Magical Movement Company: Carolyn's blog

Outdoor Classroom: It's Time to Put Out Nesting Materials for the Hummingbirds!

Carolyn 7:18 PM

NESTING MATERIALS FOR THE 'HUMMERS'

JANUARY! It's time to put out nesting materials for the hummingbirds. They start making their nests and laying eggs this time of year. And, I am sure we all want little baby hummingbirds in our yards!

I love these "nesting rings" that really turn out to be pretty "wreaths" when you hang them on your fence. I have found them at WILDBIRDS UNLIMITED , one of my all-time favorite places to shop and there is a brick-and-mortar near my house. (Check out the link!) But, there is also an on-line store with a wonderful selection of fun things to have in your Outdoor Classroom, or backyard garden. (Like the child-friendly hummingbird feeder in the picture below and also the wonderful nesting materials the children are stuffing into the ring.)

And, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Amazon has all these supplies as well!
Here are the links:
Wild Bird Nesting Wreath

Hummzinger Feeder

Wild Bird Nesting Materials Refill

This is an absolutely fabulous "Whole Hand Transfer" activity for you Montessorians out there. And, you can easily see how stuffing nesting materials into the ring can be done by even the smallest of children. What a very fun way to strengthen those muscles of the hand that are needed for writing! As you can see from the photo, this activity works well with a small group, as well.

I just really love how this "nesting-ring-wreath-ornamental" looks hanging on the fence in the garden. You can even add color if you want by giving the children little bits of yarn, or colored papers, or even torn bits of cloth. I always make sure the objects stuffed into the ring are natural and have no harmful inks or dyes in them. And, I keep this wreath packed with nesting materials throughout the Spring season as other birds like these materials for their nests as well. It is a real treat to be in your garden and suddenly see a bird swoop down and grab something from the nesting ring and fly away as fast as it can! You may even get a glimpse of where the bird is building its nest!

I have to confess that I have only seen a hummingbird collecting from my nesting ring once! And, actually, I have read that the favorite nesting materials of "hummers" are cob webs! However, I still love to put stuff in the ring that I think a hummingbird might like...and I know you will see plenty of other larger birds snatching little nesting bits later in the season (from about mid-Feb. through to June sometimes!) The way to ensure that you will have birds visiting your nesting ring is to set up a habitat for birds in your outdoor environment. Watch for upcoming posts about that topic!

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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Who Says Preschoolers Are Too Young For Art History?

Carolyn 9:49 PM

PRESCHOOLERS & ART HISTORY

Over my 40 years of teaching Preschoolers, I have explored many Teaching Units to introduce these young ones to famous Artists and their Masterpieces. We've had great fun with a "smorgasbord" of art mediums! And, including the "dramatic play" aspect of a famous artist is always a big hit with the children.

These four-year olds love to put on the artist beret & smock and head straight for the easel for some serious painting. Adding a plastic paint palette only adds to the fun and raises the activity to the next level: mixing colors!

A great way to have fun pretending to be a real artist is to take turns with a friend: one is the artist and one is the artist's model. I love watching how still the model can be and this duo in the photos spent quite a long time at this activity and were very serious. I included a small "wardrobe" of dress up clothes and a mirror for the children to choose their favorites!

An AMAZING! resemblance, especially when you take a look at the details...from the hat, to the yellow shirt to the striped vest and cute pants. And if you look closely, in the photos, at the "model's" shoes you can see that they were actually cute red-flowered tennis shoes with a pair of blue socks as well... reproduced wonderfully & accurately in the young "artist's" painting!

I love the Great Masters myself and especially the "Expressionist" painters! In this particular Art History Unit for Preschoolers, the children were learning about Marc Chagall. So, I did provide a funky (thrift store find) violin as a prop and lots of colorful clothes, too. (Remember: Chagall's famous painting titled "Fiddler On The Roof") I made sure that the costumes were fun for both boys & girls, and the props can add just the right touch! For the child who wants to paint a "self portrait" I made sure there was a mirror nearby and lots of shades of skin-colored paints. It's not difficult at all these days to find nice prints done by famous artists and you can usually locate at least one self portrait (you can often download one from Google images) so I always display the featured artist's self portrait near the prints that I have placed in frames and hung near the easel in the classroom.

"Fiddler" by Marc Chagall

So, as you can see---Art History can be a BIG hit with the "Preschool Crowd" who are discerning artists in their own right!

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Little Kids Having Fun with "High & Low" in Music Class!

Carolyn 6:15 PM

FUN WITH HIGH & LOW IN MUSIC CLASS

2015 IS HERE AND I HOPE YOUR NEW YEAR IS GOING WELL!

I am adding some new music classes to my weekly schedule. That is probably a good way to start the new year.

STRETCHING OUR SINGING VOICE RANGE:

I know that "High & Low" are very basic concepts in music, however, expanding the range of the singing voice can be a challenge and young children seem to enjoy practicing and practicing.

ANATOMY OF A LESSON:

After our beginning warm-ups of our hand/shoulder and face muscles, we'll continue with a vocal warm up and the children really love all the funny sounds we end up making.

I love Susan Anders cd, "The Just Songs Vocal Warm Up for Kids". Here's her website with lots of good stuff and a helpful newsletter too:

http://www.susananders.com

In music class we always have a fun movement activity and this one from Tamara O'Brien ("We're Orff") is one of my favorites and a favorite of the children, as well. I always emphasize the high and low by moving my body up high and down low --- dramatically! You can get any of her products at the iPad/eBook store with iTunes. This one is "Fiddle Diddle Dee":

And, of course we'll be doing some focused listening as well as the High/Low game (Lift arms when its a high sound, lower arms when its a low sound...you get the picture)

There's a fun balloon activity that I learned many years ago and still love it. I'll be explaining it in an upcoming post... It does have a little follow-up activity for a shelf work in the classroom:

Can't think of music class without including musical instruments to play, and tambourines work well for exploring "high" and "low". You can jingle it high in the air to make a higher sound, and then play on the floor like a drum to make a lower sound.

For many more preschool music ideas check out my new website and go to the various social media icons (Pinterest, especially) at the bottom of any page!

Here's my website:

http://www.magicalmovementcompany.com

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Music, Family & Fun: Winter Solstice Greetings!

Carolyn 6:07 PM

CELEBRATING WINTER SOLSTICE

THE WINTER SOLSTICE IS APPROACHING AND I AM WISHING EVERYONE A MERRY, MERRY MUSICAL SEASON!

According to the Hopi, our "Kachinas" ( magical spiritual helpers) leave us to go to the heavenly realm on the Summer Solstice of each year. Then, they return to be with us on the Winter Solstice of each year. I always look forward to their return. Tomorrow, Dec. 21st, there is a musical community celebration in Berkeley sponsored by the East Bay Community Music Project. Here's the site:

http://www.ebcmp.org/register/

This is a little blurb from the website: The East Bay Community Music Project is committed to building community through fun and engaging music-making experiences for people of all ages.

What a really great mission statement. I can't wait to get involved.

Here is a sweet remembrance of a celebration and performance at Albion Children's House, my little Montessori program twenty years ago!

Here's to celebrations that light up the winter time!
Peace & love,
Carolyn
PS I would love for you all to check out my new sites:
Updated website:
http://www.magicalmovementcompany.com/workshops_for_teachers.html

New Magical Movement Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/magicalmovementcompanyandkids?fref=photo

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Musically Montessori: "Little Kids and The Nutcracker Ballet Suite"

Carolyn 1:06 AM

IF YOU ARE PLANNING TO TAKE YOUR CHILD TO A PERFORMANCE OF THE NUTCRACKER BALLET, then read on...

'Tis the season again, and Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Ballet is a wonderful treat for children and adults. If you are planning to take your young child to a performance, I highly recommend familiarizing yourself and your child with the music as well as the story before attending the event.

I found a wonderful site for purchasing a lovely download of the ballet characters in puppet form here:

Sarah Jane Nutcracker Ballet Puppets

I made these Sarah Jane Studios stick puppets for my preschool music classes and then I was able to use them to tell the story the way I thought most appropriate for the varying age groups.

In the story of the Nutcracker, Clara and her brother are very excited about the big holiday party at their house and both are thrilled when they see Uncle Drosselmier arrive! He is a toymaker and always brings fantastic toys for the children. However, Clara's brother, Fritz, gets jealous of Clara's special nutcracker toy and he ends up grabbing it, calling it "ugly", and throwing it across the room.

As a result, the nutcracker gets a cracked head and Clara has to tie a red ribbon around to repair it. At this point, I added my own part of the story saying that when Fritz realized his misdeed, he apologized to his sister.

For the older children, I included the "Battle Between the Mouse King and the Nutcracker" and played a little of the "battle music" because it is so dynamic!

However, I changed the story line:

"In Clara's dream, there was a 'Mouse King' dancer who led all the little mice to rush under the tree and gobble up all the sweets. The brave Nutcracker dancer leaped over and tried to scare the mice away. But, they are back! That is when Clara took off her shoe and threw it across the room. The loud sound did scare all the mice away! Let's listen for that loud crash when we listen to this part of Tchaikovsky's music..."

For the younger groups (2's and 3's) I skipped the "battle" completely and went straight to Clara falling asleep with her nutcracker toy in her arms and then dreaming of him turning into the Prince from the Kingdom of the Sweets.

Then, the story can quickly move to the part about the big celebration at the Prince's castle and the little children seemed to enjoy hearing about the dancers (and seeing the puppets): The Snow Queen, the Sugar Plum Fairy, "Chocolate" the Spanish dancer, and the dancers from the land of Chinese Tea and Arabian Coffee. I played very short excerpts of these dances, so that the children would hear the wonderful music, but would only have to sit attentively for no longer than five minutes.

I told the children that after the special dances, the Prince and Clara traveled back home in a magic sleigh and then Clara woke up from her dream and found her nutcracker safe in her arms.

Finally, we got the triangles out and played along to some simple piano versions of songs from the ballet.

The music downloads I used are:

Royal Concertebouv Orchestra: "Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite"
Rob Thaller's "Music For Ballet Class: Nutcracker"

Over the past 2 weeks I have also played excerpts from the following for movement fun:

Max and Ruby: (sweet children's voices and nice music selections) "The Story of the Nutcracker Ballet"
Arthur Hannes: (cd only) "The Story of Tchaikovsky"
Mad Theatricals: (jazzy and great fun!) "Clara's Dream"
Son of a Nutcracker: (watch the video, mp3 is at iTunes very hiphop!) "Tiptoe through the House"
Cardio Workout Classics: (great for doing the robot dance hip-hop) "The Nutcracker Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy"
Hovedeon Social Club (from the Album, Clasicos A Lo Cubano on iTunes:) "Cuban Sugar---Sugar Plum Fairy"

Lots of holiday fun with a little classical music appreciation too!

If you would like to learn more about how I present the Nutcracker Ballet Music to preschoolers in a Montessori way, I invite you to check out my Musically Montessori eCourse, "Nutcracker Ballet Suite for Little Kids." It's a four-week curriculum filled with lots of holiday musical fun for Preschoolers.

I am so happy to have you visiting my blog today! I hope that you have found some fun musical activities for your group.

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Fun Music and Art Apps for Young Children!

Carolyn 5:10 PM

FUN LITTLE KIDS MUSIC & ART APPS

Technology is part of our everyday activities that's for sure! Children are no exception and even young children are enjoying manipulating ipads & tablets, home computers and smart phones. Music & Art Apps for children can enhance the learning that is happening in the Montessori and Orff-Sculwerk music classes that children enjoy in person. Most Early Childhood Experts agree that young children under the age of two should not be using computer screen devices, and I think these Apps can be enjoyed by Preschoolers with their families! My granddaughter and I really like playing around with these Apps TOGETHER!

I have recently downloaded a wonderful app for the iphone from Kindermusik. It's called "KinderMusik Radio" and it can be downloaded from the iTunes store for the iphone or the iPad. This is a wonderful little app with an interactive portion in which the child can tap on the picture of a rhythm instrument and play along with the song. Great for developing steady beat and having fun participating as well as listening.

Here is the link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/kindermusik-radio-app-includes/id389254185?mt=8

Another fun app I downloaded to my iphone is called "Draw on the Table" and it is produced by Frances England, an internationally acclaimed performer of children's music who lives in San Francisco.
This cute little app allows the child to use pictures of veggies and fruit to create tiny paintings right on the touch screen. Frances England has a lovely website where you can see her darling artwork as well as download her music and even download free musical cards to send to friends! Here is her link: http://francesengland.com

The third app for iphone (and iPad) that I really like is called "Sock Puppets." This adorable program allows the child to choose the puppets for a cute show and then sing or speak an actual recording for each puppet's part in the puppet show! The child's voice is re-programmed to sound like a puppet's voice and it is a delight to watch the finished product. Then it can be sent over to youtube or Facebook for all loved ones to view. Here's that link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sock-puppets-complete/id547666894?mt=8

Here is a beautiful thought for the new year that I wanted to share with all of you:

How many people does it take to make a difference? ONE!

One song can spark a moment

One flower can wake the dream

One tree can start a forest

One bird can herald spring

One smile begins a friendship

One handclasp lifts a soul

One start can guide a ship at sea

One word can frame the goal

One vote can change a nation

One sunbeam lights a room

One candle wipes our darkness

One laugh will conquer gloom

One step must start each journey

One word must start a prayer

One hope will raise our spirits

One touch can show you care

One voice can speak with wisdom

One heart can know what’s true

One life can make a difference

That difference starts with you.- Unknown

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Little Kids, Music & Singing: "We Love Opera"!

Carolyn 10:39 AM

LITTLE KIDS LOVE OPERA!

Our December Kindermusik Unit featured Mozart's opera, "The Magic Flute" and the children (and I!) fell in love with opera. By the last class session, we were uninhibited about dressing up like kings, queens, princes and princesses, parading around regally, and singing in our strong opera voices!

I decided to present a kid-friendly version of the story of the Magic Flute and the children were entranced. Our Kindermusik unit, "Sing a Story"offered wonderful short pieces from the opera, performed by seasoned opera singers in stage productions from all over the world.

We used puppets to distinguish a "solo" performance from a "duet," and we even sang a familiar song,"Star Light-Star Bright," using beginning sight reading of basic notation. It is such fun to see preschoolers jump at the challenge to use their most beautiful singing voices.

Here is a video of the fun duet of Papageno (the bird catcher) and Papagena (the lady bird catcher):

Papageno and Papagena singing with joy when they first meet (from "The Magic Flute" by Mozart)

Singing is one of the best ways to express emotions, get work done, celebrate happy occasions, and honor sad ones, as well.

When my son was in his early teens, he attended The Arthur Morgan School, a Montessori-based middle school located in the Celo Community in Western North Carolina. Each morning, the whole school began the day with a "Morning Sing" before going off to their academic classes, daily chores and rugged adventures in the world of nature.

When my son passed away in 2010, there were elaborate ceremonies performed by the Navy (he was on active duty when he died) and beautiful memorial services with music and singing. But, one of the most meaningful remembrances of my son, Cal, was the current students at the Arthur Morgan School honoring his passing by singing for him at their "Morning Sing" that week.

My heart goes out to the families in Connecticut who have lost a family member in the recent tragedy, and I hope there are songs that are sung, along with the condolences, in remembrance of those children and teachers.

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Outdoor Classroom: Autumn Leaves, Pumpkins and Halloween!

Carolyn 9:58 AM

LITTLE KIDS & REAL ACTIVITIES

This time of year is very exciting for Preschoolers since Halloween night is a big "Let's Pretend..." party for all ages! We, who work with this age group, are spending lots of time explaining the difference between what is real and what is not real. In fact, that is one of the developmental tasks of the young child...figuring out the difference.

In the Montessori approach, we keep the environment filled with "real stuff", like plants, pets and all kinds of child-size tools for children to do the real work of life.

Photo by the artists at Dollar Photo Club

Give a young child a feather duster, or a short handled broom and they will immediately go to work on cleaning up the environment. What young child doesn't like digging in the garden with real garden tools? Real work is truly appealing to young children because it is what they see the adults doing all day long!

Using a child-size shovel to plant a garden!

Photo by Carolyn at Magical Movement Company

"Firefighters" harvesting peas from the garden!

Photo by Carolyn at Magical Movement Company

Likewise, children will clamor to use a child-size rake to rake up the leaves that are falling this time of year. And, pumpkins are a favorite for scrubbing, decorating, cutting open to get the seeds for roasting, and of course baking pumpkin pies.

Harvesting pumpkins from the Children's Garden!

Photo by Carolyn at Magical Movement Company

4 Yr old sweeping off the walkway!

Photo by Carolyn at Magical Movement Company

More sweeping with a child-size broom!

Photo by Carolyn at Magical Movement Company

Hauling pumpkins from preschool garden!

Photo by Carolyn at Magical Movement Company

Children scrubbing pumpkins!

Photo by Carolyn at Magical Movement Company

Preschooler raking leaves with a child-size rake!

Photo by Carolyn at Magical Movement Company

For sure, Preschoolers are trying their best to learn the skills that are necessary in the real, adult world. Through pretend play, children practice what they see the adults doing. Even the youngest children love to "cook" in the play kitchen or bundle up the baby dolls before "nap time." So, when Halloween comes along, there is a night of pretend play that everyone participates in no matter what the age!

Photo by the artists at Dollar Photo Club

With preschoolers, we offer the un-scary make-believe of kitten costumes, and tinker bell fairies, princesses, & mermaids along with Spongebob, Mickey Mouse and Pluto. Just to mention a few of the fun costumes my students excitedly describe to me these days!

Photo by the artists at Dollar Photo Club

Then, there are the fun "costumes" that fit any season and are wonderful for the outdoor play of young children who are busily practicing the real work they see happening all around them!

"Playing Firefighters": Pretend that goes on all year long in the Outdoor Classroom!

Photo by Carolyn at Magical Movement Company

During my recent visit to Hawaii, my grand daughter and I spent the last days of summer making a fun little video about going to the beach and we had to include one of our favorite themes: silly, friendly & not-real PIRATES! A few weeks before, my "fairy godson", Myles created the little boat and helped me film some of the ocean scenes at our local beach in CA. Hope you enjoy this video with the Kindermusik poem, "Ahoy There, Mates."

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Introduction to the Elements of Music: Presto and Largo!

Carolyn 12:44 AM

MOVING 'PRESTO' & 'LARGO!'

The musical continuum of "Largo" all the way to "Presto" is a very fun concept for children to explore.

"Presto" is the music term for fast and refers to how quickly the beat is moving in the music. The term for slow is "Largo", and then there are so many variations in between these two ends of the musical spectrum!

Photos by Jeri-Jo Idairus (from Carolyn's Magical Movement Archive)

Moving "Presto" like a bumble bee...

or a fast running cheetah!

Moving "Slowly, Slowly," like a sloth...

or like an elephant at a "Largo" pace!
(Photos by Jeri-Jo Idarius from Carolyn's archive)

In music classes all over the globe, children are having fun MOVING in an endless variety of ways while, all along, there are little seeds of rhythmical memory growing happily in each child's brain.

You probably already know how much young children enjoy moving FAST---! But, the challenge of moving very s-l-o-w-l-y can sometimes be even more fun for a child. And the secret benefit of playing with these opposites (Presto and Largo) is the child's growing ability of "inhibitory control."

I found this wonderful place on the web where you can interact with an on-line metronome. Check it out! You can play some fun games with your child.

http://www.online-stopwatch.com/metronome/

Set the metronome to a Largo beat and sing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" to match the beat you have set. Then change the setting to a Presto beat and try singing the song again to match this new beat. And of course, any kind of fun movement activities set to match the metronome beat will be fun and probably end up filling the room with lots of giggles.

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