What could possibly go wrong for $1? I'll tell you what can go wrong for a dollar...

Yup, that's his "flute," and it was "just like" the one a favorite teacher of his played. Oh. Dear.

So fast forward to a couple of [very loud] days later, and S had taken his favorite flute to bed with him. Well, I'm not sure exactly how it happened, but I kind of sort of accidentally [I think] stepped on it while it was on the floor next to his bed and, um, it broke...

Clearly nothing a little tape couldn't fix...

The Mommy-guilt set in and we headed back to the dollar store for flute #2...

...and eventually upgraded to a "real" recorder after that. Although this one lives upon a high bookshelf for proper protection from my accident prone feet in between jam sessions.

It's true, my boys love music. Their parents are also recovering musicians. My husband played guitar for years and was even in a heavy metal band at one point (no, I can't actually imagine this, either). I was between the ages Y and S are now when I started to play songs I heard by ear on toy pianos, xylophones and anything else I could get my fingers on. This culminated in 15 years of classical piano training, over a hundred original compositions and some years of saxophone lessons and band geekery in there as well. 

The benefits of musical exposure and training in young children is proven and documented in respected long-term studies again and again. However, even beyond that, making music for young children is a very natural creative process. And this can continue well into adulthood! Both of my boys have gone through what I refer to as the Everything-is-a-Drum Phase.

...even an actual drum...

....or simply a set of metal spoons and pans outside!

S's drumming phase was closely followed by his Everything is a Flute Phase, and Y requests to play the guitar (a ukulele) every day when he wakes up in the morning and again after his naps. Every so often S will ask to have a music party at night, which means we get out the whole basket of instruments (even the ones strategically hidden on the top shelf or in the back of the kids' closet) and jam!

Every Jam Band needs a conductor...

I wouldn't say it's quite Carnegie Hall worthy...yet, but these hootenannies are such great fun for us all! And I'm not sure if either of the boys will pursue music through formal study, but I do know that allowing for exposure to instruments in our home and encouraging their natural interest and creativity, we are planting some pretty important seeds regardless of what fruits they come to bear.

So when other parents ask me what are the most important toys and playthings for babies and young children, I always include musical instruments on that list. My husband's musical pursuits likely stemmed in part from his very musically talented mother. My own parents were not particularly musical themselves. The one thing both of us had in common was exposure to musical instruments and encouragement. And not just toy instruments, but real ones as well. My home (and my husband's) had real instruments we could touch. We both grew up near music studios or schools that allowed and encouraged children to touch and use real instruments--even very old or delicate ones. And so I stock our own collection of instruments with a collection of musical toys (maracas, bells, tambourines, xylophones, etc.), homemade ones (shakers and percussion instruments) and "real" ones, too. 

I have found beautiful drums and percussion instruments (as well as toy sets) at secondhand shops and thrift stores. These are great places to look (along with garage sales) for instruments that are still in their prime but looking for a set of hands or lips to help them make their melodies. Building your band need not break the bank and never forget the inherent value in a set of pots and pans and a wooden spoon. If (like me) you are averse to very loud sounds, you can be selective about when instruments come out for play. And you can also take this pro-tip from a 4 year old boy I know and love: if it's too loud, just play louder yourself! Yes, I encourage you (the grown-ups) to join in the jam sessions, too. It's a great way to lift everyone's spirits on a dreary winter's eve or just to have some casual and creative family fun. 

The outdoors is a great space to take your musical play times (though this can get trickier when you live in close quarters with neighbors). If your space permits, a consider building a sound wall. (There are many great ideas for construction on Pinterest). You'll need a collection of pots, pans and recyclables either thrifted or rescued from the recycling bin/trash/donation heap and some carefully selected sticks or wooden spoons for mallets. If you don't have the space for a permanent wall, a basket stocked with these types of materials is perfect (and they can double for use in your Mud Kitchen).

In general, when building up an instrument collection, don't forget to inquire with friends, family and neighbors. Somebody, somewhere, has an instrument (or two or ten) collecting dust in the attic and awaiting a new loving home!

And to extend the fun, I highly recommend family field trips to music shops (especially kid friendly ones where children are encouraged and allowed to test out or see how instruments work) and attending musical performances in your community when possible. 

Wishing you all a home filled with melodious magic and, as always...

Happy Playing!

DIY: Make Your Own Ever-changing Book

Are you a classroom teacher or play & learn at home parent looking for a fresh new way to approach the classical approach to "circle time?" Do you have children ranging in ages under your care? Do you work or live with children who are very active or are you looking for ways to bring more structured activities with you on the go? Meet the Ever-changing Book--the perfect DIY for you and your little ones! 

Now, before I begin, let me give credit where credit is due! This is not entirely my own idea, but rather was adapted from a tool used by a local librarian we met at a toddler story time yesterday. Some friends will recommend a story time they think your children will enjoy, but true friends know to recommend a story time they think you will enjoy. A friend of mine steered us toward this particular librarian who used to teach in a Montessori school as she felt I would appreciate her approach and style. I was so impressed with her demeanor, pace and style that I worked up the courage to chat with her afterward (yes, I get starstruck when I meet a cool teacher, librarian or author). One of the most unique materials she introduced to the children was her own Ever-changing Book, a 12 x 12 photo/scrapbook album with letter sound songs and pictures in each page. She adapts her book to introduce a set of letters and letter sounds to her audience. Well, the gears were already turning in my head and truthfully, even if S hadn't asked to make our own Ever-changing Book and have "story time at home," I would already have driven five miles above the speed limit, 55% off coupon in hand to the craft supply store that evening to start our own version!

Our Ever-changing Book reflects our current play theme of butterflies, bugs and insects. Letters are something we are always exploring and learning about, and this can be theme related, too, even if it is an activity you do year round. I have also included a fun fact sheet about butterflies...

When S and I did home preschool, we often did some version of a circle time or rug time activity. I was less likely to really work on being seated and stationary in these times and many times, our morning songs and routines were done in transition or on the go. I knew as a teacher and as a parent that S and all young children have a life ahead of them in which they will need to "sit still" and "pay attention." I also knew as a teacher and as a parent that just like we focus in these early years on emergent literacy by exposing children to a larger skill set that leads to reading, so, too, do we expose children to a larger skill set that leads to sitting still. And these skills are developed through moving!

Songs, poems and action rhymes encourage rhythm and movement whether you are indoors or outside! Some songs are seasonal and others theme related. There are many songs we sing daily, year-round, particularly ones related to daily prayers. Visual aids (like pictures) and small, flat props can be included with those as well.

Lastly, I also knew that both in my smaller classroom settings and in our own home setting, having all of our "circle time" activities and props available in one convenient location is not always possible or convenient. This meant either moving about the room (not such a bad thing) or schlepping materials in baskets and bins as we needed them. Often this would interrupt the routine and flow of our time together. And when I looked at some of the components of the traditional circle time and the setting in which we were doing it, it simply didn't make a lot of sense. Talking about the weather indoors and no where near a window, made no sense! We should be observing that outside. And trying to incorporate music and movement in a smaller seated space didn't work as well as it did in a larger, more open space. More and more I also observed the need for children to have things they could touch and manipulate during seated group times, but there was still a separation between their materials and mine.

Both boys love this action rhyme that incorporates counting and early math skills. The laminated butterfly stick puppets are a wonderful prop to include--I just google searched some images and clip art I liked of butterflies to cut out and include.

The Ever-changing Book seemed to address all of these concerns and more! It is kind of a "busy-binder" meets circle time, crossbred with a classroom bulletin board! I had to resist the urge to go completely overboard and pull an all-nighter as ideas on what to include swarmed my brain. I decided that for all involved, a well rested Mommy and an introduction of just a few pages at first were best for everyone. Here's a look at what we used, what we've included so far, and what we may add in as time goes on...this is, after all, an Ever-changing Book!

You Will Need:

• a photo album, scrapbook or binder with sheet protectors--you'll want something you can alter (so no sticky pages--though you could even create a book of felt and use velcro)
• paper, cardstock--I found a great discount on clearance scrapbook sets and had a coupon for the album itself and walked out with two $20 paper packs and a scrapbook all for under $25!
• laminating machine (optional)--I prefer to laminate my materials for durability 

What You Might Want to Include:

• printed/handwritten songs, fingerplays and action rhymes including ones you sing daily or ones that are specific to your theme or the season
• themed or seasonal artwork
• current/theme-related artwork done by the children
• current photos of your children or family doing theme or season related activities--these can be used to tell a social story or simply to start conversations about what you're up to at home or in the classroom
• small, flat props like laminated shapes, letters, numbers, sand letters and numbers, stick puppets/pointers etc. that can be used in songs and rhymes or otherwise manipulated by the children in simple puzzles or matching games 
• printed stories and poems to incorporate in story telling
• visual aids and charts that can accompany daily songs, prayers or poems
• a countdown page or photo/picture page related to an upcoming holiday, event or family trip
• insert pages and a dry erase marker that older children can use to practice writing letters, numbers, their names, words, shapes, line-tracing, etc.
• gross motor games/action cards

I've really shied away from the traditional "calendar time" approach used so often in early childhood classrooms. While learning about time, the date, month and season are all important, learning about them repeatedly out of context does not necessarily prove to be helpful in the long term. Many students even by the age of five still struggle with the concept of days of the week, yesterday and today in context but can recite them by rote in a song. Heck, even as an adult I often don't know what day it is! But I do love including relevant seasonal photos, art, and a season related song or poem. We talk about other aspects of the calendar and weather in context as we are going about our daily routines and activities.

It can be really tempting to go overboard and include EVERYTHING right away, especially if you are me! It is OK and even good to have some blank pages here and to go with the mantra that less is more. The greatest benefits of this model are that it is transportable and that it is ever-changing! You want to be able to grab it and go without breaking your back. And just like a traditional book that is too long won't maintain a child's attention, neither will an ever-changing book that is too long. 

And how often should you change your ever-changing book? I like the idea of certain things remaining the same as others change so that there is always an aspect of familiarity. You might pull things out and swap others in as your theme changes. We're exploring butterflies, bugs and insects here this week, so our letter page and fingerplay are butterfly related. We'll change those out when our theme changes. Some of our other songs are related to the season we are in--those we would swap out as Fall arrives. 

Our aleph-beis chart and pointer are something I'd include year round, though we may change out our chart or prop at some point should the inspiration strike. We are also working on creating our own sand letters to include a few at a time in a page. These are great for tactile recognition and pre-writing.

Repetition is the essence of learning and while novelty has its place and appeal, repeating familiar songs and routines helps children to feel secure in their environment and to process new material. And particularly when working with mixed age groups, repeating familiar activities has developmental appeal to everyone! S can take on the role of "leader" in activities he is proficient in at his age and build confidence along with competence. Y is gaining a great deal of verbal language right now, so repeating songs and rhymes is essential. If you are working with mixed ages, you can also include age/developmentally specific pages for each of your little ones.

So, now that you've got your Ever-changing Book, how should you use it? Well, that's up to you! But here are a few ideas:

• Create a Familiar Routine Around It: I like to use a wood chime to call children to quiet attention in my classrooms and sometimes even at home. This can signify the beginning of a "circle time" or "group time" or "cozy time" (whatever you choose to call it) whether you are at home/in the classroom or out and about. The familiarity of chime and of the book will let the children know that this is the activity whether or not the time and location of the activity are the same. 
• Use it in a Familiar Space: Perhaps you sit at the table together or maybe you have a special rug or room, chair or couch. You can make a habit and routine of using your Ever-changing Book in a particular location or even at a particular time of day. You can also break it up into multiple time slots, especially if you're short on time or your little ones seem disinterested at a particular point.
• Take It Along With You: This is one of the great bonuses of this model. You can take it to the yard, to the park, on your family vacation or field trip. One of the greatest challenges teachers and beginning homeschool parents have when getting started is getting everyone together in one place at one time. This is why I love the Ever-changing Book. It can go where the action is, it can be opened when children are engaged and closed when they are not.
• Troubleshooting: Don't be discouraged if this new material is met with less enthusiasm than you'd expected. New things can be disconcerting for little ones. If your little one(s) wanders off after a minute or two, consider trying again later or tomorrow. If over the course of a few tries, their attention is not engaged, you might want to include less or change up what's inside. Does your little one respond to music? Include more songs? Does she like to hold something? Include more props? Is he very mobile and active? Take it with you to a space that is big enough for movement and focus on movement games and songs interspersed with more stationary ones.
• Older children: Older children may benefit from their own Ever-changing Book that is used more independently (think more busy-binder style). These are great for quiet times, waiting times and (for non-motion sick children) travel times.

Check back in for more ideas to include in your Ever-changing Book as we will be making updates as we go along. Until then...

Happy Playing!

Days of Creation Play Stations: Day 2 The Shamayim

On the Second Day, Hashem created the Shamayim (translated as the Heavens/sky). We happened to reach our afternoon of Day 2 Creation Play Stations right before last Shabbos, when we read Parshas Noach (the story of Noah and the Ark). S is learning more in depth about this parsha in preschool and we did a lot more at home with it last year, which you can read about here. I did not want to entirely skip over it at home, so I rotated in a toy boat, a Fisher Price "Noach" and some plastic animals to our bathtub playtime. To incorporate the idea of the rainbow both to learning about the creation of the Shamayim and to Parshas Noach ,I also prepped some colorful Shabbos treats...

Rainbow salad...

Rainbow fruit salad...

...and a chocolate cake with rainbow icing...definitely not the healthiest of the three options, but certainly the most beloved!

I covered our dining room table in white craft paper so S could decorate our Shabbos table with our favorite rainbow themed art materials and stickers...

Both boys have been enjoying our play stations. I've been preparing sensory bottles for each of the days (mainly with Y in mind, but S still enjoys these as well).

Day 1: water (dyed black with a bit of paint) and vegetable oil for Dark & Light
Day 2: blue dyed dry rice and cotton ball clouds

I especially love the small sized Gatorade bottles for sensory bottles. They are the perfect size for little hands! So when my husband came home with a pack before Yom Kippur, he saw an easier fast and I saw a future play at home project! I always hot glue and/or duct tape the caps to securely seal them. Numeral stickers help identify the day of Creation on each cap.

 On the topic of colorful rainbows and clouds, we've all been a bit under the weather here since the end of the High Holidays. It started with four green noses and progressed to five pink eyes. (Don't even ask... My preschooler is bringing germs home like a first year teacher!) We've kept many of our afternoon play sessions very low key, and that has been quite lovely nonetheless. For Day 2, we did some cloud themed sensory play using shaving cream and blue & green paint inside our water table. There's a great science experiment and story stretcher you could add in if you wish that I posted here.







I had no audible voice for reading a story that day, but S loved using a plastic fork to marble the paint inside the shaving cream and afterward got his hands into it as well! I like to make the most of my activities, so before he really had at it, I took a piece of white cardstock and made a print over top of the shaving cream. I used a squeegee to scrape off the excess back into the sensory table and allowed the beautiful marble-painted paper to dry. It would be perfect for use in our process art Days of Creation Counting Book.

 We've been creating a page with each of the days, along with a title page and this introductory page along to the song below, one of our favorite Bereishit themed songs:

(t.t.t.o. "This Old Man")

Hashem created a world so fine, 
He did it all in six days' time
How did He do it? What did He do?
Each day He made something new...

On Yom Rishon, there was dark and light
Hashem made the day and Hashem made the night,
On Yom Sheini, up very, very high, 
Hashem created the big, blue sky!

On Yom Shlishi, the rivers and the seas,
And from the earth grew flowers and trees,
On Yom R'vee'ee, the sun so bright
The moon and stars just for the night.

On Yom Chamishi, the fish in the sea
And way up high the birds in the breeze
On Yom Shishi, big animals and small,
Adam and Chava, most important of all!

On Yom Shabbat, Hashem worked no more
So we should know what this day is for,
A day of rest is the rule,
We learn Torah and go to shul!

Here's a peek back at our Day 1 page, white (light) chalk and crayons drawn onto black (dark) paper...

For Day 2, I set out "cloud paint brushes" in white paint. Simply pinch a cotton ball between a clothespin for these super simple paint dabbers! They are always a big hit and great fine motor practice for little hands. (Even Y was able to use it with some extra help from me.)

We are gearing up for another day of play here and will surely be back to post about it. In between our organized play sessions, S has really enjoyed this makeshift DIY Days of Creation garland. I printed out the beautiful clipart for free from this website and laminated/cut out the circles for each day. I hung some yarn across our deep freezer with magnets (we use every inch of available space here!) and wrote numerals 1-7 on clothes pins. An envelope placed below is great for holding on to the pieces between play. Both fine motor and math/sequencing skills are called into play with this activity, but your little one will likely be having too much fun playing to even notice he is learning, too!






Happy Playing!

Beyond the Book: "Rosie's Walk" by Pat Hutchins

When S asked to do a story stretcher with a book about a farm, I had a few in mind. Over and over again, I kept going back to the classic tale by Pat Hutchins, Rosie's Walk. Rosie the hen leaves her chicken coop for a little stroll. As she moves about the book through pages of bold illustrations, she is blissfully ignorant of a very determined fox following closely behind her. This book is great all on its own or as part of a farm theme. My favorite aspect of using this book with children is that it can truly get them moving. Reading need not be a sedentary activity--and while you're at it, you'll be teaching and learning some great prepositional and directional language!

A story walk is a great way to take the text right off the page of this book and take your little readers into the world of story drama! S talked last week about wanting to make a bird costume and since Rosie the Hen is the protagonist in this book, I knew he'd get a kick out of making a hen hat to wear. We already had a fox hat from when S was a baby. It is definitely more Y's size at this point and I foresaw that S might feel jealous so getting to make his own hen hat was a definite bonus. Costumes are a great addition to story stretcher activities. They can really bring the story alive and engage your young readers. Alternatively you can use toys/props or make your own puppets. I combined text written on sentence strips and laminated pictures from the book that I printed and laminated from this great website to set up a story walk along our living room floor. When S woke up and came downstairs from his nap, he immediately saw our story map lining the hardwood floor and was excited to add the finishing touches to his hen hat.

We created our hen hat by stapling together a couple of strips of white cardboard. I covered the front with clear contact paper, sticky side out, but stapled a second layer of cardboard to the inside of the hat so it wouldn't stick to anyone's hair! In advance I drew on eyes and attached the beak and waddle--older artists can help with this and even younger ones if you have a bit more time on your hands!

S made a great Rosie and was definitely ready for a walk. Y was a great, albeit sleepy little fox...

Our story walk took us from one end of our living room to the other, with all roads leading to home in our kitchen set, where Rosie arrives safely in time for dinner. The printed and laminated pictures are a great addition to a movable story map like this or can be used with velcro as a flannel board set, made into stick puppets or glued onto a paper collage story map. If you want to take it outdoors, you could even set this activity up outside using sidewalk chalk and/or props. It's unbearably hot here right now, so story stretchers are a great way to entertain us indoors for a bit!

I included a basket of some supplemental
 farm themed reading 

I especially love how story stretcher activities inspire and encourage dramatic play. We happen to have some great farm themed toys and books as well as a felt board set I found at a secondhand store a while ago. Including music and movement to children's book extension activities is also a great way to get moving while building vocabulary, rhyme awareness and other early literacy skills. S and Y both love a song we frequently hear at our local library's story times, "Knock Knock Knock" by Michele Valeri from her album "Little Ditties for Itty Bitties."

 That flannel board set made a great addition to listening to and singing that song. We added each of the animals to the board as they "knocked" on the door and then continued the song on our own with other farm animals. Thrift stores can be a great resource for play and learning materials like flannel board sets. And you can also make your own set by printing and laminating pictures and adding velcro to the backside. Flannel boards are such a fabulous supplement to reading children's literature and greatly appeal to visual and tactile learners. They can also be used by children to retell and invent their own stories and nursery rhymes.

Arts and crafts are another favorite story stretcher activity here. I had set up a couple of simple farm themed activities for S. 

Our marble roll "pig in the mud" (brown paint) was a lot of fun!

S loved sticking cotton balls onto this contact paper sheep. I showed him how
 they can be stuck on whole or pulled apart like sheep's wool.

S especially likes the part where we hang up his finished artwork!

S really wanted to use his scissors today, so on the fly I set up a cutting practice activity to find some hidden farm animals hiding in the "grass:" 

I drew a simple barn on white paper, sneaked a few farm animal stickers at the bottom of the page and stapled on some construction paper grass to the bottom as well. S got busy cutting the grass with his scissors to reveal the hidden farm animals and then colored the barn and some rain in the sky!

I often conclude our story stretchers with a related sensory bin--another great way to encourage dramatic play and theme expansion. I set up this bin with popping corn kernels. For those who prefer not to use food in sensory play, you can sub in your favorite non-food fillers. Shredded brown bags would look great or even hay. Alternatively, you could always use the popping corn for its intended purpose when you're done playing. I store and reserve this for repeated use in our sensory bins as well as craft projects.
For some further reading, I printed out a very simple emergent reader about farm animals from this website. I am not a huge fan of using emergent readers in the traditional sense, however S (like many kids) loves the feeling of reading to me all by himself. Simple books like this and building sight word recognition are one component of early literacy. Some early readers really catch on to sight words and learn well in this way. Others do better with sounding out words and phonemic awareness. There are many right ways to learn how to read, but fostering a lifelong love of literature is the most important goal for me both as a parent and an educator. S enjoyed reading this booklet to me and to Y repeatedly and coloring in the animals. I demonstrate to him the first time how to track his finger underneath the words. Even if he is not yet recognizing words, he is learning that text on a page is where the story comes from! It can be helpful if using printable emergent readers like this one to have a copy for yourself and each of your emerging readers and to sit facing the same direction.

S is excited and eager to be choosing the themes and/or titles for our story stretchers lately and all of these factors are nurturing his own love of literature. We will be back with another story stretcher activity next week. Until then, happy playing!