Tuesday, November 16, 2010

I Am Thankful

Another song that I have used to stimulate interaction with my children is "I Am Thankful". The tune is familiar and I added very easy words. This activity can easily be used with one child or in a group. In a group setting, you might sit in a circle, sing the song and go around the circle letting each child take a turn filling in the blank with what they are thankful for! Give a verbal or singing prompt (ie: my mother, my father, my teacher, my dog, etc.) if a child has difficulty thinking of what to say.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Thanksgiving Song

It's always nice to have a song or two for each season to use with your kids and this is one that I've had fun using for Thanksgiving. As your child becomes familiar with the melody, it's fun to sing it faster and faster! Singing gobble, gobble, gobble rapidly can be a fun exercise in language skills!



 

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Rhythm Bag Instrument #8

A Turkey Gobbler??
In choosing an instrument for the Rhythm Bag, I thought how seasonally appropriate the Turkey Gobbler would be! It's really a pretty silly instrument, but is one of the most popular in my Rhythm Bag. Why? Well, when you hold and firmly shake the Turkey Gobbler, it makes a sound quite similar to a turkey and my kids loved it! I frequently hide it when I want my client to find an instrument to use when interacting through music, but find it motivating and useful as a reward for another task well done.

I also find it useful for children with auditory sensitivities. The sound is a bit obnoxious, yet many of my children will still want to shake it and to explore the sound as it is really quite different!

I purchased a set from West Music a few years ago and unfortunately I don't find it in their catalog anymore. They do however have the Basic Beat Canary Stick and the Basic Beat Quack stick which should yield similar results!