Magical Movement Company: Carolyn's blog

The Elements of Music: Preschoolers Learn "Forte and Piano"!

Carolyn 10:52 AM

A FUN "FORTE" & "PIANO" GAME IN MUSIC CLASS

I've found that little children love to explore making music that is LOUD! and also music that is quiet......so why not give them the actual symbols and vocabulary used in music notation!

(All photos are by Jeri-Jo Idarius Photography, from Carolyn's Archives)

When I introduce these symbols and their names to Preschoolers, I always say the word "Forte" in a loud voice and of course, "Piano" in a quiet voice.
I use this classic approach from the Montessori method called The three-period lesson (read more at this link)

First period: Show the "Forte" symbol and say, "This is the music symbol (or sign) for when the music is LOUD and it is called "FORTE!" Can you say "Forte" with me in a loud voice?

Second period: Show the "Forte" symbol and say, "Which way would you say the word "Forte"? In a quiet voice or a LOUD voice?

Third period: Show the "Forte" symbol and say, "How would you say this?" "How would you sing or play this way?"

Next, comes the "Forte" & "Piano" Game!
I made a double-sided sign that has the "Forte" symbol on one side and the "Piano" symbol on the other side. You can also download a music font and print it out if you like. Then create your sign. I always laminate these, of course!

I invite the children to pretend like we are in a band and they will be the singers and I will be the band leader (or "conductor"). I tell them that, as the band leader, I will show them whether to sing LOUDLY or quietly by which sign I hold up.
Then I show them the "Forte" side of my sign and ask them, "If I hold up this symbol, would you sing quietly or LOUDLY?" (And, I do likewise with the "Piano" symbol)
It's important to remind the children, "The challenge of this game, is to watch the conductor while you are singing, because I might be changing my sign!"
We start with a song everyone knows (my favorite: "The Itsy-bitsy Spider")
Then the fun begins...and the children have a really great time with this "challenging game!" Even though it seems simple, it does sometimes take a little practice for the youngest children to get the hang of not only adjusting their singing voices, but watching the conductor at all times for the card-change "cues." So, we usually sing at least one other song to get some practice! (Yet another great developmental activity for refining attention skills and body/voice control!)
In a later lesson, or right away with the older groups, one of the children can be designated as the band leader or "conductor".

In the Orff-Schulwerk music approach, the children use their bodies to spontaneously move to loud and quiet music. I love the Bushfire Press, The Music Room Primary Curriculum (find more info by clicking on the link) because there are several music selections from the cd (or mp3) that offer loud & quiet music for fun movement.

Then, of course, the children will want to explore playing rhythm instruments in a "Forte" or a "Piano" way!

Sandblocks are great for this, since they can be scraped together in a quiet way and then tapped together in a loud way.

I like the sturdy sand blocks at Kindermusik International. Here's the link: https://store.kindermusik.com/product.aspx?item_id=653

Rhythm sticks are another great instrument for playing "Forte" and "Piano". I like this set with one ridged and one smooth stick:

These can be found on Amazon or at the West Music site. Here's the link: Basic Beat Combo rhythm sticks from Westmusic

The children can play rhythm sticks quietly (for "Piano") by rubbing them together or even tapping together very lightly. And, they can play them loudly (for "Forte") by tapping them together loudly or even pounding on the floor as if playing a drum!

I hope your Preschoolers enjoy "The Forte & Piano Game" as much as we do!

Advertising Disclosure: Magical Movement Company may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links posted on this website. Thanks for your support!

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Outdoor Classroom: Time to Haul & Dig in the Garden!

Carolyn 10:57 PM

FEBRUARY! TIME TO DIG & HAUL IN THE GARDEN

How do you turn that little plot of dirt into a kid-friendly place to grow veggies and flowers that kids will love?

Four-year old enjoying the peace of the garden in the Spring

All Photos taken by Carolyn at Magical Movement Company

Now's the time to get the garden started and that just might be the most fun part of all. If you don't have a kid-size wheel barrel, you don't know what you're missing!

Little children hauling stepping stones into the soon-to-be garden plot

If your outdoor environment has a little patch of dirt, then you have the starters for a fun garden project for the children that will bring enjoyment all year long.

We started with hauling child-size stepping stones from the trunk of my car to the future garden. Stepping stones and child-size wheel barrel were from the Home Depot. Here's the link:

Home Depot child's wheelbarrow

Placing stepping stones in you future garden plot is not only a very satisfying activity for young children, it also sets up a great "control of error" for later work in the garden.

Providing a little pathway in the garden helps the children walk in the area that is not planted, rather than walking on newly planted seed beds (and squashing little seedlings!) Walking on the little stepping stones is a fun large-motor activity as well, since it helps little ones develop a sense of balance and coordination!

Hauling with a wheelbarrow is one of those "real life" activities that children LOVE! And, once again, there is the aspect of working together in a team: "cooperation makes it happen..."

Then, of course, there's the digging. And, we all know that children love digging in the dirt! Digging can be a year long gardening activity, especially if one area of the garden is left "fallow" so that children can always dig there.

February is a good time for preparing the soil, too. We added manure to our garden beds and so then the children needed to wear special gardening shoes or boots. That way their play shoes won't get soiled. This is a great learning activity as well (left foot and right foot!) If manure is not acceptable in your school's garden, then bags of compost can be bought at the local garden store (or Home Depot again!) Then, the children can dig these additives into the soil for weeks!

And, before you know it---the children will be starting the first seeds in the little beds they have created in their little garden.

Watch for my next Outdoor Classroom post about planting delightful little kid-friendly garden beds!

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The Music & Singing: Preschoolers and "Pitch Maps"

Carolyn 9:44 PM

PRESCHOOLERS SINGING FROM "PITCH MAPS"

Our music classes keep moving up a notch! These darling 3-6 yr olds are gaining skills in singing: "up-up-up...and down-down-down..."

A 3 yr old singer. Photography by Jeri-Jo Idarius (from Carolyn's archives)

It is very delightful to hear those sweet little voices warming up (and tuning up) at the beginning of each of our weekly music classes. I've included a special edition of my "quirky videos" featuring these little ones singing from "pitch maps." You'll find it at the end of this blog post and I think you'll enjoy it!

One of my goals as a music teacher, is to instill a love of music in the young children that I teach and the best way to achieve that goal, I have found, is to have fun!

The joy of singing shown by a 4 yr old. Photography by Jeri-Jo Idarius (from Carolyn's archives)

Along with having fun, it seems effortless for little children to associate music concepts with their everyday play experiences like going up and down the slide. Our classes this week focused on the music concepts of loud and quiet. These recent rainy days gave us a great example of the quiet sounds of falling rain and the loud sounds of a thunder storm. The children easily transfer these sounds from nature to our studies in music including "piano" (music term for quiet) and "forte" (the term for loud).

One of the songs we sang is called "I Hear Thunder" (fromThe Music Room Curriculum produced by Bushfire Press) and the children echoed the lines of the song using their loud voices and their quiet voices. I think this type of activity is appealing to the children because they enjoy the opposites and it is yet another exercise in developing control of the voice.

The biggest hit of the week was our fun vocal warm-ups using the "pitch maps" that you will see in the video below. This musical activity is not only vocal training for the young child, it offers another "reading" experience that is fun!

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Outdoor Classroom: Rainy Days!

Carolyn 8:00 PM

FUN OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES EXCLUSIVELY FOR RAINY DAYS!

It's raining...and the outdoor classroom is wet! There are still some very unique activities for rainy days in the preschool outdoor classroom.

This is the only time to make those wonderful "rain paintings," and it passes by quickly, so don't miss the opportunity!

Mural created by 4 yr olds using washable markers, coffee filters, colored tissue paper, and the rain!

Photo by Carolyn at Magical Movement Company

The first step happens indoors. This mural was created by each child coloring in a large coffee filter with water proof markers. The picture below shows how an individual coffee filter was colored with washable markers. Later, we used double sided scotch tape to attach the finished coffee filters to the larger mural paper. For individualized rain paintings, the coffee filter can be taped to an 8 x 12 piece of white art paper for each child. We did both in our class: we all contributed to the larger rain painting "group mural," and also each child made their own smaller rain painting.

First, indoors: Use washable markers to color a design on a large coffee filter for your rain painting

Photo by Carolyn at Magical Movement Company

Adding bits of colored tissue paper can bring a beautiful design element to the piece because the tissue paper will "bleed" color throughout the project.

We found that working on a stiff plastic table mat worked best for this project so that the rain painting could be easily carried outside to be rained upon and then carried inside for drying.

For the larger mural, we worked on a long wooden plank on the floor indoors. Then there was the fun activity of carrying the plank outdoors to the rain. Many children helped carry the plank outdoors with lots of giggles along with taking very careful steps. We love singing songs about "Cooperation" when we work together to accomplish an important task!

It's best to take the rain paintings out during the light rain and usually a few minutes is plenty! The rain drops add a lovely spatter effect to the designs. I think everything about this project is very beautiful and such a happy way to spend a rainy day with kids.

Don't forget the rain gauge! Rainy days are the only times to collect and measure the amount of rainfall. This is an activity loaded with academic possibilities. It is fun for the children to check the level of the rain gauge each day and then to record it in the little weather notebook. Here we have both language and math skills developing in a fun and also relevant way!

Simple acrylic rain gauge from the local hardware store that is easy for children to check each day.

Photo by Carolyn at Magical Movement Company

Here's a lovely little record-keeping book that I purchased in the Etsy store of Mamaroots. Here's the link: rain notebook

Rain Notebook from Mamaroots on Etsy

These little weather recording books are very appealing to the children. "Mamaroots" offers both a lined and unlined page choice. I find the unlined pages work best for younger children since they can also draw the weather along with "writing" their names and the date. However, the wonderful advantage of the lined pages (especially for older kids) is that the children love to practice their writing on the line!

In case you didn't get your rain gauge set up in time for the rainy weather, a simple bucket set out in the rain is also a great way to measure rainfall. We use a ruler to see how many inches of water have collected in the bucket after a rainy spell. It may not be the official measure according to the National Weather Service, but it is fun for little kids and a fabulous "practical math" lesson!

Quick & simple "rain gauge": just use a bucket & a ruler!

Photo by Carolyn at Magical Movement Company

Nowadays, in our region, many schools with outdoor classrooms are setting up rain barrels. Here's a photo of a beautiful rain barrel that is available at Costco:

Photo of rain barrel available at Rain Barrels at Costco

Don't forget this very, very fun outdoor activity on a rainy day: put on those rain boots and jump in the puddles!

Photo by Carolyn at Magical Movement Company

Why not turn it into a drama play activity with the whole firefighter outfit!

Firefighter Drama Play Outfits are great for outdoor play!

Photo by Carolyn at Magical Movement Company

Happy rainy days!

"Rain, rain

Stay a while

Kiss the trees

And make them smile!" (to the tune of "Rain, Rain go away")

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The Elements of Music: Little Kids & Singing High and Low!

Carolyn 6:51 PM

PRESCHOOLERS & A FUN VOCAL WARM-UP!

Photo from the artists at Bigstock Photo

The little kids and I have been really working on singing on pitch together. I find it so interesting that the little "learning communities" that develop in the Montessori Preschool classroom begin to sing & play so well together...like a little band! We often affectionately name our classroom bands: There's "The Daffodil Band", "The Dinosaur Band", even "The Reptiles!"

One of the standards in all my Preschool music lessons is our vocal warm-up at the beginning of each class. As we playfully warm up our voices, I see the children smiling and really enjoying stretching their vocal range. Many young children are just discovering their "singing voices" since this is also a developmental process in early childhood. (Much like the development of language skills)

For more on the developmental stages of a child's singing voice you can check out this article I posted in my 2012 Blog:

Giraffes and developing a singing voice in young children

Here's another one of my quirky little videos with some of the vocal warm-ups I do with little kids:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnxSq743A4Q

This week, the children took a big musical step and followed a "pitch game" by listening to the recording of children singing up & down the musical scale, then copying with their own voices! I knew this was a big hit when I got these little comments: "More...More!"

I create my weekly lessons from various sources, and one of my favorites is the curriculum I have from Bushfire Press (out of Australia) called "Music Room: Primary Level". That's where I got the recording for the "pitch game." Their website is chock-ful of wonderful resources and many free downloads!

Here's the link:

http://www.bushfirepress.com

Later in the lesson, the children listened to Glockenspiel music and played along to a funny song "Ipsy-Wipsy Spider" (Music Room again) I brought enough small Glockenspiels for the older groups to play a "Glockenspiel ensemble" with half the children playing maracas and half playing Glockenspiels. Sounded wonderful! They were so proud of themselves!

Preschoolers love playing the wonderful sounding Glockenspiel and saying it's name, too!

Photo from the artists at Bigstock Photo

It's incredibly fun for me to watch the wonderful progress of all my little Preschoolers who are developing into wonderful musicians!

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Outdoor Classroom: The Benefits of the Bird Bath!

Carolyn 10:28 PM

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE BIRD BATH!

If you're thinking of the wonderful bird habitat in your outdoor classroom, the birdbath shouldn't be overlooked. It offers benefits not only for the birds, but for the children as well. The birds will definitely visit your outdoor environment if there is water for them. Now, to keep the water clean and fresh, that's when the children step in!

Filling the bird bath for the wild birds in the Montessori Preschool Outdoor Classroom

Photo by Carolyn at Magical Movement Company

This Preschooler has carefully climbed the stepladder with his pitcher full of fresh water to fill the bird bath. Read on for more about this wonderful process and the steps that the child went through to get that clear, clean water for the birds.

4 yr old scrubbing the bird bath in the Montessori Outdoor Classroom

Photo by Carolyn at Magical Movement Company

Each morning, the birdbath has to be taken down and the old water is dumped out. Then, comes the fun part: scrubbing it clean. Little kids love to scrub things! I think scrubbing is a rewarding activity for young children for several reasons. It's a form of "water play" (work!) and it has an important "real world" purpose. Then, there's that sparkling clean look of the freshly scrubbed object!
I make sure that the children scrub with water only so there isn't a chance of soapy residue since the birds also drink from the birdbath. However, I also make sure that the children wash their hands (do use soap for this!) after scrubbing the birdbath, in the same way they would wash hands after handling a classroom pet.

Preschooler drying off the freshly scrubbed bird bath in the Outdoor Classroom

Photo by Carolyn at Magical Movement Company

Drying the freshly scrubbed birdbath is the next step. I have
observed that little children take great pride in making the birdbath sparkly clean and shiny! Then, the birdbath is ready again for the birds to enjoy.

I think it is important to have a birdbath that is light weight and easy to clean. You'll also be hanging or mounting the birdbath up high enough for the birds to enjoy. I like this style of birdbath and here's the link: Songbird Garden

Here's the link for last month's post about little kids feeding the wild birds and the wonderful benefits for the children as well as the birds! Little Kids and A Bird Habitat
And, don't forget to set out nesting materials! Here's the blog post about that topic: Nesting Materials for the "Hummers"
As you can see, the Outdoor Classroom wild bird habitat is not just "for the birds!"

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Little Kids, Music & the Glockenspiel with "High and Low"!

Carolyn 11:17 AM

THE GLOCKENSPIEL, HIGH & LOW

More High & Low activities with the little ones in music class this week. This time we listened to excerpts from Camille Saint Saens, Carnival of the Animals. The children enjoyed repeating his name as we said it as best we could in the French way!

French Composer, Camille Saint Saens: "The Carnival of Animals"

First, the selection titled "Fossils" in which the Xylophone is prominent and delightful! Since the children had played the Xylophone themselves last week, they recognized its sound immediately while we all listened very attentively.

Book & cd available at Amazon at this link: Carnival of Animals at Amazon

Then, we listened to the selection titled, "The Aquarium" in which there is the sparkly Glockenspiel playing throughout.

Photo from the artists at Bigstock Photo

The children were wonderful at playing the Glockenspiel that I brought to class. They had already experienced the larger Xylophone (in an earlier lesson) which is a little easier for small hands as the bars are larger and the mallets, too. So, when they got a chance at the smaller Glockenspiel, they used great control and played with both hands, in the middle of each bar, and with just the right touch to make it sound lovely!

I am always excited to see how many children play on the low bars and then the high bars, too. By now, many understand where the low tones are (longer bars to the left) and where the higher tones are! (shorter bars to the right)

I recently added a new page to my website called, STUFF FOR KIDS with some fun little kids videos about some of the activities from our Montessori music classes.

Here's the video about one of the activities we do each week to playfully warm up our voices...featuring High & Low. I use a toy rocket ship as a prop to move up high & down low, which really helps the children get their singing voices up there!

" I Take My Voice Up High" from Carolyn @ Magical Movement Company

In this post from 2012, I explained a little more about the Glockenspiel and there is a little video so you can see how it sounds. Here's the link: Glockenspiel: A brief history

Hope you enjoy exploring my site!

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Outdoor Classroom: Little Children & Bird "Habitats"!

Carolyn 7:29 PM

LITTLE CHILDREN AND BIRD 'HABITATS'

Little (and big) kids really love feeding the wild birds, so why not give them lots of learning experiences caring for the birds?!

4 yr olds working together to fill the wild bird feeder in the

Montessori Preschool Outdoor Classroom

Photo by Carolyn at Magical Movement Company

These preschoolers are working together to put wild bird seed in the feeder. The large container that holds the seed is a fun sensory experience for young children and gathering the seed in the hand is a wonderful "Whole Hand Transfer" activity that Montessori teachers love to provide for children!

Since young children love to carry buckets I recommend storing the bird seed in a large container with a tight-fitting lid and study handle. I found the large bird food container in the picture above at my local Petco. There's a good size bird food container at Amazon, too: 7 Pound Wild Bird Seed Container.

My favorite bird feeders are the ones made of clear acrylic so that the children can easily see the level of seed in the feeder. I think the sturdy Duncraft brand is great...they last for many years!

You can find them at Wild Birds Unlimited stores or at the on-line store for Duncraft:Duncraft Acrylic Bird Feeder

The following is also a lovely clear acrylic feeder that is available at Amazon. Here's the link Acrylic bird feeders.

These feeders don't always have to be mounted on windows, either. The suction cup can be removed and then there is a hole for attaching the feeder to a fence if that works better in your environment.

Of course, the feeder should be hung high enough for the birds to feel comfortable coming to visit and this means it will be out of the children's reach. These 4 yr olds are preparing to fill the bird feeder and so they are carrying the step ladder over to the feeding station!

Cooperation! Carrying a ladder is an important part of feeding

the birds.

Photo by Carolyn at Magical Movement Company

You don't really have to worry about the seed that happens to miss the feeder and land on the ground below...some birds are ground feeders, like these lovely Mourning Doves.

Mourning Doves feed on the seed that fell from the wild bird feeder on the fence