Shake, Shimmy, & Dance: 7/11

The Plan

Book
I used a book published in 2017 that I’m not 100% sure about Caldecott eligibility on so I’m going to refrain from posting about it just in case.

Props
Parachute!

The Playlist

Hello & How Are You? — Old Town School of Folk Music
Jump Up (It’s a Good Day) — Brady Rymer and the Little Band That Could
Freeze Dance — The Fresh Beat Band
Dance With Me — The Not-Its
Moving in a Circle — The Learning Groove
In and Out (Take a Trip) — Laurie Berkner
Shake Hands With Friends — Ella Jenkins

How It Went

Today was my birthday, so I picked a lot of songs that I knew would make me happy to be doing that morning when I planned back in May. For Jump Up (It’s a Good Day), we did a lot of jumping. Freeze Dance is self-explanatory, and Dance With Me is a song that I love to use to get caregivers engaged in the program. Each kiddo was instructed to find a grown-up that they wanted to dance with. Most of them chose the grown-up that brought them, but I did have a little group dance with me. 😀

I tried to use Moving in a Circle as we walked around the room holding the parachute. This would have varying degrees of success depending on the age of the kids, but my group did very well with it. I think with more practice, we might be able to stop, turn, and change directions someday.

In and Out (Take a Trip) was intended to have kids walk towards the center of the parachute and then go back out. The parachute would have been flexible enough to follow them and I had hoped it would create a cool billowing effect. The kids, however, had other plans and went under the parachute and some went back out (but that was only a few). I would definitely try to explain this differently if I decide to use it again.

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