The Boo! Curtain

Dressing up!

When you work with very small children dressing up at Halloween is not really an option.  There is always one little person that just doesn't like the teacher to look different.  So...I have never dressed up for Halloween at Musicalia...except for this year.  

After 18 Halloween seasons (could Halloween be considered a season?) I am dressing up at the request of my oldest group (ages 8-12).  They meet on Mondays and we're having a big Halloween party this year.

Last week I handed out invitations

I wrote Shakespeare-style then printed them out, rolled them up and placed each one inside a spider ring.  I addressed one for each child, writing each name on a crackly, rotting oak leaf.  The children loved them!

Double, double, toil and trouble...fire burn and cauldron bubble!

It's a busy party!

We will...

• dance the Harry Potter Dance
• perform the Dringo Bell creative movement piece (the kids LOVE this), 
• play Ghost Chickens in the Sky on guitar, 
• Old Joe Clark on fiddle, 
• then break into an Old Joe Clark band with fiddle, guitar, cello, singing original halloween verses about Old Joe Clark.  (scare ye well, old joe clark, scare ye well I say)
• perform Inchworm (what would Halloween be without worms??) as a Boomwhacker Orchestra
• singing Trolls and Goblins 
• eat pizza and play Halloween charades
• bob for poison apples

Last spring at our year-end celebration they asked me to be the "Evil Fairy".  My hairdresser was very helpful in creating the fresh-from-the-forest look.   She will not be available for my Halloween transformation however, so I've been busy gathering bits and pieces for my Scary Old Witch costume.    


There's a big hat, a wig, a dress, a cape, green paint for my face, hands and feet, a long nose, black nail polish and old black fingerless gloves and my Book of Spells & Potions (it a fake book hiding the treats!).    

Book of Spells and Potions

Hahahaha!  Spooky treats...choose carefully.....!

I created an old broom with an long branch from our garden, tying old lavender, moss and twigs to the sweeping end for magical effect!  I love this broom!

Witch Broom

Pianoforte Parachutes (part 4 in the wind whistle series)

Activity # 3 - Waves of Musicality

You need kids (ages 3-1/2-4 years and older), a parachute and a wind whistle.

The last post at Make Me Musical listed Activities #1 and #2 for younger ages.

This wind whistle activity is for preschool ages and older.

• Spread out the parachute and have all the children hold an edge of the parachute.
• Start with everyone crouched to the floor and the parachute still and on the floor.

• Prep the children to respond to "pianissimo", "piano", "mezzoforte" , "forte" and "fortissimo" sounds of the wind whistle with the parachute.
• Teacher blows very softly (pianissimo) and children move the parachute just slightly.

• As the wind blows louder, the parachute flies higher and faster.
• Suddenly stopping the wind may cause the parachute to suddenly collapse to the ground.

• Older children are generally able to do this response activity without speaking.  The younger ages are unrestrained in their excitement.

• I like to practise the "no words, no voices" idea as it seems to help children really listen to the whistle and not get swept up into a frenzy with the "forte" wind sounds.

• Dramatic endings are fun...just suddenly stop.

• Faded endings are fun too...gradually decrescendo the wind sounds.

How to Build Listening Skills with your Wind Whistle (part 3 of the wind whistle series)

 

Activity #1 - Stop and Start

You need kids and scarves and your wind whistle.

• Instead of passing out scarves or putting the scarf box on the floor so the children may choose their own scarf, I like to blow the scarves out into the room.  Each child catches their scarf.  It's fun!

• Some of the children will try to blow their scarves as I did.  Some just want to wear them or fling them about.

•  I begin blowing my wind whistle and moving my scarf as I blow the whistle.  

• "Can you hear the wind?"  and we all start waving our scarves.

• Suddenly, I stop blowing my whistle.  My scarf is still.

• Then I start again.  Stop again.  Start again.  (you get the idea)  The children love to stop and start using their arms and scarves.  They giggle with joy as they hear the wind stopping and starting them.

• When the wind blows stronger or weaker other parts of the body get involved too.  We bend our knees to move the scarf higher and lower and around and around.

Activity #2 - Rise and Fall

You need kids, a parachute, some parents and your wind whistle.  (note:  My parachute is a silk parachute and is very, very light-weight.  The typical school parachutes may be too heavy for this activity.)

• We spread the parachute out flat and invite the children to lie on the floor.  

• The parachute is held all around the edges by parents suspended above the children.   As I blow the wind whistle, the parachute begins to move up and down.  

• When the wind is blowing, then the parachute is moving.

• When the wind is silent (not blowing) then the parachute floats to the ground landing on the children.

• The children typically will giggle and call out.  They put their arms and feet straight up to try to catch the parachute and then the wind comes up again and the parachute flies away from their little hands.

• This is calming for most of them.  

• Even children who have sensory challenges seem to enjoy this activity.  
• They may not always join the other children on the floor.  They may prefer to be part of the group that holds the parachute, but they love the gentle flow both visually and aurally that the wind whistle and the parachute inspires.

What's a Wind Whistle? (part 2)

My favorite wind whistle is made by LP (Latin Percussion).  
You can see by my photo that my whistle is so well-loved the LP logo is almost worn off!

I once misplaced this wind whistle during a studio move.  I didn't worry at the time because I thought I could easily replace it.  No so!  I could not find a replacement LP wind whistle anywhere.  

I ended up ordering a slightly different type of wind whistle and discovered that it made a completely different sound.  I never used it successfully with my classes. 

Thankfully, my trusty LP wind whistle appeared one day.  During my next studio move, I actually packed it in my pocket and not a box to be sure I wouldn't lose track of it.  

Today I'll be using the wind whistle with my Early Orff class (2-3 year olds with parents) as we experience more Little Red Bird magic!

Tomorrow I am going to talk a bit about some other ways I build listening skills with the wind whistle.  Check out yesterday post to read a bit more about wind whistles.

What's a Wind Whistle? (part 1)

One of my favorite, most-used, fun, attention-getting instruments is the wind whistle. 

It sounds like the wind and creates an instant calm in the class when I bring it out and begin blowing it.  The kids stop what ever they are doing and look around for the sound.  Eventually, they focus on me and I have their attention.

I keep it available during my classes and find myself reaching for it unconsciously to bring focus to a class, to create an atmosphere, to lead movement activity.

More to come on wind whistle games!

Use a kazoo to develop self-esteem?! hmmm...

A wonderful music tool for young children is the kazoo. 


Kazoos activate bone structure because of the vibrations. 
This activates the vestibular system. 


Playing kazoo can positively impact language development! 


As a child plays kazoo, he or she is developing self-esteem (anything this much fun...or tricky to figure out....has got to develop self-esteem!), internalizing rhythms, having fun and establishing the beginning of inner voice, a skill necessary for higher-level thinking.