One of our most popular Tiny Tapping Toes posts was a MYO Irish Drum tutorial. Decorate this easy, hand-held drum with any type of St. Patrick’s Day theme and you’re ready to play in minutes!
Younger kids can tap the drum with the “tipper” and older kids can try to master the technique of striking back and forth with the “cipín”, the Celtic name for the stick that strikes the drum.
You can see that complete post as well as related children’s music videos with an Irish theme at the links below.
What child does not love hearing their name in a song?
A fun way to get ready for Christmas or Hanukkah with your small child is to create a simple song about the holidays using your family’s activities or your child’s name as part of the lyrics. Even if you feel you’re not a particularly creative parent or a seasoned songwriter, you’ll definitely get some holiday cheer out of writing a homemade version of either of these two tunes!
Create Your Own 12 Days of Christmas Carol!
Did you know that the 12 Days of Christmas song was originally a memory game? When it was sung, each person added a verse and had to recall the previous items on the list. Although you probably heard it with the same list of items as seen below, you can get inventive and make up a version with things that are special to your family or your classroom. Here’s the most popular version of the items for the 12 days:
1 A Partridge in a Pear Tree
2 Turtle Doves
3 French Hens
4 Calling (or Colly) Birds
5 Golden Rings
6 Geese A-Laying
7 Swans A Swimming
8 Maids A-Milking
9 Ladies Dancing
10 Lords A-Leaping
11 Pipers Piping
12 Drummers Drumming
What can you substitute? Check out the post below to see how one classroom in the Caribbean came up with a very funny version for the holidays from their island home:
If you’re learning about Hanukkah or getting ready to celebrate this special holiday, you can adapt the popular dreydl song to include your child’s name. Simple and yet truly delightful, substitute your child’s name for “I”. In other words, instead of singing “I have a little dreydl”, try “David has a little dreydl” or:
Sarah has a little dreydl She made it out of clay And when it’s dry and ready Her dreydl she will play
Oh dreydl, dreydl, dreydl She made it out of clay And when it’s dry and ready Her dreydl she will play
You can find the complete set of lyrics plus an explanation of what the Hebrew letters mean on the free dreydl coloring page below.
So whether you’re spinning a top or lighting a tree, you can easily give a special child in your life the gift of a perfectly personalized song!
Here are more of our reader’s top choices for songs they love to hate! Silly, repetitive and definitely earworms, these songs might be fun to share during a ride in the car – or not!
Both of these are “infinite loop” songs. The first one comes from a reader in Northeastern Pennsylvania, where they have plenty of bears and mountains.
The Bear Went Over The Mountain
The bear went over the mountain The bear went over the mountain The bear went over the mountain And what do you think he saw?
He saw another mountain He saw another mountain He saw another mountain And what do you think he did?
Back to… verse 1
And who could forget that not-so-merry old kind of England?
Henry The 8th
I’m Henry The 8th, I am Henry the 8th, I am I am I got married to the widow next door She’s been married 7 times before And everyone was a Hen- er – y Wouldn’t be a Willy or a Sam (oh no!)
I’m an 8th old man, I’m Henry Henry the 8th, I am I am Henry the 8th, I am I am
(Spoken: Second verse, same as the first A little bit louder and a little bit worse)
That last part really says it all!
And although these songs are not “infinite loops”, here are two more songs that kept coming up in our readers comments. The first was Magdalena, Hagdalena- or one of her many incarnations. You can read about all of them, right here:
Wishing everyone a happy, harmonious fourth of July!
If you’re looking for a fun soundtrack for a family gathering or 4th of July picnic, stop by our KIDS ROAD TRIP series and download an mp3 of this classic song loved by grown-ups and kids of all ages.
Curious about the song, Grand Old Flag? We did a short post a while back on the song’s history and how it was inspired by a World War One Vet! You can check that out here:
Music can be a great way to learn a new language. While clapping along or tapping your toes, you’re also hearing new sounds and words that slowly become familiar phrases. Ni Hao (Mandarin Chinese) becomes a natural way to say “hello”. And it makes perfect sense that 5 peeping “pollitos” (Spanish) are little chicks. And a counting song in any language makes learning the numbers a snap!
Last week we asked one of our favorite bilingual teaching moms to share her favorite picks for teaching Mandarin Chinese to children. Amanda Hsiung-Blodgett; known to her students as Miss Panda (http://www.MissPandaChinese.com/), helps children everywhere learn Mandarin Chinese through kids songs and stories that are perfect for little ones of any age and adults as well. Miss Panda not only has a passion for languages and is raising her children with English and Mandarin (plus a bit of French and Japanese) but she also feels that sharing languages enables toddlers, preschoolers, kindergarteners and homeschooled children to become young global citizens who can actively explore and participate in their world!
Here are Miss Panda’s excellent picks for learning Mandarin through music:
The “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” Song in Mandarin Chinese
Who doesn’t love to color? No matter how young or old you area, it’s fun to get out a set of crayons or colored pencils and personalize a perfect page! And if you can also learn about other cultures in the process, all the better!
We’ve just released this e-book that’s actually a compilation of readers’ favorite musical instrument pages from the WORLD MUSIC WITH DARIA website. Called “Let’s Color … A World Of Music!” there are 12 pages including common favorites like the guitar as well as more unique instruments such as the balalaika from Russia, the sitar from India or the panpipes (zampoñas) from South America.
In addition to coloring fun, you can also use this book as a creative way to learn about other cultures. For instance, if you listen to any classical or traditional music from China, you’ll probably hear an erhu. In “Let’s Color … A World Of Music!” you can not only see what it looks like but find out what it is made of and how it is played as well.
Exploring the culture of India? You can learn about a sitar or a two-headed drum from Northern India called a dhol. If you’re taking a virtual trip to the Andes, you can find a miniature guitar made from shell of an armadillo or a special rattle (called chapchas) made from the toenails of sheep or goats.
Best of all, during June and July 2014, you can get your copy free at the link below. And in the meantime, here’s a list of the 12 instruments you can discover and enjoy:
Balalaika
Bombo
Cajón
Chapchas
Charango
Dhol
Sistrum
Erhu, Guitar, Sitar, Ukulele and Zampoñas.
“Let’s Color … A World Of Music!” From TeachersPayTeachers
This post was originally published in 2014 with a “free E-book offer. If you’re a teacher or parent on a limited budget and want a free Educator’s copy, please e-mail dariamusic at yahoo dot com.
What are your hopes and wishes for a new baby arriving here on this Earth? Or for all little ones that are arrive into new parents arms? When I was a new mom, I wrote this little song about welcoming a new baby and I’m thrilled to say it’s been passed around to new and expecting parents to express best wishes for a child’s new life.
How Special They Are!
Here’s the lyrics to the song:
FOR ALL THE WORLD’S CHILDREN
For all the world’s children Here’s a song and a prayer That you’ll reach out for love And it will always be there
That you’ll rise like the wind And shine like the stars And that you’ll always remember How special you are
That you’ll always find friendship And folks who are kind Who can share your joys with you And strengthen your mind
And that your home will be a place From which the best journeys start And that you’ll fly in your lifetime On wings of the heart
For all the world’s children I wish justice and peace And a world that respects you And your dignity
So you can rise like the moon And shine your light far… And always remember How special you are
The very wonderful MKB blogging group is hosting a virtual baby shower, and this song is a part of it. You can join the shower here or learn more about the group below!
Have you ever heard the song, Jingle Bells in (Mandarin) Chinese? It’s irresistible! And it’s a perfect way to introduce your child to a beautiful new language as part of their musical play and exploration!
I learned this song from a wonderful Mommy blogger named Lina Dickson who is actively “bringing up baby, bilingually”. Since the winter festivities are close at hand, it can be a perfect way of combining music, learning a new language and holiday fun.
Even if you don’t attempt the whole song, the chorus is very easy to learn. Instead of Jingle Bells, it is:
(Pinyin) Líng’ér xiǎng dīng dāng (English Translation) The bells jingle
(Pinyin) wǒ men huá xuě duo kuài lè (English Translation) We have lots of fun sledding
(English Translation) Riding of the sleigh (Pinyin) wǒ men zuò zài xuě qāio shàng hei
Check out the video animation below or head over to Lina’s Best4Baby site to see a version that has the perfect word by word translation. Lina’s site also has a pdf teaching the complete lyrics in Chinese through the actual Chinese characters, through pinyin and the English translation. If you aren’t familiar with pinyin, it is a system developed to write out how Chinese characters or words are pronounced including the correct inflection to use.
Want to make some jingle bells to jingle along with the song – no matter what language you’re enjoying it in? My monthly song page has a free craft booklet sharing 4 different ways to create homemade jingle instruments from recycled materials.
Stop on over, get your copy and you can … jingle all the way!
Almost every culture has a special kind of drum to call its own. In Northern India, the dhol is a two-headed drum worn around the neck, often decorated in very beautiful ways. It is played with two beaters (sticks) and can be a fun way of encouraging coordination between right hand and left hand as well as exploring new rhythms or the culture of India.
Supplies
To create a homemade version of a dhol drum, you need a few simple supplies:
Felt, construction paper or poster board (large enough piece to fit around the cylinder).
Duct tape
Piece of sturdy ribbon, bric-brac, old belt or recycled strap from a purse.
2 pencils
2 plastic spoons
Materials for decoration (if desired)
Crayons, markers, stickers, or glitter and glue.
Yarn for tassels
Make Your Own Dhol
Start by cutting a length of ribbon or strap so that the “drum” that will fit comfortably over your child’s head and hang at about stomach height. Duct tape the strap into place onto the cylinder.
Next, cut a length of felt, construction paper or poster board to fit over the cylinder. Decorate it with crayons, markers, glitter and glue or similar materials, if desired.
When you’ve completed your design, tape the felt or paper into place.
Create two beaters for the drum. Since sticks can be a safety hazard with young children, I encourage parents, teachers and caregivers to tape two plastic spoons to unsharpened pencils and use them as beaters. They are the right length for dhol drum beaters and don’t leave any sharp edges exposed.
Tassles?
Many dhol are decorated with colorful tassels. If you want to add some to your drum, simply wind your favorite colors of yarn around a small length of cardboard. Slip the yarn off the cardboard, and tie one side creating the “head” of the tassel. Then cut the strings on the opposite side so they will hang down as fringe.
And attach to your drum!
Playing the Dhol
Allow your child to put the drum “on” and experiment with striking each side with a beater.
Try striking back and forth slowly and then more quickly.
Try making up patterns like: “Left side, left side, right!”
Or more complicated ones as well.
Try walking and playing your dhol.
Discover some traditional dhol rhythms and see if you can imitate them.
The Traditional Dhol
Want to discover some traditional rhythms played in this drum? You can see and hear them here:
This post is part of a “Happiness Around The World” Multicultural Kids Blogging Carnival. Hosted by Giselle of KidYogaStories, the series shares how simple pleasures enrich the lives of people all over the world. We chose to write about one of our favorite activities – being a part of our regional pow-wows.
One of the ways that Native American celebrate life and family is through drumming and dancing. Whether it’s a relaxed gathering of friends or a formal pow-wow complete with dance contests and special exhibits, the sound of the drum and a place to move to the beat is a special way to enjoy time with family and friends.
Are all pow-wows the same? Not at all! There are many different tribes and traditions across the USA and each has distinct clothing, dances and even different singing styles. Some larger pow-wows have visiting drum groups that play throughout the day and most have a large dance ring that creates the central place to dance. Around the ring are usually chairs and places to catch up with relatives and friends that might not have been seen in a while.
Can anyone attend a pow-wow? While it’s true that some pow-wows and gatherings are closed and are “by invitation only”, most events that are visible to the public are open to the public. Everyone is welcome to attend and enjoy. There are just three simple tips that are helpful if you decide to go. First, the special clothing worn by dancers is called regalia. To some, it would be offensive to call it a costume, but it is not offensive to ask about it in a respectful way. Secondly, ask before taking any photographs. And lastly, respect your elders. Allow any elders to go into the dance ring first, or to find seating or take a place in line for food. Native culture shows great respect for both elders and veterans and they are generally placed first in any procession at a pow-wow such as the Grand Entry.
Can you learn to dance, Native American style? It is easy and fun to learn these dances. The simple steps can be mastered by anyone and the complicated dances are great for more serious students.
If you take a look at some of the links below you can find more information about how drumming and dancing create happiness and keep people connected in Native communities across the country.
One of our most popular Tiny Tapping Toes posts was a MYO Irish Drum tutorial. Decorate this easy, hand-held drum with any type of St. Patrick’s Day theme and you’re ready to play in minutes!
Make Your Own Bodhrán Irish Drum
