Music

Seriously Rockin’ Music Homeschool Curriculum & Cardboard Box Activity

By Marnie Craycroft Filed Under: Activities, Curriculum Tagged With: Homeschool, Music This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

This post contains ideas for music homeschool curriculum. Additionally, the post includes a “how to make a cardboard castle” activity, perfect for a unit on the composer, Richard Strauss, and Germany. As I plan out our homeschool year, Maestros Classics is undoubtedly part of our curriculum.

The products are of high quality and comprehensive. I purchased music to cover my homeschool year with my 4.5-year-old (the below package). The FREE curriculum guides are rich with information to fill a day and certainly a year's worth of learning across topics, simply using music as a stepping stone.

Related Read: Introduction to Music for Preschoolers

We received Merry Pranks of Master Till for review recently. It was a total hit in our home! My boys, ages 6 and 4, love any tale that involves a bit of a troublemaker. They can relate to the character, I suppose. The fact that this tale is told through beautiful storytelling and Richard Strauss' classical music is the icing on the cake.

Why We Love Maestros Classics

We love the music offered by Maestros Classics. The storytelling and musical accompaniment is wonderful. The amazing bonus is the additional support with FREE CURRICULUM for teachers and parents. This curriculum is not simply printable coloring pages. The curriculum is comprehensive and covers a wide array of topics and age ranges. Quite impressive and ideal for homeschooling families.

Learning geography and culture is certainly one piece of goodness. My 4.5 year old listened to Merry Pranks of Master Till in his listening station. I mentioned that the composer of Merry Pranks, Richard Strauss, was from Germany. He promptly pulled out our globe to understand where Germany existed in our world. I then went on to explain (truthfully what little) I know about Germany. I do know that the country has many castles and rich history. So, what would appeal to my 4.5-year-old to further this learning? A Cardboard Castle, of course.

How to Make a Cardboard Castle

I was pleasantly surprised, as I research Maestro Classics FREE curriculum on Master Till, to find a castle making activity perfect for my son: making a castle from a cardboard box. We always have boxes in our recycling so this project worked out perfectly for us! Such a simple activity to put together and it keeps on giving back.

Materials Needed to Make a Cardboard Castle

String or Yarn
X-Acto or Scissors
Cardboard Box
Crayons or Markers
Figurines (we used Safari's Knights & Dragons Toob)

Steps to Making a Cardboard Castle

Pretty straightforward. I will send you onto Enchanted Learning for more details. Once you cut the opening and make the basic castle design, you're off to design with your own imagination!

I hope you enjoyed this post. Be sure to check out Maestros Classics for more information!

Marnie

Finger Tap Painting Music & Art Activity for Kids

By Marnie Craycroft Filed Under: Science Tagged With: Elementary, Homeschool, Kindergarten, Music, Preschool, Sensory This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Combine music, listening skills, fine motor skills, and art with this Finger Tap Painting Activity for Kids. I am a huge fan of all of MaryAnn Kohl's books. The books cover disciplines like math and science AND make it fun for children by combining nature, movement, and process art. In my view, these books are the perfect compliment to a homeschool curriculum.

Music Activity for Kids

Even if you aren't homeschooling, having these books for reference is useful for any parent or caretaker. I use them as references nearly every day with my 5 and 3.5-year-olds. I honestly don't remember from which book the inspiration for this activity came but I know she inspired me for sure.

[Tweet “”I am interested in ideas, not merely in visual products.” ~ Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968) “]

Finger Tap Painting Art Activity for Kids

Materials for Painting Activity

Washable Tempera Paint
String or Yarn
Beads or Gems with a hole
Paper
Classical Music (optional but a great addition to the activity)

Approach to Painting Activity

Play Classical Music
Cut string at a length that works with the child's fingers
Tie the beads onto the string
Tie the string onto the child's fingers (I started with one finger with my 3.5-year-old to give him a feel for it.)
Prepare the paint in either a dish or directly onto the paper
Invite the child to “play the piano” on the paper and paint
Allow time for the artwork to dry and display

Process art is a beautiful thing. Remember that. I tend to get caught up in the end product. For children, though, the process is the part where they exercise imagination, creativity, and are truly developing themselves. Their spirits shine through the process of whether art, math, science, reading, or writing.

I hope you enjoyed this post.

Marnie

Simply “Be” with Children

By Marnie Craycroft Filed Under: Parenting Tagged With: Easy & Inexpensive, Music, Positive Parenting, Reading and Writing, Sensory This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

One of the most remarkable things I observed about my sons' Nature Immersion camp was that there were no books, no toys, no art supplies…there was nature. That is all the children needed…The teacher allowed the children to lead with their interests and used her extraordinary knowledge of plants, animals and the earth to create the most phenomenal experience for children I have ever witnessed.

So, try it, go on a walk, outside. Freaked out? Yeah, me too. Having faith in leaving home with your children without any plans or “things” scares me. Here are a few ideas:

Nibble like deer on cedar (it tastes good)
Pick berries
Play ‘what's Missing?' With objects from nature
Create a maze, labyrinth or spiral from objects in nature
Roll down a hill
Stare at the clouds
Tell stories
Find a sit spot
Sing songs
Create a home in the outdoors: have your child make their beds, identify a kitchen
Make a campfire from sticks and leaves
Find a bear cave
Find a hill for sliding and a tree for climbing
Choose a favorite tree
Go to the library and seek reference guides to help you identify the plants and animals
Listen to the birds
Simply listen to the sounds of the outdoors
Play “hide and seek” with animal calls
Go barefoot
Find a dirt pile and dig
Build a tee pee with sticks
Go on a Thumbelina Walk: what do you see?
Take a close look at rocks: imagine the journey of that rock
Make a band with the trees, sticks and other objects around you.
Consider placing pony beads, yarn, chalk and glitter out on the trail so the child can decorate his walkway and his sit spot

Feeling inspired? Leave your ideas in a comment!
Marnie

Preschool Math Gold Coin Estimation

By Marnie Craycroft Filed Under: Montessori Tagged With: Easy & Inexpensive, Holidays, Homeschool, Math, Music, Preschool, Shelf Work This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Preschoolers are ripe for learning math concepts. They may not know it but their brain sure do. For example, within Montessori introducing preschoolers to geometry via the geometric solids (visual) and the geometric cabinet (visual and fine motor) as a start prepares them for more complex math concepts down the line. Fascinating, right?

Here is a simple math exercise for your to introduce into your home or classroom. To introduce this activity I invited my son and using a single mason jar with a random amount of gold coins in it, I asked him: ‘How many coins are in this jar?'

His reply was an enthusiastic, '50!'

We then counted the coins together to find there were only 11 coins in the jar: “There are less coins in this jar than 50. 11 is less than 11.”

So we did the exercise again. His reply this time was way off in the opposite direction: ‘3!'

We then counted the coins together to find there were 22 coins in the jar: “There are more coins in this jar than 3. 22 is more than 3.”

The third time he was much closer. The learning curve was steep. At that point he wanted me to take a turn. I went with it. I thought it was a good opportunity to let him k ow that us adults do t always have the answers. Sometimes we're wrong (gasp!).

{Comparison} The next part of the lesson I brought out a second jar. In one jar I placed two coins. In the other jar I placed 20 coins. Without using many words, I pointed to the jar with ‘less' and said: ‘This jar has less coins than this jar.' Then I pointed to the other jar and said: ‘this jar has more coins than this jar.' Then we counted the coins to verify the amount.

{Language Cards} Then I introduced simple language cards: ‘more' and ‘less' to further emphasize the “more than” and “less than” language I used in the introduction.

{On the Shelf} I placed the two jars on a tray with the gold coins in a separate bowl. I placed the language cards in a small basket on the tray. Then I placed the tray on a shelf in their learning space. My sons know they can work with the material as they desire.

As a side note, right on par with his developmental stage, my two year old took the coins, plopped them in one of the jars and then poured them into the other jar. Not exactly what the work was meant to be used for (if you are 3-6 years old) but perfectly used for a younger child. Kids are amazing.

Thanks for visiting!
Marnie

Celebrate New Years with these Songs for Preschoolers

By Marnie Craycroft Filed Under: Activities Tagged With: Holidays, Music, New Year's, Preschool, Preschool Songs This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

What better way to ring in the new year with kids than with songs! This post includes New Year's Songs for Preschoolers!

New Year's Songs for Preschoolers

New Year's Songs – Movement

Put your arms down and out your sides(like a “V”), separate your a legs in similar fashion then rock side to side singing: “Tick Tock, Tick Tock, I'm a Little Cuckoo Clock, It's Now 1 o'clock”. Then Pop Up like you're doing a jumping jack once for one o'clock, twice for two o'clock, three times for three o'clock, etc while saying, “Cuckoo!” Here is a link to the lyrics and even a few videos for Tick Tock Tick Tock I'm a Little Cuckoo Clock.

New Year's Songs – Language

Hickory Dickory Dock is a classic. Integrate props to make the rhyme even more engaging! We have a great Hickory Dickory Dock (Classic Books With Holes) from Child's Play that we love to use for these sorts of activities. My 2 year old also loves Hickory, Dickory, Dock: And Other Favorite Nursery Rhymes (Padded Nursery Rhyme Board Books).

New Year's Songs – Telling Time

Introduce the concept of time with a great song on an album called Montessori Minute Melodies. Shelley Murley has several songs relevant to the New Year and introducing the concept of time. There is even a song called Time. You can hear a sample of Montessori Minute Melodies here. I really like the whole album and highly recommend it for your home and/or classroom.

New Year's Songs – Fun

Get into the New Year's spirit with this sweet New Year's craft and lovely New Year's tune from Kiboomu.

New Year's Songs – Learning

I created a New Year's Countdown Clock Counting activity for my 3.5 year old. I printed the letters in a way so that he could trace them. He loves working on his writing these days. I recommended printing this worksheet on legal sized paper and in black & white. Simply have your child draw a line from the number to the appropriate number of clocks. Download the FREE NEW YEAR'S PRINTABLE here.

Happy New Year, be safe and thanks for visiting me!

Marnie

Sharing World Cultures Through Musical Crafts

By Marnie Craycroft Filed Under: Activities Tagged With: Easy & Inexpensive, Music This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.

I am thrilled to be featuring guest writer, award-winning children’s performer, DARIA. Daria Marmaluk-Hajioannou has seven cd’s that have won national honors. She has the most awesome job of traveling the world to sing for kids and peace. Her website; located at dariamusic.com, was given a 2009 Parents Choice Award for its rich variety of music and cultural content.

Sharing World Cultures Through Musical Crafts

If you are exploring a new location on the globe you can check out it’s geography, language, food, dance or even the type of games that children of that country like to play. I love to learn about new cultures through their music, musical instruments and favorite celebrations. Here are some easy crafts that create musical instruments you can use to learn more about some of our neighbors around the world.

A Chinese Style Gong

If you bang a gong – everyone stops to listen! There are some stories about ancient Chinese gongs that claim they could be heard hundreds of miles away and were used to call farmers back from the fields. If you have a used roasting pan or pie tin, yarn or pipe-cleaners and a stick or wrapping paper tube, you can make your own version of this instrument at home.

How can you decorate it? Take some time to study Chinese lettering and calligraphy or motifs such as dragons. And, if you check out the instruction pdf below, there’s a chart of the Chinese Zodiac so you can look up the animal that represents the year you were born. Are you a rat, a pig or an ox? Look up your birth year to find out!

Create a Homemade Chinese Gong

Dance With Indian Ankle Bells

If you’ve ever seen Indian dance or a movie from Bollywood, you‘ve probably been amazed by the beautiful costumes, unique music and special hand, foot and eye movements of the dancers. The special ankle bells worn help to accent fancy footwork. You can make a simple version of this craft that ties like an anklet or a more complex version that resembles Indian Gunghroo bells. These attach to the feet through a small strip of velcro and sound great as a child moves around and dances.

Use this easy craft as a way to study the regions of India or other types of folk dance found around the world.

Make Your Own Ankle Bells

Explore Rhythms With A Latin American Guiro

If you have a plastic bottle with ridges and an unsharpened pencil, hair pick or chopstick, you can make a great working version of a Latin American guiro. The rasp – the object that rolls over the ridges – moves back and forth creating great patterns and rhythms. You can play while you sing or use your new instrument to accompany music from this region.

Where do guiros come from? This type of instrument can be found in a multitude of cultures, but is most often heard as part of the traditional music in Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico and many of the Latin American countries.

Make and Play a Guiro

Shake An African Shekere!

Most historians think that shekeres originated in West Africa. They quickly became so popular they can now be found in almost every country in Africa and all around the world. As the instrument travels from country to country in Africa: its name, shape, and manner of playing change slightly. You can explore a variety of African cultures, folklore and folk music at the same time you made your own simple version of his versatile and wonderful instrument.

I hope that we inspired you today! We love music!

Marnie

A Little More about Daria: With over 2 decades in children’ s music and multicultural education, Daria Marmaluk-Hajioannou has earned a variety of awards for contributions to the fields of arts and education. Her website introducing children to world music was given a 2009 Parent’s Choice Award for its resources for teachers, students and homeschoolers. She actively contributes content on the web and writes for various blogs including Wonder Baby (for disabled children), KinderArt, Hilltown Families, Making Multicultural Music and Tiny Tapping Toes.