Chilly Day

by | Uncategorized

Hey there, everyone! I hope you are all doing well on this Wednesday – though it feels like another Monday to me after the Veteran’s Day holiday. It’s a short week, as I’ll be heading to Orlando on Friday for my friend Vanessa’s wedding. But for now, I thought I’d share another weather song with you.

The weather here in the midwest is completely unpredictable, and in the last week and a half, we’ve had 70 degree days, 40 degree days, and everything in between. Today it’s a little above average for (almost) mid-November, so it’s the perfect time to post “Chilly Day.” It goes like this:

I had to wear my jacket when I went outside today
I’ll have to wear it at recess if I go outside to play
Because it’s chilly, it’s chilly,
The air outside is chilly
It’s chilly, it’s chilly,
It’s chilly out today.

It’s fall and that is why the nice warm weather’s gone away
The temperature is lower and the cold is here to stay
That’s why it’s chilly, it’s chilly,
The air outside is chilly
It’s chilly, it’s chilly,
It’s chilly out today.

So bundle up when you go outside and do not catch a cold,
Zip up your jacket nice and warm, well this is what I’m told.
Because it’s chilly, it’s chilly,
The air outside is chilly
It’s chilly, it’s chilly,
It’s chilly out today.

I’m off to a Bulldog Pep Rally, where I’ll be singing the now-famous Hope School Fight Song. Enjoy your afternoon, and see you tomorrow!

Ten Little Turkeys

by | Listen & Learn Music

Ten Little Turkeys | Thanksgiving Song for Kids | Listen & Learn Music

This one is absolutely a November staple. A teacher I worked with shared the words of what was originally a poem with me, and mentioned that it might make a cute song.

So I whipped up a fun little melody and added Ten Little Turkeys to my collection of Thanksgiving-themed songs. Not only do my students love singing it, but it targets several objectives, including rhyming and counting backwards from 10.

I like to pause at the end of each verse and let the kids fill in the number – they keep track of how many turkeys are left and show me using their fingers. This song stands on its own, or with visuals like turkey cutouts.

{Updated on 11/20/17} Psst…right now, you can become a VIP Listen & Learn Plus member and get all of these songs (plus hundreds more music resources for children) with a biannual payment plan. I only offer this once a year, and it ends soon! Click here for details.

Tap Tap Your Rhythm Sticks

by | Uncategorized

Kids love rhythm sticks, and with good reason: they are loud, and they get to hit them together. It doesn’t get much better than that when it comes to instruments. I use the 8″ Basic Beat sticks, which you can find at West Music, but there are lots of others out there from which to choose.

Playing rhythm sticks is not only fun, but they are a good tool to use when addressing skills such as discrimination of loud, soft, fast, and slow. I put all of the above to work in this rhythm stick song:

Tap tap, your rhythm sticks
Oh 1, 2, 3,
Tap tap, your rhythm sticks
Oh tap along with me.
We’ll tap and tap, and tap some more,
We’ll tap until we hit the floor,
So tap tap, your rhythm sticks with me,
Oooh-wee!

Now you’re gonna tap tap, your rhythm sticks so soft,
Shh, shh!
Tap tap, your rhythm sticks so soft,
Shh, shh!
We’ll tap and tap so softly now,
No worries ‘cause we all know how,
So tap tap your rhythm sticks so soft,
Shh, shh!

Now you’re gonna tap tap, your rhythm sticks so loud,
Mmm, hmm!
Tap tap, your rhythm sticks so loud,
Mmm, hmm!
We’ll tap and tap so loudly now,
No worries ‘cause we all know how,
So tap tap your rhythm sticks so loud,
Mmm, hmm!

Tap tap, your rhythm sticks
Oh 1, 2, 3,
Tap tap, your rhythm sticks
Oh tap along with me.
We’ll tap and tap, and tap some more,
We’ll tap until we hit the floor,
So tap tap, your rhythm sticks with me,
Oooh-wee!

Friday Fave: Wedding Music

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Zach and I have dubbed November as “Wedding Month” due to the fact that we’ll be spending the next two weekends traveling the country for the nuptials of our friends and family. Next Friday we’ll be jet-setting to Orlando for the wedding of my friend (and former bridesmaid) Vanessa and her fiance Luis. Then the following weekend, we’ll head to Connecticut to participate in the wedding of Zach’s brother Rob and his fiance Shannon.

I’m extremely excited about both events – I love weddings! And one of my favorite aspects of the special day is (no surprises here) the music. I love it all: the instrumental (Pachelbel’s Canon in D, Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desire, The Wedding March), the vocal (Ave Maria, The Prayer, Sunrise, Sunset), and of course the dancing (American Pie, Sweet Caroline, and Hey Ya! are always fun).

I am singing at both of the weddings we’ll be attending this month, and both brides have discovered that choosing the selections isn’t as easy as one might assume. I got married last summer (08/08/08 to be exact) so I know firsthand that planning the music can be an overwhelming responsibility. Luckily, I had a wonderful advisor (aka my mom) who not only helped choose the music, but actually wrote one of the songs that was performed at the ceremony. She named it “Child of Mine” and asked my good friend and bridesmaid, Victoria, to sing it at the wedding. Listen to a recording of it (sung by me!) below:

Isn’t it beautiful? It was such a special and amazing day, and hearing a song written especially for me by my mom made it even that much more spectacular.

Silly Sounds Hello

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Hello, and happy Friday to you! I’d like to start the day with a greeting song: it’s called “Silly Sounds Hello,” and it targets consonants. This particular tune was written for a little boy named Rocco, who I worked with two years ago, so it was tailored to the consonant sounds he was struggling with at the time.

However, you can change those words and sounds to fit the needs of any child, no matter how silly it might end up sounding (because after all, that’s the point!). Take a listen:

I know a silly way to sing hello.
You can sing it to your friends,
And the people you know.
The words of this song are fun to say,
Won’t you sing along with me today?

Hi, hi, pie pie pie.
Hi, hi, tie tie tie tie.
Hi, hi, my my my.
Hi to you.

Hello, no no no.
Hello, go go go go.
Hello, dough dough dough.
Hello to you.

Hey there, bear bear bear.
Hey there, fair fair fair fair.
Hey there, pear pear pear.
Hey there to you.

So there it is. Rocco loved singing this song because it was so silly and nonsensical, and by the year he had mastered most of these sounds. Progress is that much sweeter when you have fun making it.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this series of hello songs. And if you have any great ones up your sleeve, I’d love to hear about them! As always, thanks for reading, and come back later for “Friday Faves.”