Home-Learning Extension
As part of extending the learning at home, here are a few of our recommendations for home activities. Not only are they fun but they are simple, easy to do and inexpensive. All you need to do is gather a few household items and carve out some time into your daily routine.
The more you incorporate the songs and activities at home, the sooner your child will be able to master the songs and movements. The consistency of routine and the repetition allow them to gain mastery of the particular song and movement. Once they are more familiar, they will feel more confident in doing the actions. The more familiar they are with something, the easier it is for them to participate and this will also help provide a smoother transition and connection in the classes.
Activity 1 “Make a Mystery Bag”
Materials:
Pillowcase / Tote Bag
Various Toys (toys which you’d like the children to explore)
or any Musical Instruments
As the name suggests, this activity calls for a sense of mystery which attracts the child’s attention and arouses their curiosity. All you simply need to do is fill the pillowcase or a tote bag with the items you’d like your children to explore and play with. Have them guess what’s inside the bag. Have your child choose an item inside the bag and have them identify what it is. For older children, to make it more challenging, you can have them close their eyes and let them feel the object and let them guess away.
As you do this activity, you can sing along to the “Colors and Shapes” song. Make it more fun by switching up the lyrics and adding your own actions as well. You can also sing it along as you go about daily chores and activities in the house. Try going around the house with your child and point to objects you both find interesting. Ask them questions like what color is it? Or what shape do you think it is? And sing accordingly. Try being creative and silly and you’ll be sure to hear those giggles.
Activity 2 “Baby Jam Session”
Materials:
Various Household Accessories and Kitchenware
(ie. pots, pans, muffin tins, wooden spatulas and spoons, bowls and the like)
No instruments at home? Not a problem. You can still make music just by using plain pots and pans. Children love tinkering with real-life household objects. We call this Heuristic Play (link to article). If you give them these kinds of objects and accessories, they can play for hours as it fascinates them. It helps them familiarize and make sense of the world around them.
In this particular activity, we will be using the pots, pans and muffin tins as our musical instruments. They can use it as a drum as they tap onto it with a wooden spoon or spatula. This action also helps introduce the early concept of cause and effect. If they tap an object, they will hear a distinct sound. And if they tap different objects, they will hear different sounds as well. Young children will have fun exploring what different sounds they can make.
While doing this activity, you can play and drum along any of the songs from our list but we think “Funky Sticks” and “Breakfast Song” would be a great hit.
Let loose, feel the music and have fun jamming with your little one!
Activity 3 “DIY Rattle and Shake Sensory bottle”
Materials:
Clean and Empty plastic bottle (recycled water bottles work well)
Grains (Rice, dried beans)
Pasta Shells
Funnel
Tape / Glue gun
Once you’ve gathered these materials, you can make your own shaker and sensory bottle. You can do this activity together with an older child or if you have a much younger one, you can do the sensory bottle beforehand and have your child freely play with the bottle afterwards.
Using a funnel, simply fill an empty bottle with your choice of filling (pasta shells, rice, grains). Just fill it half-way. Once filled, you can seal the bottle cap using either a tape or use a glue gun to seal the inner rim. You can make it more colorful by adding colored rice, colored pasta shells, and different kinds of beans instead.
Young children will love shaking the bottle and hearing the rustling sound it makes. They will also love peeking into the bottle and observing the fillings inside. You can make it even more interesting by adding a few small trinkets inside and do an “I Spy” activity.
Using the shaker and sensory bottle, you can shake along to the rhythmic beats of the Zumbini® Songs. Try shaking along the “Choo Choo” song for a start. It will surely get you and your child moving.
