Kindermusik Home Materials have ARRIVED!

If you’d like to receive your materials before classes start in January, call Miss Mindy at 602-350-9197 to arrange for pick-up. We’re going to have some fun making music, and learning together!

December Music Note: Christmas Choreography!

Christmas time with all its hustle and bustle doesn’t always bring out the best in our children. There is an abundance of excitement to contain and channel. How do you help your children plan, guide, and self-regulate their behavior? You CHOREOGRAPH! Notice I didn’t say dance, but choreograph! Free dancing has some wonderful benefits, but that’s not the subject of this Music Note. Choreographing requires a child to think, plan, listen attentively, and then self-regulate their movements to a story based on cues in the music. This is similar to the patterns used to write a story or essay. (Incidentally, if your child is having a hard time writing, having him act out or use small toys or objects to play through his story. This will make it easier for him to organized and understand the ideas he will be writing about.)

A child can choreograph by himself, with siblings, or you can all choreograph together as a family. If you can get them excited about what they are choreographing they will spend hours putting together a special performance for you to enjoy on Christmas Eve. Remember that boys may want to create a funny number rather than more serious creation. Here are some ideas:

Dance the Christmas story-Pick an instrumental version of a traditional Christmas carol that has great variety in tempo and sound. Then figure out which parts of the story fit the different parts of the music selection. Don’t have the children talk out the story; have them move in ways that communicate what is going on. Don’t try to teach them steps or specific actions, just have them dance freely to communicate. Have them use cues from the music to know when to change from one part of the story to another. You can also do just part of the Christmas story like the Angels appearing to the Sheppards. (Suggested Music: The Holly & the Ivey)

Be Elves at Santa’s Workshop-This can be a lot of fun and is easy to figure out what to do. Suggest some funny things that could happen, like elves bumping into each other and falling, or spilling hot chocolate. (Suggested Music: In a Workshop Way Up North)

Be Santa Delivery Presents-This offers a lot of scope for imagination. You need reindeer, Rudolf, Santa, etc. This could work with an instrumental version of Up on the Housetop.

Be Christmas Bells-Ring out the news of Christmas, the children can plan parts in the song to join hands and circle, or dance together in pairs, etc. (Suggested Music: Christmas Bells, if you have bells for notes, C, E, G, they match perfectly with the song. Hoppy Lobby sold these type of bells last year.)

http://www.musick8kids.com/ this website has all the songs I’ve suggested. You can download them for $0.99. Look under kids, then select browse all songs, next scroll through to the songs I’ve suggested. You can listen to the songs before purchasing and downloading them. Another wonderful song on this website is Sing We of Christmas.

Some of my fondest Christmas memories are of dancing as a family in front of our lighted Christmas Tree. We love watching home videos of us dancing together; they bring loads of laughter and delightful memories. Have a wonderful Holiday Season!