More New Partners Coming Onboard

We welcome the following new partners to our Kindermusik community:

Merrily Rolling Along

Singing in the car is one of the greatest illustrations of the practical application of music! We know that musical experiences benefit babies and young children in so many ways—providing rich interpersonal experiences, creating feelings of self-worth and being loved, feeding language growth, and supporting the development of fine and gross motor skills. And on the road, we find an additional priceless benefit—it happily occupies Baby, making travel as smooth as possible. Frustration can be minimized for your baby and for the whole family if music is one of your travel "techniques."

Music in Hand

How is your repertoire of children's songs and rhymes? These can be sanity saving diversions when buckled in for travel. If you tend to have trouble remembering these songs when you need them most, make yourself a music cue card with a list of 10 or 15 favorites. Slip it in your wallet, the diaper bag, or the glove box. Then, should you happen to be momentarily stuck in traffic when your baby starts to get restless, you can lift her spirits and yours with a musical diversion. Include favorite finger and toe tickles such as "This Little Piggy Went to Market" or its cousin "This Little Cow Eats Grass," and nursery rhymes with finger movements such as "Eency Weency Spider" and "Pat-a-Cake."

And don't forget the simple classic to be enjoyed repeat upon repeat—peek-a-boo. Play peek-a-boo with your hands, using a book, or with a travel-friendly sheer scarf. (It's both lightweight and compact.) Sing the song "Peek-a-boo." Before you start to sing, hide your face behind your hands. Each time you sing "peek-a-boo" reveal yourself, to baby's delight, concealing your face again on the "la's." You can also play peek-a-boo hiding baby's hand or foot or a stuffed animal.

Navigating the Emotions of Travel

For toddlers, so much of the world is beyond their control and so many things come by surprise. Familiar rituals provide security to balance the unpredictability of life. Moving and talking through an experience can also provide an opportunity to own and process emotions and can allow children to play out coping strategies that, with repetition, become assimilated as aspects of emotional wellbeing. The familiar "Ring around the Rosey," for example, lets children play out the experience of falling down but then getting back up and carrying on. Similarly, you can help your child prepare for a trip by talking about the experience and "playing it out" with an engaging song or rhyme with movement.

Prepare for Take-Off

Flying on an airplane can be very exciting for a young child. Tell your child in advance about your travel plans. Show her pictures of airplanes and talk with her about the experience, sharing things she can look forward to such as all the interesting things and people you will see in the airport and on the plane. Enjoy the "Run and Jump"/"Soaring" activity at home, in the airport, or in flight.

1. Stretch your arms out like "wings" and crouch down low.
2. Speak the "Take-Off" verse of "Run and Jump," moving accordingly.
3. After flying around a bit, bring your plane in for a landing with the second verse.
4. Repeat several times, then insert the song "Soaring" between "Take-Off" and "Landing." As you sing, fly about as before.
5. In lieu of the whole body jet, you can adapt this activity and fly a "hand airplane," with thumb and pinky extended as wings.

Run and Jump
by Susan James

Fantasy Island

Perhaps you've noticed a growing sense of adventure in your preschooler—both cognitively and experientially. Does he surprise you with dramatic displays? Create unlikely images from words you didn't know could go together? Inquire more persistently? There's wonder in his "whys." And travel, actual or fanciful, feeds this wonder, stimulates imagination, and helps him shape his view of the world. Remove the ordinary constraints of location—or just pretend to—and anything is possible!

Pack Your Bags

This activity can be enjoyed ahead of time as you actually pack, as a memory game, or as a pretend play activity in preparation for a make-believe "trip." As you ready your child for the expedition, engage his problem-solving skills as well as his fancy in the process.

1. Tell your child you're going on a train ride and you'll need to pack your bags. "Oh, my! What shall we take and what shall we pack it in?" Follow your child's lead.
2. Lay an imaginary or real suitcase (or whatever your child suggests) on the floor and pat it to the steady beat together as you sing "Standing on the Platform." (You may wish to pause to explain what a platform is.)
3. Adapt the song to your mode of transportation, such as "Standing in the airport, waiting for the plane…."
4. Sing the song several times. Each time, take turns with your child suggesting something to bring along. Have fun talking about why you'll need each item. Sing the suggested item in place of the words "old blue bonnet."

Mapping It Out

Planning, singing, memory, sequencing, spatial relations, rhythm, creativity, fine motor skills, pre-reading with picture symbols—all this learning is summed up in the words "Choo-Choo-Choo." This song accompanies a map activity that will involve your young child in your travels in a new way, allowing him to start to learn about the visual representation of movement and spatial orientation through charting your trip. Variations on this activity provide other valuable benefits. Create and follow a room-scale map of part of your home to help your child follow a path and become more observant of surroundings. Or invite your child to map out an imaginary journey and experience the creative process of developing and acting out a story from start to finish.

Been There, Got the Sticker

Before your trip, create a simple map for your child, outlining the course of your journey. Invite him to watch as you explain what you are doing. You will need:

• paper
• crayons or markers
• stickers

Your map doesn't need to be to scale, but the general shape of the course should be accurate. It also should be extremely simplified. Your map might be as basic as a straight line from your house to grandma's and back again. Along the mapped path, make squares for planned stops. Write the town or landmark name beside each square. To help your child read the map, you might also include a visual (outside of the box) relating to the stop.

As you travel, help your child consult the map to follow your course. For each town passed through or landmark identified, give your child a sticker to put in the corresponding box on the map. If you see additional towns or landmarks, add boxes for these to the map and give your child stickers to put in these as well. You may wish to create two maps—one for the outbound trip and one for the return trip.

Adapt the words to "Choo-Choo-Choo" according to your mode of transportation ("Goin' on a car ride, beep-beep-beep...," "Goin' on a plane ride, fly-fly-fly...," etc.). Sing the song as you create the map. Then sing on the trip changing the words to create a question and answer exchange about the trip. To do this, sing the song once through on the question "Where are we goin', beep-beep-beep?" Then let your child sing it back to you with the answer "Goin' to ______, beep-beep-beep."