Infusing movement activities into circle times isn’t just a nice thought, it’s a must!
Why? Because kids can not stay seated for an extended amount of time. Let me say that again, kids can not stay seated for an extended amount of time because they need to move!
By infusing a little bit of movement strategically placed throughout the circle time, it can not only increase engagement, but decrease behavior issues. A double whammy!
If the idea of having 20+ kids moving inside all at the same time sounds like the worst idea in the world, don’t worry, there are a lot of ways you can bring in movement that won’t make your kids (or you) go crazy! You’ll be able to control the environment to ensure safe and meaningful experiences without making the children feel controlled.
Let’s checkout type of movement songs that can make this happen.
1. Songs that only requires stationary movements
Stationary movements get kids on their feet, but don’t require children to leave their spot on the floor and move around the room. They include such movements as jumping, rocking, hopping, moving from high to low and spinning (careful with spinning as kids can get silly, so hold off until children are used to moving and you are comfortable with facilitating movement activities).
It is a great “first step” if you are just starting out introducing movement activities at circle time. Stationary movements will still get the blood flowing to the brain, which will still satisfy that primal need to move.
Learning Objective: Rhyming, singing, following directions, personal space, balancing, vocabulary, tempo and more!
How to teach it: Before turning on the song, have children point to their eyes, their ears, their mouth and their nose. Turn on the recording and follow along!
2. ABA Songs
Our brains love patterns! Many songs are written in ABA form meaning chorus, verse, chorus, verse (you get the idea). Finding movement songs where the A is a stationary movement and the B has children moving around the room means the song creates the structure for you. Verses are usually fairly short so they aren’t moving too much before stopping again for the A.
The short movements found in the B section are often choreographed. This allows children to begin to get experience moving around the room with other children while keeping their personal space. Because the B section doesn’t last long, they don’t get ramped up to the point where they have difficulty calming their bodies down.
Learning Objective: Patterns, singing, following directions, personal space, galloping, listening!
How to teach it: Tell the children that they will bounce on their horse in place during the beginning of the A Section, and then take their horse for a ride during the B section as they gallop around the room. Continue this stop/move pattern throughout the song. Be sure to join along with them so they’ll have you as a model. It’s a great way for you to energize your body and mind as well!
3. Stop and Start Songs
Moving and freezing, moving and freezing, moving and freezing. You get the idea. Much like ABA songs, stop and start songs also have a structure. But the fun part is, kids never know when they will stop or start so they have to be listening all the time! #focus!
These types of songs are best to introduce after your kids have had a lot of experience moving around the room and are able to maintain their personal space. The songs you choose can either have them moving any way they want (safely of course) during the movement or the song may say how to move such as tip-toeing or galloping.
You could even create your own stop and start movement activities with songs your kids love from the radio or Kidzbop! All you’ll need to do is stay by your music player and hit pause every so often and they’ll freeze.
Learning Objective: Alliterations, singing, following directions, personal space, body control, freezing, listening, movement vocabulary, tempo and more!
How to teach it: Turn on the music and encourage children to move around the room by moving their bodies the way the song suggests. When the songs says “stop”, they freeze their bodies till it starts again with a new movement. This song ends by slowing down and telling the children to sit – it makes the transition to a seated position so much easier!
I hope these above ideas help any teachers out there looking to add more movement in their circle times. Recognizing that children’s bodies and brains need to move and do so often will help to create a group environment where children want to return to again and again.
Want to add more meaningful movement activities to your circle time? Check out Musically Minded’s movement album, “Move, Move, Move”. Filled with 23 songs kids love, you’ll always have a song to keep kids engaged and having fun at circle time. Available in both digital download and CD.
No preschool weather-themed lesson plan would be complete without some really fun weather songs to incorporate at circle time. Many state standards actually require teachers to teach children how to observe and identify weather from day to day. It’s easy to teach about weather because it is something they have hands-on experience with each and every day.
Living in Seattle, we get a fair amount of the wet stuff so it’s a no brainer to include lots of rain-themed activities when teaching all about weather for me. I can’t wait to share them with you. So, let’s jump right in – splash!
COME UNDER MY UMBRELLA
Since we get SO MUCH rain, children know from a very young age all about umbrellas. “Come Under My Umbrella” is a great song to sing even if you don’t live in a rainy climate (must be nice). It allows us to incorporate a fun prop that often gets left in the closet because it’s hard to find a purposeful activity for it. Can you guess the prop? The parachute!
Don’t worry, if a parachute isn’t in your arsenal, you can easily modify. Use a bed sheet or even a large scarf if your group is small. Before I forget to mention it (because I never think of this 3 letter word “sun”)… if sunny skies are plentiful in your neck of the woods, you might want to show your kiddos a picture of an umbrella so they can have a frame of reference to know what the heck you are talking about. Just as I might want to show kids in Seattle a picture of a shovel (for the record, it snowed 7 inches on Christmas).
Check out the video below then scroll down to print the activity guides for all 3 weather activities below.
2. WHAT’S THE WEATHER LIKE TODAY
Checking the day’s weather is an activity many teachers do every day at circle time. Therefore, finding a song that is catchy and easy to learn is a must. “What’s the Weather Like Today” is simple because I wrote it to a familiar tune most everyone knows, “She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain”.
The concept of having children being able to observe and identify weather from day to day is a pre-K standard in science for many schools across the country. So not only will children be having fun, but you can feel good knowing you are checking that box.
The song has many variations and I suggest mixing it up every week or so to keep the learning fresh and kids engaged. Actually, how to keep kids engaged at circle time is often one of my most asked questions from teachers. One of the most effective ways…keep it fresh and fun! Who likes to eat the same meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day? Not this girl and I bet you don’t either. Think about the activities you repeat day in and day out at circle time. Would you stay engaged if you knew what to expect every time? Probably not. So make sure to keep those songs and activities rotatin’.
Wonder what the song looks like in action? Check out the video below.
Yep, we’ve got one more song and guess what, it’s about rain! Clearly it is on my mind as I watch it pour with no sign of sun in our future. This song is awesome for many reasons. One is because it is written in a minor key and kids love songs in minor. For those of you who aren’t familiar with what that means, click here to hear a song in minor. The other reason is the actions keep kids’ hands busy. Get what that means? They will be engaged! Check out the video below. Then be sure to download the activity guide too.
Halloween is just around the corner and I bet your little ones will go batty over this festive song! “Old McDonald Had a Haunted House” takes that popular farm song (you know the one?!?) and creates a perfect rendition for this time of year.
Old MacDonald had a haunted house,
E – I – E – I – Boo!
And in that house there was a bat,
E – I – E – I – Boo!
To add an additional layer of fun, engagement and a literacy connection, add a visual for everything in his house!
Don’t have time to source all the pictures? No worries, just click here or fill out the form at the bottom of the email. You’ll be able to download the activity pack for FREE! It includes the song sheet, activity guide and printables with character names (just like the one below) so you can start singing the song right away!
When the leaves on the trees begin to turn beautiful colors of red, orange and yellow, I can’t help but be happy! I love to find songs that also tie into the season since it is a relevant concept for my students to understand.
For years, I have been incorporating this fun, circle time song in October, so I thought I’d share it with you!
Be sure to watch the video above to hear more about how best to teach “Pass the Pumpkin”.
Then enter your name and email below to download the lyrics sheet, activity guide, notation audio recording!
One of my many reasons why I love to use music in the classroom is because it’s a great way for kids to get used to follow directions. The funny thing is, they’d never think of it this way!
Why? Because they are having fun! Aww, just the way we want it.
“Come Out of the Barn” is such a fun song because kids get to crawl around the room and not get in trouble! I find they are so excited about this freedom that they are actually extra well behaved!
LEARNING OUTCOMES: Cross-lateral movement, listening to directions, pretend play, rhyming and more!
WHAT TO DO: Tell the children that they are going to pretend to be mice. They can crawl out into the field (the classroom), but be ready to come back to the barn (the circle time area) as soon as the song tells them. Turn on the music and get down on the ground with your little mice!
“I can’t get my kids to sit still at circle time!” If I had a nickel for every time a teacher told me they struggled with this, I’d be rich!
Do you want to know the reason why kids can’t sit at circle? Kids need to move! It makes the brain function at its best. In classrooms today, we are seeing an increase in seat time and a decrease in free time. The result? Children who dislike school, feel stressed out and anxious and aren’t excited about learning.
Gretchen LeFever Watson, a clinical psychologist at Eastern Virginia Medical School found that ADHD is over-diagnosed. Experts estimate that 5% is a realistic upper limit of children with the disorder, but in many areas of the country, up to 33% of white boys are diagnosed with ADHD. Check out the study to learn more.
I wager to guess the demand on children to sit and be quiet in school has a lot to do with it. Behavior is communication and I believe they are crying out to move! So why not use movement as a way to learn? Let me tell you why you should not just consider it, but give it a try today.
3 Reasons why kids need to move to learn.
Movement is a Primal Need
It wasn’t long ago that our ancestors were nomadic. Meaning, they walked up to 14 miles a day in search of food and shelter. Now children sit much of their day! Evolution has not caught up to this sedentary lifestyle.
John Medina, author of Brain Rules says, “if you wanted to create an education environment that was directly opposed to what the brain was good at doing, you would probably design something like a classroom”
2. Movement Locks in Learning
Why? Because it activates so many parts of the brain. We form a more robust memory when we learn this way. Would you rather teach something to children 55 times using our traditional method of teaching, also known as skill and drill? Or teach them the same concept 5 times before they understand it? I thought so!
3. Movement Feeds the Brain
When the brain is asked to focus for long periods of time without being fed, it throws a fit. In young children, this means grabbing books off the shelf during story time, dog piling a neighbor or in some cases, straight up walking away.
Because our brain does not store energy, it must be fed to keep going. Guess what it likes to eat? Oxygen-rich blood!
This can be achieved through a variety of ways such as telling an emotionally-charged story that recaptures attention, or by getting the students up and moving their bodies.
By recognizing that your learners need to refocus, refresh and recharge often, you’ll be more likely to create activities where children stay engaged from beginning to end.
By getting children up and moving every 10 minutes (let’s be honest, every 3-4 minutes is more realistic), they will be reenergized as oxygen-rich blood is sent to feed their brains.
Click hereto check out “Move, Move, Move!” Infused with songs to get kids up and on their feet, it is a perfect mix of actions songs to add to your circle times.
Do you want 7 Secrets for Circle Time? Fill out the form below, and you’ll be on your way from chaos to calm in no time!
>>>>>Download the activity by entering your information below<<<<<
When September roles around, it is pretty common for the “All About Me” theme to fill many preschool teachers’ lesson planning books.
This song, “My Great Big World,” is a perfect addition to your “All About Me” circle times. It’s sure to keep kids engaged as they will learn the sign language for several of the words in the song!
Teachers will love “My Great Big World” because the adaptions are endless! You could literally use this song all year long when introducing a new theme or topic to your class.
Some of the skills fostered in “My Great Big World” are:
Singing with others
Sign language
Developing an awareness of self
Check out the video below so you can see the song in action! Then be sure to click on the link to download the activity guide, audio recording and chords to play the song on ukulele or guitar.
Download My Great Big World!
Simply enter your name and email in the fields below. Once you’ve done that, check your email for this free resource. I hope you find it to be a fun song to add to your “All About Me” theme!
Do you know what the biggest struggle is when it comes to circle time? Keeping kids engaged!
Here’s how it goes….you plan this amazing list of activities to do at circle time, but you can’t even get a word in edgewise! With kids complaining about not having enough space, someone’s in their seat or they have to go to the bathroom, it is no wonder many teachers say circle time is their least favorite part of the day.
What if I could give you 7 tried and true secrets that will begin to turn your circle times around? These secrets have come from me falling flat on my face repeatedly until I found what works. This means, I’ve failed so you don’t have to!
If you are ready to make a change at circle time, check out the “7 Secrets for Circle Time Success” and get ready to rock your circle times tomorrow!
Songs for Circle Time
A really awesome way to keep kids engaged is to have lots and lots of activities to share. My two favorite kinds of activities are music and movement ones of course.
There was a preschool teacher name Cindy who started every circle time with a story. Sometimes she’d make up a story and use one of the students in her class as the main character, while other times she’d retell a classic tale such as Cinderella or Jack and the Beanstalk. Whatever her story for the day was about, the children were captivated and couldn’t get enough. It became something they looked forward to each and every day.
By the end of the school year, Cindy’s kids had not only heard a vast array of stories, they could retell a few themselves! What if you could be like Cindy too?!?
Did you know that storytelling dates back thousand and thousands of years? Before there was the written word, there were storytellers who passed down stories by word of mouth from generation to generation.
This day and age we have access to millions of books, but the captivating components of a good story being told seems to never get old.
I’ve found when working with kids, if I simply say, “once upon a time….,” the room goes silent and they can’t wait to hear my story.
That’s why I tell a story at least once a month in my music classes.
Benefits of Storytelling
The benefits of storytelling for children are endless. The focus and listening skills required by the listener to ensure they don’t miss a key part of the story are strengthened when they concentrate on the storyteller’s voice.
Language skills are built with the introduction of new vocabulary and phrases. If I use a word or phrase that needs an explanation, I’ll ask the children if they know what it means. This offers an opportunity for those who are familiar with the word or phrase to share with the group. It also shows them that it is ok to ask me if they aren’t sure what a word means.
Because I’m not reading from a picture book that provides imagery, my listeners are encouraged to use their own imagination to picture the story and what the characters look like.
Unlike reading a book, storytelling gives me the freedom to change anything I want. I will often ask the children to help me name the characters or decide what should happen next in the story. It’s like “choose your own adventure” and who doesn’t like that?!? When I do this, I’m encouraging creativity and audience participation. This of course increases overall engagement!
Note: I usually have at least some kind of prop when I am telling the story to keep them visually engaged such as a flannel board and felt pieces or puppets. BTW, If you don’t have a flannel board to do your stories with yet, be sure to check out my blog on how to make a flannel board box. It is actually my favorite way to tell a story and the kids love it too!
Last but not least, many classic folktales also contain a moral or lesson. Without realizing it, kids are learning valuable life lessons in a fun and engaging way.
How to Prepare to Tell a Story
Don’t worry if you aren’t comfortable with the idea of being a storyteller. It’s a skill and can easily be learned with a little bit of practice.
The best way to go about preparing to share a story is to find one you love. You might start with a story you already know like “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”. Or check out one of my favorite books by storytelling extraordinaire, Margaret Reed McDonald, Three Minute Tales. She has written a ton of books as a collector of stories from around the world. You also might enjoy her book The Storyteller’s Start-Up Book: Finding, Learning, Performing and Using Folktales. It offers tips and tricks to get started telling stories kids (and adults) will love to hear!
The key is to remember the basic plot and then fill in the rest with your own words. Practice telling the story while you drive or even while taking a shower.
Once you’ve become comfortable with it, just do it!
Would you like to hear one of my favorite stories? Watch the video below. and be sure to have the kids join in on the song that repeats throughout the story! Then try retelling it in your own words. What’s fun about storytelling is you never tell the story the same way twice!
It’s almost summer road trip season and that means long hours in the car with a lot of “I’m bored,” and “are we there yet?” comments coming from the backseat.
Why not use the time to teach your kiddos some of those traditional tunes that are way too quickly being forgotten?
You know, the camp songs you grew up with? The ones your parents or grandparents sang? Those are the ones!
The sad thing is, they aren’t being passed on to this generation. Instead, they are busy on their “devices” and missing out on all of the benefits that come from singing together.
It’s time to change that starting this summer. Are you in? Great!
Now check out my top 3 songs every kid should know for a road trip and let’s get singing! If you are looking for more, simply download “The Ultimate Road Trip Song Book” and you’ll have a ton of songs for your next adventure.
Top 3 Songs for Summer Road Trips
She’ll Be Comin’ Round the Mountain
This classic song has it all! From repetition to sequencing, everyone can join in and even write some new lyrics too.
Lyrics:
She’ll be comin’ round the mountain when she comes (toot, toot).
She’ll be comin’ round the mountain when she comes (toot, toot).
She’ll be comin’ round the mountain.
She’ll be comin’ round the mountain.
She’ll be comin’ round the mountain when she comes (toot, toot).
Verses:
• She’ll be drivin’ six white horses when she comes (Whoa back!)
• Oh, we’ll all go out to meet her when she comes (Hi babe!)
• She’ll be wearing red pajamas when she comes (Scratch, scratch)
• She will have to sleep with Grandma when she comes (She snores!)
>>Get The FREE Ultimate “Road Trip” Song Book <<
2. Baby Bumblebee
Get ready to practice your “b” sound as you sing all about bees! The rhyming is everywhere which is great for preparing little ones to read. You got it, rhymers are readers!
Lyrics:
I’m bringing home a baby bumblebee,
Won’t my mommy be so proud of me,
(Cup hands together as if holding bee)
I’m bringing home a baby bumblebee,
Ouch! It stung me!
(Shake hands as if just stung)
I’m squishing up the baby bumblebee,
Won’t my mommy be so proud of me,
(‘Squish’ bee between palms of hands)
I’m squishing up a baby bumblebee,
Ooh! It’s yucky!
(Open up hands to look at ‘mess’)
I’m wiping off the baby bumblebee,
Won’t my mommy be so proud of me,
(Wipe hands off on shirt)
I’m wiping off the baby bumblebee,
Now my mommy won’t be mad at me!
(Hold hands up to show they are clean)
3. See Ya Later Alligator
Many road trips involve visiting family or friends. When it’s time to bid adieu, why not have a few ways to say it?
