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Meredith Pizzi is a board certified music therapist in Massachusetts. She has years of experience working with young children and using music to enhance development, social skills, and just plain have fun. In this article she discusses how to keep kids entertained over the long winter months with music!
New England winters aren’t easy for anyone! I really do enjoy the seasons and I don’t know what I’d do if the climate were the same 365 days a year, but I can’t say that I enjoy these short days with little sunshine and I really miss being able to walk down the street without losing all feeling in my fingertips!
And if this is how we feel as adults, imagine what it’s like being kept away from your favorite park or playground for these months. Not to mention having to bundle up in multiple layers of uncomfortable heavy clothes! (Honestly, I had my two girls in 4 hats on Saturday when we had to go on a walk in Boston! Four hats! We counted putting them on and taking them off each time!)
So what can you do to break things up at home or when you’re out?
How can you use music to burn some of that energy that is trapped inside during these months?
A Good Old-Fashioned Lap Ride
Remember “Trot Trot to Boston, Trot Trot to Lynn?” Or if you’ve been to Sprouting Melodies or a Melrose Public Library Program, you also know “Bumping Up and Down in my Little Red Wagon” or “Come Take a Ride on my Yellow School Bus.”
It doesn’t really matter what lap ride you know or remember, what matters is that kids need some good physical fun and lap rides are a great way to give that physical sensation inside and in a controlled environment.
The bigger and faster the bounce the better!
Try to alternate the fast bouncing movement with a slow side-to-side movement.
Exaggerate your voice to make it loud and rough creating even more energy in your lap ride.
Lap rides are not just for babies! This is great with older children who are really craving physical play this time of year.
Dance Party Time
I’ve mentioned Dance Parties before as an excellent way to burn some energy in your living room and this is a great time of year to do just that! When I say burn energy, I mean Burn Energy! And to do that you need a few things:
Play upbeat loud music, and not necessarily children’s music.
Pull out your favorite dancing cd’s and get your kids excited by dancing along with them.
Create a Dance Party Playlist on your iPod, or a CD that you can pop in at anytime with your top 10 Dance Hits.
If your child is old enough, he or she can even select the song by skipping ahead.
Turn the volume up! This is about encouraging movement and fast music will do that.
Strike up the Band!
Collect whatever instruments you can find at home or create some new ones and start a marching band. Most kids find or create a loop in the house to march or run around, so use that to your advantage and make it a Parade Route.
Sing a simple song about marching or use recorded music.
Join in with your instruments and create a parade like atmosphere.
Take turns being the leader and changing the parade route around the house.
Remo’s Lollipop Kids Drums and Konga Drums are great for this, or make one with a Tupperware container and a wooden spoon!
Whatever you do this winter, remember that kids (and adults) need lots of opportunities to be physically active. Music provides both energy and structure and is a great way for kids and adults to be engaged in something fun and physical together. Try making some music at home this week to break up the winter chill and send us an email or comment to let us know how it goes!
By Meredith R. Pizzi, MT-BC
Board Certified Music Therapist
Roman Music Therapy Services www.romanmusictherapy.com
I have a little boy and he loves anything that goes VROOM! Maybe you can relate?
Sure, girls can like cars and airplanes too, but there’s just something so attractive about cars, trains, motorcycles, and helicopters to little boys. Here are some of our favorite VROOM songs!
One of Ivan’s all-time favorite songs by one of his all-time favorite bands is M.T.A. by Ben Rudnick & Friends. John does the vocals on this classic fast-paced song about Charlie who gets stuck riding the subway in Boston and can’t get off. It’s hilarious and so much fun to dance to, but you just haven’t lived a full life ’til you’ve heard it played live.
Another fun subway song is on Bari Koral’s new CD Rock and Roll Garden. Subway, like many of Bari’s songs, is a deceptively simple song. The refrain of the song, “rolling down the track,” is repeated faster and faster amongst rock electric guitar. Kids love it!
The Earthworm Ensemble has a wonderfully classic country-sounding song about trains on their new CD, Earthworm Ensemble. With banjos and jawharps and deep voices, The Traveling Train is a great song about a train carrying a variety of fruits and passing all sorts of sights.
Another awesome song about trains is Charlie Hope’s Train Song on her CD I’m Me!. I love how Charlie is able to make her guitar beat sound like the train coming down the track. And Ivan loves the “Oooh Wooh” of the train whistle!
If you’re looking for a cool song about flying vehicles, you’ll want to check out Helicopter by The Not-Its!. You wouldn’t think such a sweet song could be written about buzzing around in a helicopter!
Or if your kid is like Ivan, then he loves motorcycles. Ivan LOVES Rebecca Frezza’s Motorcycle Boy on her CD Rockin’ Rollin’ And Ridin’. Like Bari Koral’s Subway, Motorcycle Boy is a pretty simple song with simple words, but it really gets the kids going!
And finally, here’s one for the moms. Einstein’s Monkey has a song called Mom Lost the Car (in the parking lot) on their new album Banana Yellow. It’s silly and obviously none of us can relate to this, right?I love the tongue-in-cheek sarcasm of the song, while Ivan loves the hard rock guitar!
Kevin Emerson is a former elementary school teacher and the author of the Oliver Nocturne books for young readers. He’s also in a cool pop indie band in Seattle called Central Services, so of course it would make sense that his teaching, writing, and singing would all come together as the ultra-cool kids’ band The Board of Education.
The band’s sound really reminds me of Belle & Sebastian or maybe The Flaming Lips, two of my favorite grown-up bands, but what I really love about BoE is that all of their songs teach a lesson without getting boring, which is quite a feat!
Like Leeny & Tamara, they manage to make learning fun. We love The Lonely Tomato, a song about a tomato who can’t figure out if he’s a vegetable or a fruit, and they also created a great video for the song:
So, do you want to go see BoE play live? Well, here’s your chance to win a Family 4-Pack of tickets to their show at the Regent Theatre in Arlington on February 19th!
All you have to do is comment on this post below or contact me and leave an email address so I can contact you if you win. That’s it!
One entry per person. The tickets will be waiting for you at the box office the morning of the show.
The conference, now in its second year at Lesley, is open to anyone who enjoys making music with children, including musicians, songwriters, teachers and child care professionals, students and parents. More than 90 people attended last year’s event, giving it enthusiastic evaluations.
Noted children’s musician and songwriter Ruth Pelham will offer this year’s keynote presentation. Pelham’s web page notes that she “brings to the world a fresh vision of world peace and social change. Whether performing in concert, teaching children to build homemade musical instruments, writing songs with seniors in nursing homes or participating in international arts exchanges, Ruth’s music touches the heart and reflects the full integrity of the human spirit.”
Following the keynote, participants will be able to select two workshops from among eight choices. Workshops will explore the relationship of music to literacy, healing and movement, among other topics.
The day will end with a special Children’s Music Network tradition, the Round Robin, in which each attendee will have a chance to share a children’s song or musical activity. Recording devices are welcome, and attendees are also encouraged to bring any musical instruments they might play.
Fees are $30 for members of The Children’s Music Network and Lesley affiliates ($25 before Feb. 19), and $40 for all others ($30 before February 19). Lunch is included in the fee. PDPs and CEUs will be available to teachers.
The conference will take place in Lesley’s University Hall, 1815 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA, adjacent to the Porter Square T and Commuter Rail Station. To register, contact Tina Stone. Questions may be directed to CMN’s New England representatives Sammie Haynes (207/384-3234) and Janet Beatrice (978/897-5444).
Have you ever noticed how most websites designed to tell you about upcoming family events tend to decay into a collection of ads for fee-based classes, workshops, or other non-events?
Yes, maybe someone somewhere is holding an open house this weekend to try to get you to sign up for a five week music course or [...]
Do you like your kids’ music serious or silly? Some artists really try to teach kids something in their songs, like Leeny and Tamara in their CD Sharing the Same Stars; while others just get goofy, like Kate Rowe with her song Space Rabbits of Brocklevoons.
Which is better?
Roger Day sings all about the brain in [...]
Everyone loves a good nursery rhyme or set of traditional songs. One of our favorite collections of nursery rhymes is A Classic Treasury of Nursery Songs and Rhymes, an illustrated book accompanied by a CD.
But it’s also fun to play games with those traditional rhymes and songs and make them into new songs entirely. Debbie [...]
If you are interested in how we decide which CDs to review on the site or are an artist who would like your CD reviewed, please read our CD Review & Award Policy.
New England winters aren’t easy for anyone! I really do enjoy the seasons and I don’t know what I’d do if the climate were the same 365 days a year, but I can’t say that I enjoy these short days with little sunshine and I really miss being able to walk down the street without losing all feeling in my fingertips!
One of Ivan’s all-time favorite songs by one of his all-time favorite bands is 
Another fun subway song is on Bari Koral’s new CD 
The Earthworm Ensemble has a wonderfully classic country-sounding song about trains on their new CD, 
Another awesome song about trains is Charlie Hope’s 
on her CD 
If you’re looking for a cool song about flying vehicles, you’ll want to check out 
by 
Or if your kid is like Ivan, then he loves motorcycles. Ivan LOVES Rebecca Frezza’s 
on her CD 
And finally, here’s one for the moms. Einstein’s Monkey has a song called 
on their new album 
books for young readers. He’s also in a cool pop indie band in Seattle called 
.
or maybe 
, two of my favorite grown-up bands, but what I really love about BoE is that all of their songs teach a lesson without getting boring, which is quite a feat!
, they manage to make learning fun. We love 
, a song about a tomato who can’t figure out if he’s a vegetable or a fruit, and they also created a great video for the song:
, but my son’s favorite song is the cool and smooth 
.
An all-day conference on “The Power of Music in Children’s Lives” will be presented by 
