Take Advantage of the Listening Ears

I mean…I love singing along to Laurie Berkner songs when in the car with the grands, but it’s also a fun opportunity to make up your own songs. You

have a captive audience and a little bit of novety can be the perfect fit to fill in the time until you get to your destination. You can create songs with no purpose at all singing about the grass being green and that 1 + 1 = 2 with some animal sounds and rhyming. Or you can have intentional lyrics, like the one I created, Lenny’s Favorite that is teaching letters and names.

The Story of Lenny’s Favorite

There are more songs that I’ve created over the years that were forgotten after the first rendition and never sung again, but there are a few that have stuck around too.  In the three-year old classroom, I joined for lunch one day and while waiting for everyone to be served, I saw them getting bored so I just started asking what each of their names start with. Some answered, and then… here it comes….. to the tune of the Sesame Street song, “C is for Cookie“, Lenny’s Favorite Kim song came out:

“L is for Lenny, that’s good enough for me,

L is for Lenny, that’s good enough for me,

Oh, Lenny, Lenny, Lenny starts with _____”

[and I would pause and hear the class shout, “L”!]

I know… it doesn’t make sense… like how is an L good enough for me?  I don’t know… but… it has been a song remembered by many of the kids and we take turns singing through their names, animals, objects, and more. I’m pretty sure Lenny may have even introduced it to his family at home.

5 Steps to Create your next Toddler Earworm

1. Choose a simple tune. Pick a tune that you (or your toddler) enjoys and is easy.
   • Some ideas include: ABCs/Twinkle, Twinkle [did you even know that is the same tune?!]; B-I-N-G-O; and Open Shut Them.
2. Decide the topic. Choose if you are going to have a topic or just silly rhyming with no purpose at all.
3. Simple. Simple. Simple. Keep it very simple and start with lots of repetitive words & phrases
   • This is so you don’t forget the words and so that your toddler is all ears listening
4. Add some action. Add in some clapping and sounds, if you aren’t driving, of course!
5. Include them. Invite your child to sing along with you and just keep singing it over and over. Presto! You’ve got your new earworm.

Now you can sing it everywhere and share it with your family so they can help make your song, the latest earworm.

This article isn’t about how to be the next musician featured on stage at Summerfest, the song doesn’t have to make sense… it’s more about keeping your toddler and children entertained in the car while learning. [and maybe your car mate too!]

Music can bring the Smiles & Giggles

When we started talking about opening Just Like GRAMMY & POPPOP’S one idea came to mind and I just can’t wait to debut it. I mean, I’ve done something like it with my grandchildren quite often and let’s be real, sometimes even when it is my husband and I … I break it out… it’s a dance party! Turn up the tunes and dance like no one is watching and if you hear the laughs and giggles it’s laughing with me. I’m determined to make Just Like GRAMMY & POPPOP’S a child care center filled with nurturing love and passion to create a fun learning environment bursting at the seams with kindness.

Here it comes… The Dance Cart with Grammy & PopPop

I think I have PopPop convinced that he’ll join me, but Just Like GRAMMY & POPPOP’S will have a dance cart and hopefully others around Pewaukee can just hear us having fun. Ok, I don’t mean that we’ll be breaking any dangerous decibel levels here. With prior alignment of the teacher in the classroom, the dance cart hosted by Grammy and PopPop will roll in with music already playing and an instrument or ribbon for every child who wants to join us in a random song and dance party. It won’t be a long interruption, probably just for one song then we’ll head out until next time.

Toddlers Dance Moves

Babies, toddlers, preschoolers, and hey…even some of Just Like GRAMMY & POPPOP’S team members will rock the dance moves with our favorite children songs that might give us ear-worms for the remainder of the day. What could be a better way to spend three minutes? Watching the littles with their elbows out to their sides and bouncing up and down – learning how to sing and how to have fun.