Engaging Preschoolers with Music

Shake, Rattle, and Roll: Rhythm Instruments and More for Active Learning by Abigail Flesch Connors contains hundreds of ideas for singing, moving, listening, and playing music with young children.

Activities using rhythm sticks, shakers, bell, sand block, tambourines, drums and other rhythm instruments such as the xylophone, ukulele, guiro, triangle and lollipop drum. Music and movement ideas include activities about body parts, animals, scarves, Spanish words, American Sign Language, and inner listening skills among others.

Music, a way of life for the young child by Linda Carol Edwards

This book explains the rationale and techniques for using music with infants, toddlers, and young children through the age of five as well as the developmentally appropriate stages for its introduction. Coverage is built on a strong foundation of research and theory, incorporating findings in the field and the suggestions of users. The authors take a developmental approach to the role of music in the life of the young child, and offer a sound program for successfully bringing music into the early childhood educational environment.

Musical children : engaging children in musical experiences.

The book presents 25 strategies for engaging children who are learning music based on the latest Music Educators National Conference (MENC) standards. It includes reproducible student activity charts, a song selection of 40 notated melodies, a collection of chants, and resource material.

 

 

 

Solar Eclipse

I recently presented a space theme family storytime and began with an introduction to the upcoming solar eclipse with Looking Up: The Science of Stargazing. There was an easy to understand explanation of the solar eclipse beginning on page 34.

Another nonfiction book with easy to understand concepts is Experiments with the Sun and the Moon.

The Sun and the Moon by Lisa Desimini

Beautifully illustrated story of giants following the moon and sun in search of their soulmates who finally meet each other during an eclipse.

The children really enjoyed answering the questions about the book I want to be an Astronaut, and explaining why they did, or did not want to be an astronaut!

Sun and Moon by Lindsey Yankey

The book begins with the moon begging the sun to trade places with him, for just one day, as his nights were dark and lonely. He believed that the sun was able to see all the beautiful things in the world had during the day. The sun agreed, but upon two conditions: the moon must trade with her forever, and before she was willing to trade, he had to look at the world closer than he ever had before. The moon was excited to look at the world in a way he never had before. He was expecting to see the same things he saw night after night, darkness but he was surprised when he looked just a little bit closer.

We finished with Zoom! Zoom! Zoom! and the action rhyme of the same name.

https://www.todaysparent.com/lullaby_lyrics/zoom-zoom-zoom-lyrics/

Here’s some great activities from NASA:

https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/activities

Here’s a coloring sheet and activity for the solar eclipse dragon.

https://sunearthday.gsfc.nasa.gov/2008eclipse/materials/Coloring_Dragon.pdf

Here’s a fun craft with coffee filters:

http://www.lookwerelearning.com/coffee-filter-solar-eclipse-craft/