Shake, Shimmy, & Dance: 6/20

The Plan

Book
The book I used is Caldecott eligible, so I won’t be commenting on it.

Props
Parachute!

The Playlist

Hello & How Are You? — Old Town School of Folk Music
Wake Up & Shake Up — Rolie Polie Guacamole
Let’s Get Together — Bari Koral Family Rock Band
Head Shoulders — Mr. Jon & Friends
The Shimmie Shake — The Wiggles
Under a Shady Tree — Laurie Berkner
Shake Hands With Friends — Ella Jenkins

How It Went

I started today with a song with great energy — Wake Up, Shake Up — to get the kids and caregivers up and moving. My instructions to the group was to stretch and free dance during our opener. Afterwards, I launched into Let’s Get Together which I really like using for imaginative play. The songs asks friends to pretend that they’re different animals and my friends never disappoint me with their creative movements.

I rounded out with a new rendition of a classic song, Head Shoulders. This song is a great way to draw in caregivers since it’s something that they recognize. It’s also fun for kiddos because it challenges them to practice body identification in a fun and engaging way.

Then, it was time for our giant parachute! We did two songs with this prop (both Shake, Shimmy classics). The first was The Shimmie Shake which lets the kids get all their energy out by shaking the parachute as fast as they can. Towards the end of the song, the group does tend to get tired, but our next activity always gets their re-energized quickly.

During Under a Shady Tree, I let the kids run underneath the parachute while caregivers raise and lower the chute over them. This is everyone’s favorite parachute activity and I make sure to always include a part of the program where they can explore underneath. Today, I wound up having to join them underneath when I had a few friends who wanted to hold the parachute down.

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