Christmas music is everywhere these days, so while we enjoy it, we can also use it for fun, learning, and kindergarten readiness with young children. Part of the fun this time of year is singing. We’ve all heard Frosty the Snowman, Jingle Bells, and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer many times but kids haven’t. The repetition and patterns make these songs easier to remember so young children can sing along.
Instead of using people body-parts for the Hokey-Pokey, substitute reindeer ones, like antlers, hooves, tails, and noses and do the Reindeer-Pokey. When shaking all about, shake off snow and rather than turning around, reindeer dash around. Here’s an example, and continue with other parts:
You put your front hooves in, you put your front hooves out.
You put your front hooves in and shake off all the snow.
You do the Reindeer-Pokey and you dash around.
That’s what it’s all about.
Many times, there have been 123Kindergarten posts about the benefits that music has on kids, even before birth, especially one this summer that included a poster from OnLine Colleges. Recently, there was a news item about a special viola-organista musical instrument that has been built from some Leonardo Da Vinci drawings. Just think, those drawings are about 500 years old! But, how old is music? That was a fun question to goggle. How old do you think music is? Just for fun:
a) music is about 5,000 to 10,000 years old.
b) music is about 10,000 to 25,000 years old.
c) music is more than 25,000 years old.
Would you believe that researchers have found bone flutes carbon-dated to be about 42,000 years old? Music has been part of humans lives for eons. Exposing children to music: creates pathways and connections in the brain, builds listening and thinking skills, can enlarge parts of the brain, and has a positive impact on school marks and social relationships.
It might seem like we’ve been hearing some Christmas songs for that long and that if we keep doing so our brains will start flashing red, but only if your name is Rudolph. In the meantime, what are some other favorite Christmas songs for kids?