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! 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! Arachnid Fun

"I'm just hangin' out waiting for flies!"










This is a great variation on my Arachnid Song (free song of the month for October, 2009. Here's a link to it. http://www.nancymusic.com/SOM/2009/arachnid-round.htm
I wrote this song as a round, but of course that doesn't work well with young children. So last year I tried something different, and it's been a real hit! Read the directions below, then go listen to the melody on my website. Sing each line of the song twice, having children echo you each time. Use a separate motion for each line, as noted below.

1.Arachnid (echo) Arachnid (echo)  slap thighs in rhythm
2.I'm a spider (echo) I'm a spider (echo) alternate claw hands on thighs, moving higher than slaps
3. I am not an insect (echo) I am not an insect (echo) nod head "no" while sliding open hands back and forth in front of body

Now... repeat the whole thing in a whisper, then one last time very loudly.
End by repeating "I am not an insect 3 times, getting softer and softer, and doing all 3 motions, ending with hands resting on thighs.

Young 3 year-olds are able to do this version because there is so much repetition, and the movements are simple. Older children love it because it takes on the feeling of a camp song

I like to read and sing Raffi's Spider on the Floor (available at most libraries), and do the limbo with my Limbo Under the  Spider's Web (another song of the month). The link is here:http://www.nancymusic.com/Limboplay.htm At this link, in addition to the song, you'll see links to other educational websites with information and activities about spiders.

Happy Arachnid-ing!

Tuesday Tip! Special Teacher Resources

If you're reading this blog, you hopefully know I have over 100 free songs for you to download from my website under "Songs of the Month." And you're downloading them every month, right? But you may not know that on my workshops page, there are even more songs you can download, as well as my entire workshop booklet with tons of information and activities. So if you're a teacher or daycare provider, go to my workshop page and take advantage of this free resource. Here's a link to the page on my website.

http://www.nancymusic.com/workshop.htm

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 for Teachers, Librarians, and Childcare Providers

Let's get to the free stuff first! My website, www.Nancymusic.com has over 120 free songs you can download to support early literacy, child development, and good old musical fun! You don't need a password or sign up- it's totally free. You may reproduce and copy these materials for any use except for profit. I have been posting a free song of the month for 11 years, so there's a lot to choose from! All songs are available all the time. In addition to the mp3 files you can burn to a CD, you can print out the sheet music and guitar chords, lyrics, activities, and any prop patterns for the songs. Find songs by month, or by category of use (movement, seasonal, languages, etc.). The main focus of my music is supporting early literacy, so I'll be writing much more about that in upcoming blogs. I'll also give you ideas about creative ways to use these songs for fun and learning. The possibilities are endless! As a parent you can download songs and make CD's to give as party favors ( I have a play list for that).Teachers and librarians who use these songs can let parents know so they can download them at home and share the same songs (repetition builds memory in young brains!). I'm always looking for ideas for my song of the month, so let me know if you have one! In the meantime, have fun and go download! http://nancymusic.com/SongMonth.htm