We began a new unit of ABC Music & Me at Kin Kin Playgroup today.  “Silly All Over” explores your child’s emerging sense of humour, as well as focusing on inhibitory control, following directions and language & literacy.  Today there were lots of opportunities for fun as we heard and imitated silly sounds, moved in new and silly ways to “Piggy Jig” (Home CD track #9) and found creative ways to play the sand blocks to “Swimming Swimming” (Home CD track #10).  We also read a story about Silly Mouse who made us laugh as he put his clothes on – in all the wrong places!

Take the fun home with you!  Here are some suggestions for ways to enjoy your At Home Materials Kit and extend your musical play at home:

Silly All Over: Lesson 1

Let Everyone Clap Hands With Me is a simple song that’s easy to learn and fun to sing. Play the recording (Home CD track #2) and have fun singing and doing the motions to match each verse. Be prepared to giggle and laugh with your child when she calls out, whoopee! Make the song more personal for your child by inserting her name in the verses. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

Let Abigail hug with me (hug, hug) . . .

Let Joshua march with me (march, march) . . .

Let Zachary brush teeth with me (brush, brush) . . .

Let Tanika sing with me (la, la) . . .

Singing and speaking expressively are closely related. Singing simple melodies and playing with rhythmic speech in chants, poems, and rhymes help your child develop both singing and speech skills.

Silly All Over: Lesson 2

The rhyme Itsy Bitsy Mouseykins gives your child an opportunity to pretend to be a mouse and explore the concepts of slow and fast. Start by “creeping” and “running” your hands and fingers on the floor while saying or listening to the poem (Home CD track #7). Then say it again while crawling slowly and quickly, then again on two feet. Be ready to repeat this activity again and again.

Words are simply sounds until they are associated with an object, action, experience, or feeling.  Combining sounds, movement, and language, such as fast and slow, high and low, and smooth and bumpy, helps your child experience opposite concepts and to make connections between the action and sounds.  When similar events and sounds are repeated together, words begin to have meaning.

Silly All Over: Lesson 3

Children love singing songs that are made up of nonsense words like A Ram Sam Sam. Your child sang this silly song in class and will be excited to sing it with you at home. There are hand motions for the song that your child can teach you, too! If your child is ready for a challenge, try doing new motions together as partners. Sit facing each other and do the motions as follows or make up your own: A ram sam sam: clap your partner’s hands Guli guli guli guli: place your hands on  top of your child’s hands and roll your hands together A rafi a rafi: hold hands and wave them over your heads.

Phonological awareness is the recognition of the sounds that make up a language. Research has confirmed that phonologically aware children begin school better equipped to learn how to read, and also with an appreciation of sounds and the meanings of words. Singing songs with rhyming words and nonsense syllables is a great way to heighten your child’s awareness of the sounds of language.

Silly All Over: Lesson 4

Listen to See How I’m Jumping (Home CD track #8) and enjoy moving like all the animals in the verses. When you’re finished, challenge your child to remember which animals are mentioned in the song (frog, pig, monkey, otter, bear). Write his answers on a piece of paper. If you’re ready for some quiet play, get out crayons or markers and paper and let your child draw pictures of these animals.

Your child may also enjoy it if you sing the song without the recording and take time to emphasize the pause after the words “. . . stand so still . . .” Encourage your child to freeze during this pause and resume moving when you sing again.

Activities that encourage your child to move or stop moving in response to a cue help her develop inhibitory control (the ability to stop doing a motion or behavior). The ability to control one’s own body movements is an important step toward developing coordination, self-discipline, and confidence.