Shake, Shimmy, & Dance: 12/16

The Plan

Book
I Got the Rhythm by Connie Schofield-Morrison
This book is a favorite of mine for Shake, Shimmy, & Dance. It starts off slow, warming up the smaller body movements (eye blinking, nose sniffing, etc.) and then builds to moving a lot. Because of this, it’s a great book to get my patrons warmed up and ready to dance!

Props
Shaker Eggs!

The Playlist

Hello & How Are You? — Old Town School of Folk Music
Clap Your Hands, Clap Your Hands — Kathy Reid-Naiman
Jumping and Counting — Jim Gill
Spin Around — The Fresh Beat Band
Heartbeat — Laura Doherty
Milkshake Song — Old Town School of Folk Music
The Shimmie Shake — The Wiggles
Shake Hands With Friends — Ella Jenkins

How It Went

I used a new song to kick-off today’s Shake, Shimmy program. “Clap Your Hands, Clap Your Hands” is a quieter song, but a great one for even the youngest of patrons to follow along with. During the school year, I see a majority of toddlers at Shake, Shimmy and I do adjust my playlists to best serve them.

And who doesn’t love jumping and spinning? This led to my next two songs: “Jumping and Counting” and “Spin Around”. “Spin Around” is a new Shake, Shimmy song and I loved it. The kids had a great time spinning and dancing to it. (We danced during the verses and spun during the chorus.) But I think what made it the most fun was seeing the kids holding hands and spinning together or the grown-ups picking up their kids to spin them in the air. And as always, “Jumping and Counting” provided great interaction as we counted until we could jump again.

My cool-down song was “Heartbeat” by Laura Doherty. Yes, this song has some large movements (dance, swim, jump), it also has quieter opportunities for kids to pause and listen to their heartbeats. It also incorporates science principles! And during the “when you love someone” chorus, I ask the kids to either hug themselves or to find a friend to hug. Some kids just choose to dance through it and that’s okay too!

This month, I just used two shaker egg songs: “Milkshake” and “The Shimmie Shake”. The “Milkshake” song has instructions in the lyrics and I try to lead the kids into following them. This is a storytime favorite here, so many of the patrons know it well. And I love the music of “The Shimmie Shake”. I know that some people dislike the television music like The Wiggles or The Fresh Beat Band, but I think it’s great engaging music for kids.

(For an example of the Powerpoint and handouts that I made for each Shake, Shimmy please visit the original post.)