Bonding songs are essential to my early childhood classes, because they foster parent-child interaction and help us wind down toward the end of the session. I wrote “I Love Your Toes” specifically for my baby (0-18 month) class, though I have most definitely used it with kiddos who are a little older.
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I wrote the song “Love, Love, Love (My Family)” before I became a mom, believe it or not. This photo was taken just a few days after my daughter Mia Belle was born and completed our family; now this song is more special to me than ever.
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Bonding songs are essential to my early childhood classes, because they foster parent-child interaction and help us wind down toward the end of the session. I wrote this one specifically for my baby (0-18 month) class, though I have most definitely used it with kiddos who are a little older.
Not only does this song encourage directed touch, but it also serves as an introduction to body part identification. I know that my little guy, who will be 2 in June, absolutely loves pointing out his eyes, ears, mouth, nose, fingers, knees, and toes. The song starts with the basics, but of course could be adapted to include other body parts as well.
It’s never too early to start singing songs like these with your children. My son had no choice but to listen to my singing pretty much from the day he was born, and my daughter (coming next month!) will no doubt have that same experience :)
You can find even more bonding songs like this one over at Listen & Learn for Leaders, the early childhood resource created by myself and my partner Katey.
P.S. Did you know that you can gain instant access to a vast collection of over 200 songs (mp3, lead sheet, and instrumental track), videos, tutorials, and visual aides, plus ALL new releases from Listen & Learn Music?
Fun fact: It was my mom, not me, who wrote the first song dedicated to my son Parker after he was born last summer. She would sing it to him every time she came over to see him, and now we all sing “The Parker Song”.
It took a couple of months for the fog to clear my new mom brain, but once it did, I was inspired by Parker to do some serious songwriting. The first song that came out of my creative burst was Welcome to the World, which came at the perfect time since so many of my friends were bringing home new babies.
Ever since, I’ve been recording versions of this song as gifts to parents of newborns. Every baby should have his or her own song, after all! The version on the album below was recorded for my sweet nephew, Alec, when he was born in April. I also included the instrumental track for the new babies coming into the world around you.
By the way, that adorable squishy little baby in the photo is Parker at five days old. Oh, how I miss him being that small! The older he gets, though, the more he inspires me as a songwriter — my own personal muse.
Yesterday afternoon, I returned home from a trip to Florida and realized I had a song to write, record and post here on the blog. Luckily I didn’t have to think very hard about what to write about — I had just spent 3 days with my immediate and extended family at a reunion.
After reuniting with her cousin whom she hadn’t seen in over 40 years (on Facebook of all places), my mom was able to connect with family members she’d never met or had lost touch with and decided to organize a reunion. Not only did I get to meet lots of second and third cousins, but I also had the opportunity to see my grandma, uncle, brother, and sister-in-law who all live far away.
With the holidays just around the corner, this is as good a time as any for a song about the importance of family. My students and I spend a lot of time talking about their families (and they’re always curious about mine, too); doing so within the context of a song is even better.
I hope you were able to spend some time with your family this weekend, too! Have a lovely week, and don’t forget that The 10 Days of Thanksgiving (complete with chords, mp3, instrumental, and 10 page PDF visual) is 20% off now through Thanksgiving Day when you use the discount code givethanks12.
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