Thursday, May 31, 2012

Two Little Blackbirds and The Piano Game Activities

These games will help to grow the brains of infants and toddlers. Whether it’s through singing, dancing, cuddling, rocking, talking, smelling, or tasting, you can encourage the brain pathways to make new connections.

Music Activities for Infants and Toddlers

Two Little BlackbirdsSing or say the words to this popular children’s song as you do the actions

Two Little BlackbirdsTwo little blackbirds sitting on a hill – Hold up the index finger of each hand.
One named Jack and one named Jill –Wiggle one finger for Jack and the other finger for Jill.
Fly away Jack - take the Jack finger and put it behind you.
Fly away Jill – take the Jill finger and put it behind you.
Come back Jack – bring you finger back to where you began
Come back Jill – bring your finger back to where you began.

Now play the following movement game.Divide the group into two parts. One part is “Jack” and the other is “Jill.”
Two little blackbirds sitting on a hill – wave your arms like a bird
One named Jack and one named Jill – say “tweet, tweet, tweet.”
Fly away Jack – fly to a different part of the room
Fly away Jill – fly to a different part of the room
Come back Jack – fly back to where you began
Come back Jill – fly back to where you began

Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:
For building confidence
– Say the words of the song together.
For developing the idea - Sing or say the words as you act out the story.

For moving forward - “Where do you think blackbirds live? What do you think they eat?”

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The Piano GameYou will need a keyboard.
The word "piano" comes from the Italian word "pianoforte" which means loud and soft. The piano can make both loud and soft sounds.

Let the children watch as you play some notes at the top of the piano. Talk about the "high" sound. Now play some notes at the bottom of the piano and talk about the "low" sounds. Ask the children to close their eyes and tell you whether you are playing a "high" sound or a "low" sound.

Ask the children to pretend they are elephants and move around the room. Play loud and slow notes on the keyboard. 

Ask the children to pretend they are butterflies and move around the room. Play high and fast notes on the keyboard.

You do not have to know how to play a piano to do this activity with the children. Just play one at a time in any order that you desire.

Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:
For building confidence
– Can you show me where the high sounds and low sounds are on the keyboard?

For developing the idea - Can you make your voice sound high and low?

For moving forward - Let’s make rain sounds. The high notes are raindrops and the low notes are thunder.

Products from Discount School Supply® that I recommend:
3-D Spindle Puzzles (ANIMATCH)
Soft Touch Baby Wild Animals (BABYZOO)
Counting Cookies (COOKIES)

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