Cool Reading Games for Children: Encouraging Pre-Reading with Music

Cool Reading Games for Children: Encouraging Pre-Reading with Music

The following cool reading games activities are designed to help your child identify rhyming words, individual sounds in the word and word recognition.

Cool reading games Materials

*Singing Voice

*Lyrics on a sheet of paper

I chose cool pop tunes that can be enjoyed by both you and your child!

Cool reading games song:

Footloose- Kenny Loggins
Loose, footloose
Kick off your Sunday shoes
Please, Louise
Pull me offa my knees
Jack, get back
C'mon before we crack
Lose your blues
Everybody cut footloose

1.  Chant the song with your child.

*invite your child to identify words that start with /l/ sound.

2. Show the lyrics on a sheet of paper and have your child find the words that begins with /l/. Have your child underline the words and circle each letter.  Encourage your child to say words that rhyme with loose. (goose, moose, choose, news, lose…)   

3.  Chant the lyrics and have your child identify the rhyming words.  (footloose and shoes, Louise and knees, back and crack, blues and footloose)

• Cool reading games Rhyming Activity:

Play the “I’m thinking of a rhyming game” and have your child pick out the word that doesn’t fit.

(food, true, hut: me, glee, him…)

Cool reading games song:

Jeremiah Was A Bullfrog- Creedence Clearwater
Jeremiah was a bullfrog, he was good friend of mine.

I never understood a single word he said but I helped him drink
 his wine.
He always had some mighty fine wine.

Sing it Joy to the
 world...all the boys and girls now,

joy to the fishies in the deep blue 
sea and joy to you and me.

1.  Chant the song with your child.

Invite your child to identify words that start with /j/ sound.

2. Show the lyrics on a sheet of paper and have your child find the word that begins with /j/. Have your child underline the word and circle each letter.  Encourage your child to say words that rhyme with joy.  (boy, coy, koi, soy, annoy…)

3.  Chant the lyrics and have your child identify the rhyming words.  (mine and whine, sea and me)

4.  Look at lyrics that rhyme with mine and sea (fine, kind, sign, line, nine, dine, pine…) and (tea, bee, fee, he, she, knee, see, wee…)

Cool Reading Games Song:

Surfin’ Bird-The Trashmen

A-well-a bird, bird, bird, the bird is the word


A-well-a bird, bird, bird, well the bird is the word


A-well-a bird, bird, bird, b-bird's the word


A-well-a bird, bird, bird, well the bird is the word


1.  Chant the song with your child.

Invite your child to identify words that start with /b/ sound.

2. Show the lyrics on a sheet of paper and have your child find the word that begins with /b/.

Have your child underline the word and circle each letter.  Encourage your child to say words that rhyme with bird.  (heard, third, nerd…)

3.  Chant the lyrics and have your child identify the rhyming words.  (bird and word)

Resource used:

Lively Literacy & Music Activities by Debra Olson Presnall & Lorilee Malecha

We hope you enjoyed this Cool reading games blog and please let us know what you thought of this activity.

Also, the Burnsville School of Rock has a great Early Music Education Program for kids 4-7 years of age!

For information please call: (952) 898-7625 and check out the website:

http://burnsville.schoolofrock.com/program/early-education

Easy Rhythm For Kids Activities: Body Percussion

Easy rhythm for kids Activities: Body Percussion

What is body percussion? It is producing sounds by using your body, through
hand clapping, thigh slapping, stomping, finger snapping, inhaled and exhaled
air. Feel free to be creative in finding sounds with this rhythm for kids
activity.

Body percussion plays a role in our history through folk traditions either as a
solo performance or the accompaniment of a song.

According to Wikipedia, “The folk traditions of many countries include
the use of body percussion. Examples of these include Indonesian saman,
Ethiopian armpit music, palmas in flamenco, and the hambone from the
United States.”

Body percussion is also used in popular music and Bobby McFerrin known
for his 1988 hit song, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy,” makes percussive effects
through his mouth and parts of his chest.
He can imitate the sound of a drum set because each part of the body imitates
a different part.

You can imitate and learn the parts of a drum set in this rhythm for kids
activity.

Hands: Clapping your hands has a higher pitch and imitates a high hat or
snare drum. Try cupping your hands and hear how the sound changes.

Chest: By cupping your hands and carefully hitting your chest, you imitate
the sound of a rack tom.

Thigh: The thigh area represents the middle tom, try cupping your hands
and play with the sound.

Bottom: The “tush” or “derriere” is a lower sounds and represents a low tom
on the drum set.

Here are a few more rhythm for kids activities to try and keep in mind to be
careful to not hurt yourself, stretch before trying any moves and stay relaxed.

The speed will come with time. Enjoy!

1. “Echo activity”: Mom creates a rhythm and the child has to repeat the

rhythm as close as possible. An added variation is to use everyday
objects to repeat that rhythm.

2. “Karaoke Percussion” You can find your favorite rhythmic song. A

suggestion is "Scatman (Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop)" is a song by
Scatman John. You and your child can clap and play along to beat on
parts or the whole song.

3. Find your favorite rhythm for kids body percussion and play to your

favorite nursery rhyme or clapping games.

Here is a rhythm for kids clapping game and the action could be changed to
stomping, thigh slapping, and slapping, or anything else.

Lemonade (clap, clap, clap)
Crunchy ice (clap, clap, clap)
Beat it once (clap, clap, clap)
Beat it twice (clap, clap, clap)
Lemonade, crunchy ice,
Beat it once, beat it twice,
Lemonade, crunchy ice,
Beat it once, beat it twice (gets faster and faster and continues until someone
misses a clap)

For more inspirational rhythm for kids ideas on the use of body percussion
and sound, please watch the “Stomp” videos. This is a very popular group that
creates music through body percussion and everyday objects.

We hope you enjoyed this rhythm for kids blog and please let us know
what you thought of this activity. Also, the Burnsville School of Rock has a great program for Early Music Education children ages 4-7.
 For information regarding the program, please call: (952) 898-
7625.
http://burnsville.schoolofrock.com/program/early-education

Re-use Old CD Cases for Creative Projects with Kids

Kids really enjoy creating projects with oogly eyes, yarn, beans, and so many other materials and this is a fun and creative option to re-use old cd cases. Stay with the music theme and create a picture frame for a picture of your favorite musician or a “Kids Rock and Roll” mural in this trash to treasure project.

Required Materials:

Glue

Colored Electrical Tape

Paintbrush for gluing

Optional items:

Beans

Yarn

Glitter

Fun Foam

Lace

Buttons

(whatever you can find or think of)

1.      Line the table or floor with some plastic or protective material as this can be messy.

2.     Pull off the black portion of the back of the c.d. Be careful not to break the connector.

3    Cover the outer rim of the case with colored tape. This will serve as the “frame.”

4.   Use your paintbrush to apply the glue then put on your fun foam and other materials to create designs in the corners.  You can even use a sharpie pen to add words like, “I love dad,”  “I love mom,” or “Happy Birthday Grandma.”

5.    When you are finished designing, cut out a picture of your child or your child’s favorite artist/band and put it in the frame. 

If you would like to make your kid’s room even cooler, you can put in pictures of your child’s favorite band or artist and create a “Kids Rock and Roll” collage mural and mount them on the wall in a variety of designs. 

You are your child can join us as we sing, dance, move, learn, and be creative through music at the Burnsville Early Music Education Program!

For more information please check out our website:

http://burnsville.schoolofrock.com/program/early-education

Children’s Rock Songs – And You Thought These Were Reserved For Adults Only!

Most of us are inspired by music and want to share that love with our child and there is nothing like enjoying good music you both love! However, many parents also feel the need to introduce their children to music via “cheesy kid’s music.”  Don’t fall into that trap. There are so many great songs from a variety of genres and decades, which can be considered wonderful children’s rock songs!

Don’t be surprised when your rock n roll favorites are also your children’s rock songs! Granted, you’ll need to cull through your favorites to make sure the lyrics are age-appropriate. These great classic tunes will get you started in the development of your own children’s rock songs and will stimulate learning in your child while having a blast jumping around the house!

Surfaris-  Wipe Out-Great rock song to move to and increase flexibility and body control.

Plain White T's - 1, 2, 3, 4-This song has a great message and a steady beat and rhythm for moving.

Queen - We Will Rock You
This song is great for learning coordination and movement.

Beatles - Here Comes the Sun, Yellow Submarine, Hello Goodbye
Aside from being one of the most awesome bands in our recent history, the songs have a lot of instrumental variety and harmonies to sing along with.

The Ramones- Spiderman Theme Song- Try making up your own words to “Spiderman” for different places, animals and things.  Such as, Rabbit Man, Rabbit Man, Does whatever a rabbit can...

They Might Be Giants - Anything from the "Here Come the ABC's" and "Here

Come the 123's" albums. These children’s rock songs are very educational, fun and helps your child learn the alphabet and numbers.

B 52's-"Rock Lobster"-This is a wonderful children’s rock song to increases your child's vocal range and develops movement.

REM-“Stand”- It will teach directions with movement.

Jackson 5-"ABC"- It will assist your child’s counting and learning the alphabet.

The Beach Boys-"Barbara Ann"- This particular song has great harmonies and repeated verses and choruses for memorization.

Bobby "Boris" Picket-"Monster Mash"- Great song for moving to, your child can practice keeping a steady beat and has good harmonies.

Jimmy Cliff-"Give a Little, Take a Little"-The rhythms and upbeat reggae appeal to kids.

The Village People-"YMCA"- This is a great activity for large motor movements and learning a sequence of actions for building muscle memory.


Do you have a favorite musical activity you'd like to share? I'd love to hear from you.

Also if you are looking for a great play date for your preschooler, I host play dates at the Eden Prairie School of Rock every Tuesday, the Burnsville School of Rock every Wednesday and the St. Paul School of Rock every Thursday from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.

You are your child can join us as we sing, dance, move, learn, and be creative through music! The normal play date rate is $15 but if you mention that you read about us on this blog your first play date is free.
For more information please check out our website:
http://burnsville.schoolofrock.com/program/early-education

Perfect Math With Music Activities To Complement Burnsville Kindergarten Experience

Perfect Math With Music Activities To Complement Burnsville Kindergarten Experience   

Counting is one of the most basic math concepts that your child will learn in kindergarten. You don't need to wait until s/he goes to school to begin learning to count though. Why not complement the burnsville kindergarten experience at home with these fun and educational activities. Using recycled soda bottles you and your child can make a great instrument to learn math with music! 

Materials: 

(8) 2 liter or 20 oz. recycled bottles

Tap water

marked pieces of paper with the numbers 1 through 8 

-Fill the bottles with varying amounts of water and place along the table next to each other going from low to high and left to right.   

-Have fun experimenting with different fills to create step by step tones.  Example: a slightly filled bottle will have a lower and deeper tone than one that is more full. 

-Have your child put the numbers in front of the bottles, the number one is the lowest sound which will be the first one on the left and go up through the numbers until you reach 8, which is the highest tone in your water bottle xylophone scale. 

Math with music counting game:  

-Each musical tone is attached to a number.  You say the number as the child blows over the bottle with that number to create the tone.  Then, once your child is comfortable with the numbers and tones you may start to do some basic addition and subtraction. For example, “Blow over 2+3 bottles” then have your child count the sounds and blow over the right one…5!!   

-Have fun creating more math with music challenges and encourage your child to give you some too! 

Enjoying math with music by playing your musical water bottle instrument 

You and your child can do some very basic nursery rhymes with the melody and number. 

Hot Cross Buns 

Hot    Cross Buns,     Hot   Cross   Buns, 
  3       2         1             3       2          1       `  

one     a       pen-ny

1          1       1      1 

two      a          pen-ny,   

 2         2           2      2

Hot      cross      buns

  3           2            1  

Row, Row, Row Your Boat 

Row   Row    Row     your   boat
  1         1          1           2         3

gently       down       the        stream
 3    2           3              4            5

merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
8            5            3            1

life   is     but   a     dream
 5     4      3      2     1

I am always looking for great musical activities to teach and please let me know what you think of this math with music activity.  Also, if you are looking for a great Preschool experience check out our program at the Burnsville School of Rock!

For more information please check out my website:
http://burnsville.schoolofrock.com/program/early-education