An Outing at the Park

I couldn't think of a better location to teach today's Kindermusik class than an indoor park like at the Cherubs Clubhouse! Our Family Time class this morning was focused on an outing at the park. We made animal sounds, took a walk, shooed flies, and had a picnic. After class, the group went to play on our indoor playground equipment. Our class seems to be growing a little each week and that is wonderful!! We had 3 new students this week!

One activity that can be carried into the home is the water bottles we used as a scraping instrument to sound like a croaking frog. Our bottles had beans in them which also turned them into shakers. Another alternative would be water with a touch of food coloring. So many parents are interested in getting their toddler into piano, guitar or violin lessons. I enjoyed watching our class this morning enjoy the simple water bottle instruments. There is no limit to creative exploration with the simple instruments like shakers, scrapers and sticks. There is also not a "wrong way" to play them. The children this morning even seemed to enjoy just looking at the instruments. This provides them with much more creative options and sensory stimulation than a more complicated instrument like piano as well as preparing them for the piano by working different groups of fine motor muscles in their arms.

Our circle "dance" today was a big hit too. The younger kids were carried in their mother's arms as they watched, listened and physically felt the steady beat. Some of the older kids participated on their own and did a great job of following along with the class! Way to go! Our circle dances also draw the child's attention the form of music. Most music has an A and B section. By changing our movement on the B section, the child experiences this in an auditory, visual and kinesthetic way.

In several of our activities, we were providing an example of how to follow directions to the child. The younger children may not be able to follow multi-step directions yet, but they will learn as they hear their parents echo the teacher, as they see the older kids participate in the stop/start activities, and as they are carried through the motions of the circle dances according to the instructions.