I’m currently having fun singing songs that require children to guess a rhyming word at the end of a line, such as my version of “Hey, Dr. Knickerbocker” and Icky Sticky & Ooey Gooey. For Halloween, I suggest making as many scary-creature rhymes as possible in order to keep from…
Around the time the leaves begin to fall here in New England, I start thinking about waltzing around the room with brightly-colored scarves. Dancing and singing with a 3/4 beat gives young listeners a distinct sense of a rhythm that differs from the 4/4 pattern. Songs in 3/4 and 6/8…
It’s apple-picking season! New England’s many apple orchards are a favorite field trip for school and preschool groups, combined with units on healthy eating and making recipes for applesauce, apple pie and more. You can only pick and eat so many apples, so take some time to sing about them!…
During my ten-week songwriting residency with first graders, I start by introducing students to songs to engage them with different musical styles and subject matter. In the first week this year, we sang songs celebrating nature, including my song “If I Were a Butterfly.” The next week, I told the…
When I was growing up, it seemed most kids knew Mother Goose rhymes. These days, that assumption no longer holds. In my summer camp for children aged six to eight, we play a trivia quiz game in which I sometimes ask the children to finish a nursery rhyme after hearing…
By Liz Buchanan Singing and chanting are one of the best ways to help young children learn certain early literacy skills, such as distinguishing letter sounds. Singing is fun and engaging for both children and adults. Check out the research (below) that shows the important connections between music and…
