Wednesday July 29th / Finger Plays

Toddlers love to sing. No worries about you not being able to carry a tune, they could care less.

Little Robin Redbreast

Little Robin Redbreast
Make thumb and small pinky finger into a small bird
Sat upon a rail
Sit your "bird" on your other hand
Niddle Noodle went his head
Shake your thumb
Wiggle Waggle went his tail
wiggle your little pinky finger







Once I Caught A Fish Alive

One, Two, Three, Four, Five
Count on your fingers

Once I caught a fish alive
Wiggle hand like a fish

Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten
Count on your fingers

Then I let him go again
Pretend to throw fish back

Why did you let him go?
Because he bit my finger so.
Shake hand vigerously

Which one did he bite?
The little finger on the right.Hold up little pinky finger

Tuesday July 28th/ Toddlers and Music

Toddlers love banging things to make music!

Hang a bunch of spoons on different strings around inside one room or outside. We hung them from shelves around our play room. Then we took spoons and banged the hanging spoons. It makes a sort of bell like sound. At first we hung the spoons close together but they kept getting tangled up, so we moved them apart. They liked this because they could run around the room and make music all over the place.

Warning: Noisy, do not do this on a day you have a headache! :-)

Wednesday July 22nd / One Little Baby Went Out to Play

Toddlers love to sing. No worries about you not being able to carry a tune, they could care less.

Today try One Little Baby Went Out to Play.
I had to look up what the tune was...and now I am laughing because they say this song is to the tune of Mary Had a Little Lamb, well I kind of sing it that way, sort of...oops!)

One Little baby went out to play
On a bright and sunny day
They had such enormous fun
They called for another baby to come
I sing this in a lullaby sweet voice and then change to deep silly voice for:

"Hey Baby"

Two Little babies went out to play
on a bright and sunny day
They had such enormous fun
They called for another baby to come

"Hey baby"


This is actually my daughters comfort song. If she is very upset this is what we sing in many variations. We sometimes use people's names instead of baby. Or we sing one little kid, two little kids etc and name our friends in the line we called for "Jill" to come out and play "Hey Jill" etc. We learned this song at mommy and me class with One little elephant went out to play, so occasionally we sing it using animals. It is simple and catchy.

Wednesday July 15th /
 Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush

Toddlers love to sing. No worries about you not being able to carry a tune, they could care less. Today try Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush
Here we go ‘round the mulberry bush
The mulberry bush, the mulberry bush
Here we go ‘round the mulberry bush
So early in the morning

This is the way we wash our face
Wash our face, wash our face
This is the way we wash our face
So early in the morning

This is the way we comb our hair
Comb our hair, comb our hair
This is the way we comb our hair
So early in the morning

This is the way we brush our teeth
Brush our teeth, brush our teeth
This is the way we brush our teeth
So early in the morning

This is the way we put on our clothes
Put on our clothes, put on our clothes
This is the way we put on our clothes
So early in the morning…

This song is meant to be acted out.
Add any lyrics you like:
iron our clothes
wash our hair
mop the floor
mend our clothes
sweep the floor

Tuesday July 14th/ Toddlers and Maracas

Toddlers love shaking things and rhythm. Try making your own maracas and shaking them to a song or twelve!

You can use:
empty bottles
empty spice containers
any container will do...
beans
rice

Start with only three sizes. Small, medium and large of the object. Show your toddler how they fit inside each other and come apart again. See how long it takes them to try it on their own. Let your toddler play with this idea for awhile and master it before introducing more sizes. Once they have it add a few more of the measuring cups, spoons, or what ever object you are working with.

Monday July 13th / Parade

We have seen quite a few parades because of July 4th and local fairs.
This gave me the ideas of having our very own parade!

Toddler:
Our toddler loves to pull things behind her. We gathered all her pull along toys and tied them together. Then we dressed her up like a princess with a gown, tiara, and a little make-up. She was super excited.

Preschooler:
With him we gathered different instruments. He started with the drum that goes around his neck and drum sticks. We put maracas in our pockets, just in case. Then he put on clown make-up and mismatched clothes!  He had obviously been watching marching bands because he even tried to spin the drum sticks and made all these funny poses!

Lastly,
Get outside! March down the street. You can push a stroller or wagon with the extra instruments and any stuffed animals that would like to join in. Feel silly? Call some neighbors and make it a big deal! (Too much for you? This can be done in the basement or backyard as well)

Wednesday July 8th / Twinkle Twinkle Song and Star Project

Toddlers love to sing. No worries about you not being able to carry a tune, they could care less. Today try Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky!

When the blazing sun is gone,
When he nothing shines upon,
Then you show your little light,
Twinkle, twinkle, all the night.

Then the traveler in the dark,
Thanks you for your tiny spark,
He could not see which way to go,
If you did not twinkle so.

In the dark blue sky you keep,
And often through my curtains peep,
For you never shut your eye,
Till the sun is in the sky.

As your bright and tiny spark,
Lights the traveler in the dark,
-- Though I know not what you are,
Twinkle, twinkle, little star.

You can cut out stars of construction paper and hang them from the ceiling in your toddlers room. Add a little glitter to each one. When it is bedtime and dark, lay down and shine a flashlight on the stars. The glitter will "twinkle" as you sing together!

Care Giver Info / Songs

When children learn, create, or dance to songs, they experience flow and phrasing. When the songs have lyrics children must ponder the meaning of words. And because those words are important to them, they have much more relevance than vocabulary lists or a spelling test.
-Jump Into Literacy: Active Learning for Preschool Children
Rea Pica

Wednesday June 10th Music / Number Sense / 5 Little Monkeys

Toddler and Preschooler
Sing the song and do the hand motions.
It helps your child with numbers.

5 Little monkeys jumping on a bed (hold up five fingers, bouncing)
one jumped up and bumped his head. (hold one finger up and tap on head)
Mom called the Doctor and the Doctor said
(hold fist to ear with thumb and pinky out like a phone)
"no more monkeys jumping on a bed." (shake pointer finger)
 "Five minus One equals Four"(hold up five fingers and use one beat for each word, taking away one finger leaving four)

4 Little monkeys jumping on a bed
(same hand actions as above for all the rest, but use the correct number of fingers)
one jumped up and bumped his head.
Mom called the Doctor and the Doctor said
"no more monkeys jumping on a bed."
"four minus one equals three"

3 Little monkeys jumping on a bed
one jumped up and bumped his head.
Mom called the Doctor and the Doctor said
"no more monkeys jumping on a bed."
 "three minus one equals two"

2 Little monkeys jumping on a bed
one jumped up and bumped his head.
Mom called the Doctor and the Doctor said
"no more monkeys jumping on a bed."
"Two minus One equals One"

1 Little monkey jumping on a bed
one jumped up and bumped his head.
Mom called the Doctor and the Doctor said
"no more monkeys jumping on a bed."
"One minus One Is None!" (make a "O" with your hand)