Shake, Shimmy, & Dance: 6/27

The Plan

Book
This was another Caldecott eligible book, so I won’t be talking about it on the blog.

Props
Scarves!

The Playlist

Hello & How Are You? — Old Town School of Folk Music
Like a Spinning Top — Alison Faith Levy
Jumping & Counting — Jim Gill
Blast Off — Joanie Leeds
Popcorn — Mr. Jon & Friends
Butterfly — Laura Doherty
Shake Hands With Friends — Ella Jenkins

How It Went

Like a Spinning Top is a song tailor-made for gross motor practice. The kids and I wound up spinning, jumping, wiggling, and flying with such glee — it’s a great way to start off a program. Afterwards, we did some more jumping with Jim Gill’s Jumping and Counting. The kids never get tired of jumping and I love that this song also incorporates a math activity with some counting practice!

Our last song before I brought out the prop activity for the day was Blast Off. There are a lot of countdown/rocketship songs in children’s music and for good reason — the kids never get tired of them! I also like to pass on the caregiver tip that this is a great opportunity to lift smaller friends up in the air for maximum blast off potential.

Then it was time for the scarves to come out! For Popcorn, we bunched up the scarves and popped them into the air. And for Butterfly, the caregivers helped the kids pinch the middle of their scarves to turn it into a butterfly. Talk about some great fine motor skill practice! This program really does it all.

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