Musical Living June 1
Week 1
This week you’ll learn the song I Have a Little Pony and practice singing it with your child. Start with three to four repetitions with each session. Click the title below, and you’ll also start the routine of listening to our monthly playlist. Try every morning while getting ready, or every evening during dinner, or the bedtime routine.
You can cast this to your smart speaker at home, or add to your own YouTube music app to listen to in the car or whenever it’s convenient for you. Try to listen to it every day for this month.
I Have A Little Pony
I have a little pony
His name is Macaroni
He trots and trots and then he stops
My funny little Macaroni
Bounces: Sing and bounce your child on your lap. Have an older child bounce a toy animal or doll on his/her lap.
Fast/Slow: Practice singing fast like the rabbit or slow like the turtle. Extension for those musically inclines: introduce music terms you can try Mr. Allegro the rabbit or Mr. Adagio the turtle.
Instruments: Try to play with rhythm sticks. Don’t have any? Just use wooden spoons or pencils. You’ll practice the steady beat with these.
Improvisation: Substitute your child’s name for Macaroni. You can also have your child choose names like mommy, daddy, siblings, pets, friends, family, etc.
Loud/Soft: Practice singing loud like the lion or soft like the mouse or spider. Extension: introduce music terms with Mr. Forte the Lion or Piano the Spider or Mouse.
Week 2
You’ll learn the rhyme called I Climbed Up The Appletree. If you have a baby just demonstrate the motions yourself and tell stories about the rhyme. If you have preschoolers, have them do the motions and say the rhyme with you. They can choose their own words to substitute for apple. Tapping the beat to the rhyme on your body or your child’s will be a success regardless of age. Don’t be discouraged if they’re very young. My son still remembers all the songs and rhymes we did in his first 2 years of life. Babies are learning even if they can’t do the motions or say the words yet. You’re building their language skills for speaking and reading.
Scott Joplin, famous for ragtime, was an America composer of the late 1800’s/early 1900’s. His nickname was the King of Ragtime because he composed over 100 ragtime pieces including one of his most famous pieces, Maple Leaf Rag.
Ragtime was a popular style of music often played on pianos in local saloons. It was called ragtime because of it’s ‘ragged’ rhymes. The rhyme is usually syncopated (off the beat) creating a jazzy feeling. Ragtime is not technically jazz because it doesn’t involve improvisation, but it is often thought of as composed jazz. It was a predecessor to jazz and was popular during the early New Orleans jazz style.
I Climbed Up the Appletree
I climbed up the appletree
All the apples fell on me
Apple pudding, apple pie
Did you ever tell a lie?
Hand motions: Follow the motions in the video. Phrase 1: climb arms upward. Phrase 2. Make fists and bump onto head, Phrase 3. Scoop right hand to mouth then left hand to mouth. Phrase 4. Wave pointer finger
Fast/Slow: Practice saying the rhyme quickly to get away from a bear chasing you, or slowly to creep by a sleeping bear.
Instruments: Can you find something to tap at home that might work like a drum? You can use a plastic jar with beads in it to tap the beat and hear to shake. You can make your own drum with packing tape and a coffee can or metal bucket.
Steady Beat: Say and move your arms to the steady beat. Tap your body or your child’s body. Try lap, shoulders, bottom of feet, back, belly, etc.
Improvisation: Substitute other fruits or vegetables for apple.
Loud/Soft: Practice saying with a quiet voice so you don’t wake the sleeping bear, or with a loud voice so you can warn your mom that there is a bear coming.
High/Low: Practice saying with a high spoken voice or a low spoken voice. The butterfly voice is usually the high sound and the frog voice is the low sound. Create another story how you climbed to tree to the very very very top and started telling the butterfly high in the sky about your climbing for the day. Then you fell out of the tree and landed in the pond by the tree with a big splash. You were okay, but the frog nearby wanted to know what you did.
Week 3
This week you’ll learn and teach your child the rhyme Where Are You Going Big Pig, Big Pig? This is a vocal exploration activity for children to learn how their voices work, how to make different sounds and timbres, and pitches. For babies, you’ll say the rhyme with your fingers one high and one low. Eventually older kids will join in. Hold the high voice speaking finger up high and the low voice speaking finger down low. This is a great opportunity for finger puppets like a butterfly and big. No worries, kids love it without the puppets. Keep it simple. If all you can do this week is say the rhyme three times a day for 3 days, then do that much. You’ll still see amazing benefits of language development in your child and joy and parent/child bonding. Click the Words and Activities titles for printable PDFS.
Bessie Smith was a renowned African American blues singer of the Jazz Age in the early 1900’s. Her nickname was Empress of the Blues.
Blues is a musical genre that originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860’s. It’s rooted in African American work songs, spirituals, chants, and ballades. Blues are often in call and response form and are important predecessors to jazz music.
Where Are You Going Big Pig Big Pig?
Bird/Butterfly: Where are you going Big Pig, Big Pig?
Pig: Out in the garden to dig, dig, dig
Bird: Out in the garden to dig, dig, dig
Shame on you Big Pig, Big Pig
Pig: I’m sorry ma’am but I’m only a pig and all I can do is dig, dig, dig.
High/Low: Say the rhyme using high voice for the butterfly and a low voice for the pig. You can add more creativity and variation by holding the child up in the air on the high part and down to the ground on the low part. Mobile children can crawl for the low parts and walk for the high parts. You can even have fun with it and have children creep low to the ground for low and jump high in the sky for high sounds.
Finger play: Use your fingers or finger puppets when saying the rhyme. Hold the finger speaking first with the high voice high in the air and the pig speaking with the low voice low to the ground.
Question and Answer: Take turns with older children saying the butterfly part while the child answers with the frog part then switch.
Improvisation: Create variations on where the pig is going to dig and why. After many examples, have preschoolers come up with some of their own. Don’t worry the babies are still learning when you make up different creations.
Instruments: Using typical household instruments like wooden spoons and/or pencils for rhythm sticks, you can take the steady beat while saying the rhyme. A variation would be to hold them high in the sky when using the high voice and low to the ground when using the low voice.
Week 4
This week you’ll review all the songs/rhymes you did for the month and/or previous months. Each musical session you create should have 3-4 repetitions. Then you’ll do each rhyme/song 3-4 sessions a week, and now you’ll review all the pieces you taught for the month. This creates a musical atmosphere where both you and the child(ren) have really learned the songs and rhymes. Then these three songs and rhymes can be reviewed whenever you see a horse/pony, apple/appletree, or pig. The crafts, activities, and books are fun interesting ways to extend, expand, and internalize the material. If all you can do is say the rhyme 3 times a day everyday, you are successful!
Listen to this playlist everyday this week. We love to cast it from the phone to our google home in the mornings when we’re getting ready and eating breakfast. Alternatively, play in while you’re eating dinner and getting ready for bed, or catch it during morning playtime. You can create fun dance parties to the playlist, use scarves or ribbons to dance.
I have a little pony
His name is Macaroni
He trots and trots and then he stops
My funny little Macaroni
Sing the song and do a pony/horse craft. You and your child can hum and sing the song while working, and move the craft around the room after the craft is finished. Click here to check out this or find your own on Pinterest.
Check out horse/pony books for toddlers from your local library or try this one from AbeBooks.
I climbed up the appletree
All the apples fell on me
Apple pudding, apple pie
Did you ever tell a lie?
Tap these apples in the pdf above to the steady beat while saying.
Try this easy appletree craft. Say the rhyme while doing the craft a few times with loud/soft voices, high/low voices, fast/slow voices. Create stories about the animals that live by the tree turtle/rabbit for slow/fast, lion/mouse or spider for loud/soft, butterfly/frog for high/low.
Choose any appletree, apple pie, or apple related book to read from the library to go along with this rhyme. You can also order this one from AbeBooks to read before and after saying the rhyme.
Bird: Where are you going Big Pig, Big Pig?
Pig: Out in the garden to dig, dig, dig
Bird: Out in the garden to dig, dig, dig
Shame on you Big Pig, Big Pig
Pig: I’m sorry ma’am but I’m only a pig and all I can do is dig, dig, dig.
Steady Beat: Tap your body and your child’s body to the steady beat. Tap shoulders, head, knees, toes, hands, belly, anything playful.
Movement: Bounce your child on your lap, gallop around the house, march to the beat, and move high/low to each song/rhyme.
On The Go: choose a day to do these songs/rhymes outside on a walk, in the car, at the library, at the grocery, during diaper changes, anytime, and anywhere.
Repetition: If you put in a little work now, you’ll be amazed to see your child sing these songs/rhymes all on his/her own, while playing in the bath, riding in the car, on walks.
