Early childhood books and music for babies, toddlers, preschool and kindergarten from Jackie Silberg... "Miss Jackie!"

This section features articles by Jackie Silberg discussing various child development issues. If you would like to copy any of these articles to pass out to parents, in a newsletter or a class, or if you would like to obtain other similar articles, please email Jackie for the details at jsilberg@interserv.com Thanks!

Previous Articles by Jackie Silberg:

Musical Ideas to Start the School Year!
Creative Dramatics Help Children Communicate
Ten Laughing and Having Fun Games for Toddlers and Twos
Five Minute Games that Develop Imagination
Music About Animals and Insects
Eight, Great Movement Activities
Three Bears with a Beat
Child-Building: Brain Games for Babies
Ten Ways to Teach a Song

If your name...

by Jackie Silberg
Sing to the tune of “If you’re Happy and you know it.”

If your name starts with A clap your hands – clap clap
If your name starts with B – clap your hands – clap clap
If your name starts with C or D or E you can jump up and down and clap your hands. – clap clap

If your name starts with F – tap your foot – tap tap
If your name starts with G – tap your foot – tap tap
If your name starts with H or I or J – you can jump up and down and tap your foot – tap tap

If your name starts with K – blink your eyes – blink blink
If your name starts with L – blink your eyes – blink blink
If your name starts with M or N or O – you can jump up and down and blink your eyes – blink blink

If your name starts with P shake your head – shake shake
If your name starts with Q shake your head – shake shake
If your name starts with R or S or T you can jump up and down and shake your head – shake shake

If your name starts with U – throw a kiss
If your name starts with V – throw a kiss
If your name starts with W or X, Y, Z you can jump up and down and throw a kiss. – kiss kiss,

Musical Ideas to Start the School Year!

by Jackie Silberg

• Let each child bring a favorite CD to school.  This makes the child feel important and gives the teacher an insight into what kind of music the children enjoy.
 
• Tape sounds that are familiar to the children in your classroom (traffic, the playground, classmates’ voices, teacher’s voice, etc.)  Play “Name That Sound.” Let the children identify the sounds on the tape.  (This is wonderful for developing listening skills.)
 
• Sing songs that develop sequencing, such as “What Do You Like?” by Miss Jackie, “The Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly” and “Old MacDonald.”  Sequencing, a very important prereading skill, is one that can be practiced easily through music.
 
• With the use of a drum (a hand drum, preferably), develop concepts of fast/slow and loud/soft.  Ask the children to move to the music as you hit the drum, first quickly, then slowly.  Ask the children to clap their hands or stamp their feet accordingly as you hit the drum loudly and softly. 
 
• Tell a story using program music.  After the story has been told, play the music and let the children listen for specific parts.  Suggested pieces with specific stories that go with the music include “On the Trail” from The Grand Canyon Suite (by Ferde Grofe), “Pictures at an Exhibition” (by Moussorgsky), “Swan Lake” (by Tchaikovsky) and “Morning” from The Peer Gynt Suite (by Grieg). 

• Go through all of your  rhythm instruments with the children and find words to describe their sounds—happy, sad, excited, angry, scared, etc.—then play this game.  “How did you feel this morning, John?” the teacher asks one of the children.  John then comes up and plays an instrument describing his feelings. (Note: this game can help young children get in touch with their feelings.
 
• Find pictures to illustrate lyrics of songs that the children know.  Hold up a picture as the children sing the song.  For example, hold up pictures of each finger as the children sing “Where is Thumbkin?”  (During the last verse—Where’s the whole family?” –you could hold up pictures the children have outlined of their own hands.)  Other easily illustrated songs are “The Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly,” “Five Little Monkeys” and “The Wheels on the Bus.”  Musical games such as this one are visually stimulating and develop thinking skills.
 
• Pass out rhythm sticks of various colors to the children. (Rhythm sticks usually come in primary colors.) Have the children hold them in their laps.  Sing a familiar song such as “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” The teacher holds up a color card (for example, blue) and those children with blue sticks hold them in the air and pretend to conduct  When the teacher puts down the card, the children put down their sticks.
 
Here’s an example: (Blue card) “Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are.” (Red card) “Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky.” (Green card) “Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are.”
 
This game teaches color identification, matching and develops gross motor skills.
 
• Make your own wind chimes by hanging nails from a string.
 
• If you have access to a piano or autoharp, you can give a wonderful science lesson.  Pluck the largest, thickest string; watch it vibrate.  Pluck the smallest, shortest string; you can hear the high sound but cannot see it move, because it is vibrating so fast. (This is how sound is produced: the movement of air.) 

• Another experiment demonstrating vibration is stretching a rubber band while a child plucks its center. The more tightly you stretch the rubber band, the higher its sound; the more loosely you stretch it, the lower the sound.  This is a visual and auditory experience of how sound is produced.