Morgan Sparks, Author at Bear Paw Creek

Animal Boogie Lesson Plan Share

Morgan Sparks — Mon, 10 Apr 2017 10:49:15 +0000

Animal Boogie Lesson Plan Share

I have taught early childhood music and movement classes for several years. My favorite way to plan sessions is to base the session on a book I know my families will love. The following is one of the lesson plans for my 0-3 class that I’ve used with the book Animal Boogie.

Welcome and Beginning

Hello Song- Welcome to Blooming Rhythms
I wrote a hello song specific to my early childhood program, Blooming Rhythms, and that’s what I use to open every class. I greet each child by name within the song.

Lap Bounce- I Took a Walk to Town One Day

I took a walk to town one day,

and met a cat along the way

What do you think that cat did say?

MEOW, MEOW, MEOW

You can repeat this with any animal, take suggestions from the class, and even incorporate hand puppets for an added visual element. This is also a great rhyme to incorporate ASL for the animals and encourage vocal play with the animal sounds.

Instrument Exploration

I use either an instrument like a from guiro that looks like a specific animal, or an instrument that can be used to imitate animal sounds. Some great options for animal sounds are a gobbler for a turkey sound, castanets or wood block for a horse galloping, or a large drum for an elephant stomp. To help with sharing and transition, I give each child a visual and verbal count down (5, 4, 3, 2, 1, and pass). This has helped limit melt downs when the it’s time for the child to pass the instrument to the next child, and it ensures that each child has the same amount of time exploring the instrument.

Choreographed Movement Activity to Saint Saens: Carnival of the Animals (The Tortoise)

For this activity, I have the group stand in a circle. Each adult/child pair has the option of either allowing the child to walk next to the adult or be held. The movements are simple: 4 steps right, 4 steps left, 4 steps, 4 steps out, and I occasionally will throw in a 4-step turn. I give verbal cues to the group to let them know which movement is next. Any order of movements works with this piece, just repeat movements until the end. For the in and out, I encourage parents who are holding their children to face them into the circle so they can see and interact with the other children.

Check out this music and movement lesson plan for 0-3 year old. Share on X

Story Time

Story time is a much loved part of my class routine. Even the youngest children know when the blanket comes out, it’s time for a story. Animal Boogie has been a big hit in my classes. It’s a sing-able story with a catchy tune that also encourages movement. My students love identifying the animals and doing the movements.

Interactive Song: 5 Little Animals Jumping on the Drum

I love Rachel Rambach’s Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Drum, but instead of using five monkeys, I use five different animal puppets on my drum. I do this activity a few different ways depending on how many children are in the class. If I have five or fewer children, I let each child take a turn helping one of the animals “jump” off the drum. If the child is old enough, I will ask them to identify the animal and make the sound. If not, I will have the entire class help identify the animal and everyone make the sound. If I have a larger group, I will choose which animal “jumps” off and ask the class to help me figure out what the animal is and what sound it makes. Occasionally, I will just change the number of animals to match the number of children in the class.

Little Monkeys Jumping on the Drum from Rachel Rambach on Vimeo.

Free Movement to Saint Saens: Carnival of the Animals (The Aviary)

For this movement activity, I give the children and caregivers scarves and encourage them to “fly” around the room like birds. At the end of this activity, I instruct the children to fly gently to their caregiver for quiet time.

Quiet Time/Rocking

The song I use for this varies greatly depending on the mood of the class. Sometimes I will use recorded music and other times I will invite the adults to sing a lullaby with me.

Goodbye Song- Goodbye Friends

My goodbye song is the same tune as my hello song, only I slow it down a bit and accompany with finger picking instead of strummed chords. After I sing goodbye to each child, I give them the opportunity to strum my guitar.

What are some of your favorite themes and activities that you use in your early childhood classes? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Morgan Sparks

Morgan Sparks, MT-BC, is the owner of Rhythm Garden Music LLC, where she provides music therapy services, early childhood music enrichment classes and music lessons in West Central Indiana. She is a board-certified music therapist, Barefoot Books Ambassador, wife, and momma to an energetic toddler. Visit her website and follow her on social media at MTMompreneur.com.

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5 Great Singable Stories to Engage Your Child

Morgan Sparks — Thu, 12 Jan 2017 22:44:34 +0000

5 Great Singable Stories to Engage Your Child

I love singable stories. As a music therapist, early childhood music educator, and toddler mom, I value books that are fun, engaging, and diverse. I look for books that I know the kids are going to love and I’m not going to get tired of reading. I look for books with songs that are catchy and easy for my son and me to sing together even when I don’t have the book in my hand. Most importantly, I look for books that provide teachable moments. Here are five of my favorite singable stories that do just that.

Barefoot Books Singable Stories

Animal Boogie

This was my first singable story from Barefoot Books. I fell in love with this book because it not only had a really catchy tune, but it also featured diverse characters. As a music therapist, I work mostly with individuals with disabilities, so it was very heartwarming to see a young lady in a wheelchair featured prominently in the story.

Engage:

Use this as a “sing and move” book- children can get their wiggles out and still meaningfully engage in the story by doing the dance moves on each page. Help your child identify the animals. Talk about where the animal might live. Using this story in a group setting? Turn it into a circle dance!

Driving My Tractor

I live in the middle of farm country, so anything farm-related is a big hit with my families. I will often sing this song in the car as I take my son to daycare and let him fill in the animal and the last line- “It’s a very busy day!”

Engage:

Help your child find and identify the animals (and their colors) on each page. Do some vocal play with the animal sounds. Ask your child what other songs they know about farm animals. Change the words to match your day- What are you driving? What makes it a “very busy day” for your family?

Dinosaur Rap

My son is a huge dinosaur fan, so this book has been a big hit in my home since it released last fall. What’s really cool about this book is that it really is a ‘rap’, so it makes for a totally different experience than what children typically get from a singable story.

Engage:

Help your child practice saying the names of the dinosaurs. Talk about similarities and differences between the dinosaurs. Dance like the dinosaurs. Don’t be afraid to be a little silly- why not add some beatboxing to the rap?

@MTMOMpreneur shares 5 Great Singable Stories to Engage Your Child Share on X

Over in the Meadow

This one is based on the nursery rhyme of the same name. I’ve noticed that fewer children seem to be learning nursery rhymes, so I always include as many as I can in my classes.

Engage:

Craft time- create some animal finger puppets to use with the story. Help your child identify the animals and their sounds. Talk about where each animal might call home.

A Hole in the Bottom of the Sea

This is a cute take on the campfire song with the same title that introduces children to the marine food chain.

Engage:

Talk about ocean life and the marine food chain. Help your child identify each animal. Learning time- can you and your child remember the order of the animals without the book? Add props for hands-on learning.

Bonus:

The final pages of each book include additional pictures and information about the book’s topic to take learning and discussion a step further. Notated music and lyrics are also included on the last page. Each book comes with an enhanced CD.

Morgan Sparks

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