CHCFC507A: Use music as a medium to enhance children’s experience and development
Support facilitate and extend children’s participation in music and movement
NOTE: The sound recordings of the items where you are instructed to ‘Listen’ are included with the Activities in the Outline.
Content
Support facilitate and extend children’s participation in music and movement 3
Set up environments in a way that encourages children’s participation in developmentally appropriate music and movement experiences 4
Using songs creatively 4
Songs with visual aids 4
Using props and costumes with songs 13
Using chants and rhymes creatively 18
Setting up musically rich environments 20
Link music and movement activities and make them relevant to children’s daily life in care 22
Music, routines and rituals 22
Formulate strategies to encourage development of child’s individual music and movement potential 24
Let the child lead the way 24
Encourage improvisation with instruments 26
Introducing percussion instruments to children 26
Instruments and musical concepts 27
Design a program to respond to children’s interests that arise spontaneously as they participate in music and movement experiences 29
Spontaneous opportunities for concept and skill development 29
Singing and singing games 30
Reluctant singers 34
Rhyming games and action rhymes 35
Use strategies to model appropriate attitudes and interaction to encourage children’s input and participation in music and movement experiences 37
Role of the carer 37
Set up environments in a way that encourages children’s participation in developmentally appropriate music and movement experiences
NOTE: The sound recordings of the items where you are instructed to ‘Listen’ are included in the Outline with the Activities.
Using songs creatively
Children, especially young children, will often find learning and singing songs more enjoyable when they are accompanied by visual aids and props. Young children think in concrete terms, and attractive, skilfully used props can provide something for children to focus upon and support their engagement in the experience.
Songs with visual aids
Some songs are suitable for use with visual aids such as:
• felt board and felt board pieces (shapes)
• puppets – hand, glove, finger, stick
• props and costumes to assist with dramatising and depicting characters
• pictures to show the sequence of events in the song
• masks to help take on a character.
Felt board and felt board pieces
This visual aid works best with songs that have a simple story line. Characters, animals and objects are introduced to the children. Felt pieces depicting characters and so forth are added onto the board one at a time as they are mentioned in the song.
A good example of such a song is ‘Old Macdonald had a farm’. Animals chosen by the children are added on, one by one. Just make sure that the sizes of the animals are in their correct proportions. In other words, don't make the chicken as big as the cow. Sizes of animals have to be accurate. Also show the animals and characters in their entirety – not just their heads.
Felt board with ‘Old Macdonald had a farm’ animals
Felt board pieces can be made of felt as felt adheres to felt. You can also draw your character on lightweight cardboard, colour it in with bright textas or paints, cover with clear contact paper and then cut out the characters. Attach a small piece of adhesive velcro (scratchy side) on the back. Velcro attaches itself really well to felt. You can also back your pieces with sandpaper. (Velcro dots and strips are available in most supermarkets and craft shops.)
Using felt board figures with songs
Following are two examples of songs which can be used successfully with felt board. The songs are ‘Three jelly fish’ and ‘Three speckled frogs’. As you look at the photographs you will notice that both the jelly fish and the frogs have been drawn on cardboard. The jelly fish have tentacles made of crepe paper—some are fringed and some are twisted (continuous twisting).
Three jelly fish on felt board
Listen to the audio as you look at the photographs. The felt board shows three jelly fish sitting on a rock. The jelly fish are removed, one by one, as they fall off the rock in the song. Then, the jelly fish are replaced, one by one, as they jump back on the rock. The carer can push each jelly fish off to make ‘one fell off’ more dramatic. The same with ‘one jumped on’. Place the jelly fish on the felt board energetically. Children love to ‘help’ with this song.
Listen to Three jelly fish.
Jellyfish on a felt board
Three little speckled frogs on felt board
Listen to the audio recording as you look as the photographs.
Listen to Three little speckled frogs.
The felt board shows a pond, a log and three frogs. Some water reeds and small butterflies have been added to make the scene more realistic.
Feltboard presentation of the song Three Speckled Frogs: Version 1
Three frogs on a log /
Two frogs on a log
One frog on a log /
No frogs on a log
Feltboard presentation of the song Three Speckled Frogs: Version 2
Three frogs on a log /
Two frogs on a log
One frog on a log /
No frogs on a log
Feltboard presentation of the song Three Speckled Frogs: Version 3
Three frogs on a log with butterflies /
Two frogs on a log with butterflies
The song starts with three frogs on the log. When we sing the ‘yum, tum’, the children rub their stomachs in delight. On the words ‘glub, glub’’ children tap their stomachs or their chests.
As each frog jumps into the pond, the carer removes one frog and places it in the pond. Remember to remove jelly fish and frogs left to right (reading readiness).
Three speckled frogs
Three little speckled frogs
Sat on a speckled log
Eating some most delicious bugs
Yum, yum
One jumped into the pool
Where it was nice and cool
Now there are two green speckled frogs. Glub, glub
Two little … Now there is one green speckled frog,
Glub, glub
One little … now there are no green speckled frogs,
Glub, glub.
Activity 1
Creating your own felt board pieces
• When gluing felt pieces together, use carpenter’s glue (also called ‘Aquadhere’). This glue is non-toxic, water-soluble and dries clear. Use a sheet of greaseproof paper as your base. When your pieces are dry, they will peel off.
• When presenting a sequence of objects on the felt board, always start from the left-hand corner and place objects from left to right. This is a good pre-reading exercise.
• Instead of a felt board you can use a white board and back your pieces with magnets.
If you are thinking about what felt board pieces you can make remember that ducks, frogs and farm animals are very useful and appear in lots of children’s songs. For background scenes trees, rocks and ponds are also very versatile and can be made quite easily.
A simple way of making felt board pieces is to buy a packet of wooden craft shapes (often found in the craft section of many Discount stores) and back them with a small piece of adhesive velcro. These shapes are lightweight and, although small in size, are ideal for use with small felt boards that children can use for individual work. There is a diverse assortment of wooden shapes available from ducks to fish, and flowers to fruits.
The song One, Two, Three, Four, Five is about catching one fish but because children are learning how to count, they will enjoy placing the fish on the board as they count.
Listen to One, two, three, four, five.
Storing and organising your felt board pieces
Because each song will have multiple pieces, you will need to devise a method of storing them so that they:
• are all together in one place
• will not develop creases
• will be kept safely
Storing felt board pieces
Plastic envelopes and plastic pouches with zippers work well. Write the name of the song on the outside. Smaller pieces can be stored in small plastic bags or in small plastic containers. Your felt board pieces will become valuable musical aids, so it is important to look after them and store them safely.
Puppets
Puppets can represent characters in songs. Children take a more active role as they sing through their puppets. For example, during ‘Old MacDonald Had a Farm’, children hold their animal puppet and, when it was their turn, sing the animal name and make the corresponding animal noise.
Children can use hand puppets, sock puppets, finger puppets and stick puppets.
The caregiver can also use puppets to help illustrate songs. Sometimes a child will sing to a puppet or through a puppet before they will sing to other people.
The rhyme ‘Two Little Dicky Birds’ can be made into a song by singing it to the tune of ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’. This song works well with finger puppets. The caregiver places one finger puppet of a bird on one hand (Peter) and one on the other hand (Paul). Start singing the song with both birds facing the children. Wiggle one bird when you sing ‘One named Peter’ and wiggle the other bird when you sing ‘One named Paul’. As you sing ‘Fly away Peter’, hide your hand (with the puppet on) behind your back. Do the same for ‘Fly away Paul’. Bring back your hand one at a time when you sing, ‘Come back Peter’ and ‘Come back Paul’. Remember which one is Peter and which one is Paul!
These finger puppets can also be used as felt board pieces as the birds can be removed from the finger puppet forms. Each bird has a rough velcro piece attached to its back. The finger puppet form is made of felt. You can use the birds as either puppets or felt board pieces. This allows for flexibility in the use of your visual aids.
Bird finger puppets
Listen to the audio and sing along. Pretend you have puppets on your fingers and do the actions. (This song can be used as a finger play where one finger on each hand represents one bird).
Listen to Two little dicky birds (1). To listen to this song go to the Practise section at the end of the Activities
Listen to Two little dicky birds (2). To listen to this song go to the Practise section at the end of the Activities
If you would like to use a felt board with this song, you will need to provide a wall for the birds to sit on. Here we use a tree instead, and have changed the lyrics so they rhyme with ‘tree’.
The new lyrics will be:
Two little dicky birds sitting in a tree,
One named Sally, the other named Lee.
Listen to the audio recording as you look at the photographs and sing along, using the new lyrics.
Glove puppets
Glove puppet 1 /
Glove puppet 2
Glove puppets can be made into one character, or, each finger on the glove can have one character or one object attached to it.
The following example is that of a birthday cake with five candles, one candle per finger. It is used with the song ‘Five Little Candles Straight and Tall’ from the ABC Song Book. As the child ‘blows out’ the candles one by one, the caregiver bends down the corresponding finger. The example is a photograph of the glove puppet only.
Glove puppet for Five Little Candles Straight and Tall
The next glove puppet you are about to see is that of a beehive with five bees, one bee per finger.
After you have looked at the photographs, listen to the audio recording and sing along.
Listen to Here is the beehive. To listen to this song go to the Practise section at the end of the Activities.
Here you can the glove puppet for Here is the beehive.
Stick puppets and other ideas
What kinds of other puppets can you make or think of? You can be quite creative here and use all sorts of resources and materials. You can also purchase or borrow good quality puppets from educational suppliers and libraries.
Here are some ideas on using stick puppets.
Stick puppets are probably the easiest and quickest puppets to make. Use paddle pop sticks or tongue depressors (if you can get them) as they are wider and more versatile.
/ Cardboard cut-outs or pictures of animals or characters can be glued onto the sticks. Children hold up their stick puppet as it is named in the song, or they sing through their puppet during parts of the song./ For the song, One, Two. Three, Four, Five, 10 children can hold one fish stick puppet each with the fish facing them. They turn over their fish stick puppet so that it faces the group when their number is sung in the song. Children can also sing the number at the same time. This is good for solo work.
How does a caterpillar go?
A caterpillar puppet can be used with the song, ‘How Does a Caterpillar Go?’ or ‘Fuzzy Wuzzy Caterpillar’ (The Small Singer by Roberta McLaughlin and Lucille Wood).