Apple Tree! Who could guess how much this song motivates children to participate!
Apples come in many colors and varieties. There are hundreds of recipes calling for apples. There’s several ways to cut apples, and ways to eat them!
The Apple Tree* is an absolutely delicious song for many age levels! It offers creative choices for verses, solos, writing rhythms, solfege, improvisation, additional sections to add to the form of the piece!
Of course, all of this comes from the student’s ideas so its totally fun for the teacher too!
The book and recording Farm Songs and the Sounds of Moo-sic include a couple verses but I have had so much fun encouraging new verses, new topics for singing little solos, adding new sections.
Have a listen to students singing and accompanying on Orff instruments.
What color apples will you buy? (youngest students) “What kind of apples will you buy? (older students) Print or use the PowerPoint Visuals in Music Box Downloads to inspire a variety of colors for solo singing.
What apple pairing will you try? Use the Pairing Visual in Music Box Downloads to give suggestions but encourage children to make up their own pairings.
What kind of recipe will you try? The song sings about Apple Pudding and Apple Pie but how about
As the weather begins to change and holidays get closer and closer it is time to pull from our rich musical history and share our favorite turkey songs! Here at Music Rhapsody we have had almost 40 years of holidays to find our favorite turkey songs. Below are three of our favorites that you can sing and dance to with your children for years to come.
Shoo Turkey (Kitchen Music Video)
This turkey classic is filled with fun! It will get you and your family up and running around the house singing ‘Shoo turkey shoo shoo’. Many times, this song has ended with families in a heap on the floor laughing and giggling with kids screaming to do it again! Below is a fun video with Teacher Ann showing how you can find instruments all over your home and sing and dance with them to Shoo Turkey. You can practice the rhythms for “yes ma’am” and “so-so” with your homemade kitchen instruments.
The Turkey Song (Animation Video)
This folky turkey song is a recent favorite, from Lynn Kleiner’s Award Winning book and CD – Holiday Winter Songs & Adventures. This silly song gets most children laughing because of the turkey’s stinky feet. Be sure to check out this cute animation your children will want to watch over and over again!
Turkey Feathers (Thankful Turkey Activity)
This song is one we use in our classrooms during the month of November. Colorful feathers are passed out to each child then we sing ‘Turkey, turkey, where’s your hair?’ then as the teacher sings the color for their feather, (“What color is this one? This one is the orange one”) they hold it up and put in on the felt turkey so it has feathers. By the time every student has had a chance to put a feather on the turkey, the turkey has a beautiful body filled with colorful feathers! Here are the felt board and turkey felts we use.
Bonus – The Thankful Turkey Activity
Every November we sing the turkey feather song and put a bare turkey on a bulletin board in our classroom! This turkey is known as the Thankful Turkey. Every student can pick a colorful feather as they walk into the classroom, write what they are thankful for that day, and fill the bare turkey with beautiful feathers! This is a simple activity that you can do at home with your children during the month of November. By the end of the month our board is filled with colorful feathers!
The Eensy Weensy Spider is a classic finger play sung with children throughout the world. The song has many benefits to your child. The rhythmic repetition helps with their brain and speech development. Additionally, the hand motions help teach fine and gross motor skills.
Most children start by mimicking their parents – raising their hands and lowering them as the spider walks up the spout and the rain washes them down. Eventually, each child learns the fine hand motions that cause the spider to walk up the spout, pointer to thumb. As a parent, your direct involvement in this simple interaction will help them for years to come, even if it is the 100th time you have sang this song today!
Try These Fun Learning Activities With Your Child!
SINGING AND PLAYING
These 4 simple musical phrases can be a wonderful vehicle for much more learning!
You’ll need a simple one octave glockenspiel (8 pitches, C D E F G A B C). Young children love the challenge of playing after they sing each line with the hand motions. The vocabulary, concepts, timing, coordination, counting and visuals are also a fantastic precursor to reading and music notation.
The eensy weensy spider went up the water spout (Ascending: Play from the lowest to the highest, longest to the shortest bars)
Down came the rain and washed the spider out (Ascending Glissando: Play a gliding motion from high to low, 4 times)
Out came the sun and dried up all the rain(Ascending, Descending Glissando: Play a gliding motion up and down)
And the eensy weensy spider went up the spout again (Play from the lowest to the highest, longest to the shortest bars)
Books with musical additions also add to a child’s enjoyment! Stimulate the imagination by singing The Itsy Bitsy Spider. You and your child can also add musical aspects by adding sound effects. Use wind and movement for the spinning and have each animal can sing its line to the The Very Busy Spider.
Here at Music Rhapsody, we love to help parents help their children develop through our music classes. These Orff-based classesset your child up for success by developing their love for music and helping them with their motor skills, brain development and speech development. Learn more about our programs below!
