This time of school closures and stay-at-home orders has presented great challenges for music teachers. Although the internet has huge resources for sharing and creating music it comes nowhere near replacing the magic of in-person music making; the singing and dancing that are the heart of the elementary music classroom.
If you work with children Pre-K through the elementary years and are looking for home music activities that can be presented over an online meeting service such as Zoom or Google Hangouts, New England Dancing Masters has repertoire that will work.
In particular, our collections I’m Growing Up, Down in the Valley and Rise Sally Rise all contain singing games that use echoing, mirroring, ‘follow the leader’ and storytelling to create an immediate and inclusive musical experience.
Here is a partial list of singing games in each of these three collections that will work online. You will inevitably find ways to adapt these and others to your own lessons and purposes:
I’m Growing Up: Finger Plays, Action Songs, Singing Games and Stories
Almost every piece in this book can be used in an online lesson. Activities include everything from quiet and seated, to standing, to improvised movement.
Two Little Blackbirds: Songs, Dances, Fingerplays and Music Activities for the Very Young
An inspired collection of 75 music-movement activities and a compelling framework for bringing music into the lives of young children (ages 2-5) and their families and classrooms.
Rise Sally Rise: Great Singing Games for Children
Bobolinka , Head and Shoulders, When I Was a Baby, Little Johnny Brown, Little Sally Walker, Round de Do Bop, Sally Go Round the Sun, Thorn Rosa, Zodiac
Down in the Valley: More Great Singing Games for Children
At the Bottom of the Sea, Chee Chee Cha, Chicken and a Chicken, Gramma Moses, Hambone, Hunt the Cows, Razzama Tazzama, The Tree Song, Down Down Baby, Four White Horses, Green Sally Up, Mr. B, Rockin’ Robin, Step it Down
We look forward to the day when we feel safe comfortable to join hands in a ring and “circle left!” Until that time, we will all continue to share our love of music as circumstance allows. Thank you for all you are doing with, and for, your students in this challenging time.
A note on permissions: New England Dancing Masters feels strongly in the birthright of every child to be actively engaged in singing, dancing, listening and creating. Please use these materials non-commercially in your online lessons. Acknowledgement by simply noting our web address <www.dancingmasters.com> is greatly appreciated.
Feel free to contact us with questions, comments and suggestions.
©2020 New England Dancing Masters