What Are You Doing Noon Year's Eve?

No, that wasn't a typo! Saturday I'll be at the Tacoma Library main branch for the first ever Noon Year's Eve event! Kids will make a party hat, sing and dance our way around the world as we welcome the new year, and count down to the ball drop at noon. All this, and still be able to make it home for a nap or other activities. Join me for this very special end of the year fun!!- and Happy New Year to you and your families!
See the link below my photo for more info:
http://evanced.tacomapubliclibrary.org/evanced/lib/eventsignup.asp?ID=3234

Tuesday Tip: Just Sing!

Singing with your child is one of the most important things you can do as a parent or caregiver.. It builds relationships, early literacy, and will literally help to grow our baby's brain. But as our lives are invaded by more and more sound, simple singing is easier said than done! Whether it's the radio, television, computers and tablets, cell phone, or even a room full of noisy toys, it's understandably increasingly difficult to find the space in which to insert your own voice! One of the tips I give young parents in my workshops who are not in the habit of singing, is to have specific times of the day that are built into your schedule. To take this a step further, I have suggested songs everybody knows. Of course you can sing anything you like, but here's a good and simple starting place....


1. In the car: The Wheels on the Bus
2. While changing a diaper: ABC song
3. While making dinner, a snack, or other meal:: Row, Row, Row Your Boat
4. While going for a walk or even walking to the car: If You’re Happy and You Know It!
5. At bedtime: Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

I talk to more and more parents who say they never sing with their children, so taking baby steps (no pun intended) may be the best plan.Singing is free, portable, and can instantly put everyone in a good mood. So just sing!

Tuesday Tip! Your Public Library; What a Deal!

If you haven't visited your local library lately, you might be surprised to see how much is going on there! I won't even go into everything for adults (like free classes and book groups), since I'm all about the kids and family time.  In addition to story times for toddlers and preschoolers, many have baby story times- as in baby!  In addition to hearing books, songs, and finger plays, you'll get parenting ideas and get to actually spend a little time with adults. Older children can often do crafts related to a special story. You can see puppet shows, hear concerts, sometimes even live animals, and all kinds of other entertainment in an environment that's kid-friendly. Libraries are my favorite venue for performing, because they are cozy and not overly stimulating,. And after a concert or story time, you can go home with an armload of books... all for FREE! It's amazing! So next time you're looking for something to do, check out your local library. Visit my website for a complete schedule of my libraries concerts. www.Nancymusic.com.

Tuesday Tip! Halloween (or harvest) Fun

Here's a quick and easy variation on my Four Little Paper Dolls song of the month. This is one of the most popular songs I do, and I use it year-round with different shapes and words. To hear and read about the original, click on this link. http://www.nancymusic.com/SOM/2009/four-little-paper-dolls.htm. . 

Follow all the instructions for the paper dolls song, but instead of paper dolls, cut a pumpkin shape out of folded orange paper. You can draw different faces on each of the four linked pumpkins with a black marker. And Voila! A brand new song! Now you will sing,, "Four little jack-o-lanterns in a row..." These will be so fast and easy to make, you can make one for each child if you are a preschool teacher. Kids who are old enough to handle scissors can cut out and decorate their own. And of course the possibilities are endless for decorating with stickers, or glitter. In fact, now that I think about it, I'm going to do this today with my grandson! He just turned 3 and is very proud of his cutting skills! 

Note! If you don't celebrate Halloween, you can just make and sing "Four Little Pumpkins in a row..."

Tuesday Tip! Books that Sing

"Books that Sing" are picture books based on familiar songs, like Old Macdonald's Farm, Five Little Ducks, or The Itsy Bitsy Spider, to name a few. There are hundreds of them, and new ones being added all the time. The styles of illustrations are quite varied, which makes them appropriate for a variety of ages. Below are a few of my favorites, but the best thing to do is visit your local library and ask your children's librarian to help you find some of his or her favorites.

Why do they work? Children already know the melody, and will immediately sing along! They LOVE to look at the illustrations, and these books work magic on a restless child or group of children. I always have at least a half a dozen newer ones from the library as well as my own collection, which I use at school visits.

Here are just a few of my favorites:

Old MacDonald’s Farm, by Jessica Souhami (out of print, but can be found)

A Hunting We Will Go, by John Langstaff

If You’re Happy and You Know It, by David A. Carter

What Shall We Do When We All Go Out? illustrated by Shari Halpern

The Itsy Bitsy Spider, by Iza Trapani (many other story song books by this author)

The Farmer In the Dell, illustrated by Kathy Parkinson

Go Tell Aunt Rhody, illustrated by Aliki (many others by this illustrator)

There are also a lot of original songs in this format, and they either have the melody in the back, or include a CD of the song. My new favorite of these (which means the children's favorite!), is We All Go Travellin' By, a sing-along with Fred Penner, by Sheena Roberts and Siobhan Bell. You can find it on Amazon.com.

If you have some favorite titles, please share them on this blog!

Tuesday Tip! Apple and an Ant extras

Here's a great tip for one of my most popular songs for building early literacy. Apple and an Ant is one of my songs of the month, and you can download the mp3, and and print out pages with pictures, words, and letters to use with the song. But the real tip a link to my very good friend, Jim Thomas's wiki site. Jim has really used this song! He has posted pages for the entire alphabet, as well as entire versions in Spanish and for Australian audiences! This song works because it is simple, singable, and VERY repetitive- key for building early literacy. While you're at Jim's Wiki site, spend some time looking around. He has posted a huge amount of free information.

Link to Jim's Wiki site: http://toddlericon.pbworks.com/w/page/22320114/FrontPage
link to my website for the original Apple and an Ant song: http://www.nancymusic.com/Apple_antplay.htm

Free Children's Songs Part Two- Ways to Use Them

There are so many creative ways people have found to use my free songs of the month,and all the other materials on my website. Read below for just a few...

1. Teachers and Librarians:
Let parents know which of my songs you're using, so they can download and sing them at home. Repetition builds memory and reinforces what you're teaching. It also gives working parents a way to be a part of their children's day!
2. Teachers and Librarians:
To find seasonal songs, just locate by month for each year. For example,if you want winter holiday songs, just check all past December songs of the month.
3.Parents:
For a fun free or inexpensive party favor, just go to the play lists page and download the suggested songs. You can make custom Cd's as party favors. The suggested songs also have some fast easy props to make to go along with the songs.
4.Head Start and EACAP Teachers:
Using free materials, you can make "kits" for parents to take home and use with their children. Since you will only incur the cost of materials, you might even be able to make a kit for each family.
5.Schools:
Either make a custom CD or a kit including songs and props (felt pieces, homemade instruments, books from printable pages),and use as auction item.
6. Literacy Organizations:
Make custom Cd's and distribute to students or families. Copy the music and early literacy handout and include with the CD.

7.Don't forget there are play lists for different types of songs so you can easily make a CD of dancing songs, or quiet songs(just two of the play lists)for your car, library, or classroom.

Remember, you can use the free songs of the month and printable materials on my website for any purpose that is not for profit.

If you have used my songs in any of these or other ways, please post your comment on this blog to let others know!
http://nancymusic.com/SongMonth.htm