Tips & Tricks: Finding Your RHYTHM at home

Our children are still developing their ability to focus and attend to tasks. Incorporate movement breaks every so often to give their minds a break! Play a favorite song or two and dance/play along! Incorporate movement props such as scarves, ribbons, capes, be creative!

Resources:

• The Hokey Pokey – You put your right foot in, You put your right foot out (follow the directions)
• I’m a Little Teapot – I’m a little teapot, Short and stout (act out being a teapot shape)
• Hop a little, Jump a little
• If You’re Happy and You Know It
• Shake Break Exercise Song
• Freeze Dance Painting (Activity for outside)
  • For this freeze dance painting activity, take a large canvas (or create one by taping pieces of paper together) and put some paint in paper plates. When the music is playing, encourage kids to dance around on the canvas with paint on their feet. When the music stops, encourage kids to freeze and then put a different color on their feet!
• Solfege Hopscotch
  • For this activity, create a hopscotch diagram with chalk outside (or on a piece of paper). Write Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti, Do in different squares of hopscotch. Have kids sing the notes when they jump on them. This can also be “finger hopscotch” on a piece of paper! If you have a xylophone or piano- you can prompt kids by playing each note when they step or place their finger on the solfege syllable!

Our children love to be creative and making their own instruments is so much fun. You can make shakers using empty cans and filling them with beads or make a drum using a pot or pan with a spoon! Be creative and jam on out!

Resources:

• Use paper plates to create your own instruments. Put popcorn kernels in between two paper plates and staple the two plates together. You can use it as a drum and have kids tap on it with sticks or utensils. You can also turn it into a shaker by stapling a popsicle stick in between the plates. Tip: make sure you put the staples very close together so that the kernels don’t fall out!
• Find more DIY instrument ideas on the Artsy Craftsy Mom site.

As we know we all are feeling anxious and unsteady during this time and this is also true for our CHILDREN. They know and feel that things are different and may not understand why. Play some instrumental classical music throughout the day to create a calm/relaxing space.

Resources:

• Some naptime playlists or playlists to use during yoga:
  • Instrumental Lullabies
  • Disney Piano Instrumental
• Drawing or coloring to music!
  • Put a playlist on and have kids color to the music - can also take themes from the music
    to find different things to draw!
• Some yoga poses to practice:

Children love to read books! They especially enjoy sung stories. You can find many of our favorite stories recorded as a sung story online!

Below are links to different stories that you can create a song out of! Click on the link and it will bring you to a YouTube video that will sing your story! If you have the book at home, you can read it and follow along!

Resources:

• The Wheels on the Bus
• Brown Bear, Brown Bear
• Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
• We’re Going on a Bear Hunt
• The Very Hungry Caterpillar
• Goodnight Moon

Children are more willing to participate in activities when others are involved. If you have older or younger children have them join and of course parents too! It can be a stress reliever for all!

Resources:

• Music Bingo
  • Print out Disney Bingo board and play with kids! Have someone as the designated “DJ” and then use different markers to cover boxes when the song plays.