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Activities, Ideas and Songs for the Classroom

Reviews

"Of all the zillions of Hello/Goodbye songs for kids out there, I simply am loving yours. It is so perfect. I had 24 classes that I started and ended with your tunes and it was a perfect ice breaker. It was like turning up the volume slowly on a musicbox. They kept getting happier and smiling and moving around with joy. By the end they were Happy to be there!!!

-- Susan Nierman, Music and Movement Instructor,
Messiah Lutheran Preschool & Kindergarten, Wauconda Illinois

Music is magic! Music makes things memorable. We all learned our ABC's from a song and we can retain lots of information when we sing it.

If you use any of these songs or activities with children, please contact Pam to share your lesson plan or tell her how it went, send pictures etc. If you made a video of children singing this song and have posted it on YouTube, please contact Pam so that we might add the link.

ACTIVITY GUIDES & SONG LYRICS FOR RECORDINGS:

"A HOP SKIP AND A JUMP"

Activity Guide for A Hop, Skip, and a Jump CD for parents and teachers.

A Hop, Skip, and a Jump CD Song lyrics and chords.

"FRIENDSHIP STEW"

Activity Guide for Friendship Stew for parents and teachers.

Friendship Stew CD Song lyrics and chords.

FOLLOWING ARE SPECIFIC SONGS & ACTIVITIES FOR HOME OR CLASSROOM

Here is "Planting Seeds of Love" that you can sing any time. For songs & activites related to "Planting Seeds Of Love" visit www.plantingseedsoflove.com

Planting Seeds of Love
By Pam Donkin ©2004

Verse 1
I am planting seeds of love in my heart
I am planting seeds of love in my heart
And as they grow, I take them everywhere I go
I am planting seeds of love in my heart

Chorus
And as they grow
They overflow
In every part
Of my heart
Heart to heart
Friend to friend

Verse 2
I am planting seeds of peace in my heart
I am planting seeds of peace in my heart
And as they grow, I take them everywhere I go
I am planting seeds of peace in my heart

Chorus

Verse 3
I am planting seeds of song in my heart
I am planting seeds of song in my heart
And as they grow, I take them everywhere I go
I am planting seeds of song in my heart

Chorus

Verse 4
I am planting seeds of love in my heart
I am planting seeds of love in my heart
And as they grow, I take them everywhere I go
I am planting seeds of love in my heart

••••••••••••••••••••••••

ADAPTATION:
Parent/child or teacher/students version:

Verse 1
I am planting seeds of love in my heart
I am planting seeds of love in my heart
And as they grow, I take them everywhere I go
I am planting seeds of love in my heart
chorus as originally written (see above)

Verse 2
YOU are planting seed of love in MY heart
YOU are planting seed of love in MY heart
And as they grow I take them everywhere I go
YOU are planting seed of love in MY heart

Chorus

Verse 3
I am planting seeds of love in YOUR heart
I am planting seeds of love in YOUR heart
And as they grow you take them everywhere you go
I am planting seeds of love in YOUR heart

Chorus

Verse 4

I am planting seeds of love in my heart
I am planting seeds of love in my heart
And as they grow, I take them everywhere I go
I am planting seeds of love in my heart

•••••••••••••••••••••••••

Mother's Day Version
You are planting seeds of love in my heart
You are planting seeds of love in my heart
And as they grow, I take them everywhere I go
You are planting seeds of love in my heart

Children in a preschool sing Pam's song for Mother's Day.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Earth Day Version
I am planting seeds of love in the earth
I am planting seeds of love in the earth
And as they grow I take them everywhere I go
I am planting seeds of love in the earth

Activity: Help children plant sunflower seeds in earth in a paper cup and watch them grow.

Teachers: If you use this song in your class, please contact Pam to tell her about it and she may post it here on the website.

Families: If your family Planted Seeds of Love in your Community or if your child drew pictures about it, please contact Pam to tell her about it and she may post it here on the website.

Start your day with a Hello Song! This one is a substitution song. You can insert into the song whatever you are doing that day. Greet your students with the positive message that you are happy they are here with you today. Feel free to download the music notation and free MP3!

"Hello My Friends"MP3
Download Music Notation PDF

Hello My Friends
By Pam Donkin ©2006

Hello my friends, I'm so happy that you're here today
Hello my friends, I'm so happy that you're here

Hello my friends, I’m so happy that you’re here today
Because you're here we're going to:
(examples: wave hello, clap our hands, tap our laps, read a book etc.)
When you are finished, do all of the additions backwards so that it becomes a sequencing song!

This song can also be sung with children’s names inserted such as:
Hello to John, I’m (we’re) so happy that you’re here today,
Hello to Pat, I’m (we’re) so happy that you’re here

Here is a Goodbye song that you can end your day with. Additional lyrics are shown for the end of the school year. It's a call response song so you can sing a line and ask the children to be your echo.
Feel free to download the music notation and free MP3!

"Time To Say Goodbye"MP3
Download Music Notation PDF

Time To Say Goodbye
By Pam Donkin ©2006

Time to say goodbye
Goodbye everyone
Time to say goodbye
We sure had fun
We sang some songs
We made some friends
Time to say goodbye
Now our time must end

For end of school:

Time to say goodbye
Goodbye Everyone
Time to say goodbye
Now Kindergarten's done (or Preschool's done)
We learned to read,
We learned to write,
We learned to play,
And not to fight.

Time to say Goodbye
Its time to go
We learned so much
Had time to grow
We made some friends
We'll not forget
First grade is next
And we're all set
This is a great ending song for school concerts or assemblies.

Earth Day Song

"Walk Lightly On The Earth"MP3
Download Music Notation PDF

Walk Lightly on the Earth
Pam Donkin & Greta Pedersen

Chorus:

Walk lightly on the earth, my friend,
Walk lightly on the earth,
Take care with every step, my friend
Walk lightly on the earth

People can do wondrous things, with dreams that touch the skies
Symphonies, discoveries, enriching all our lives
Yet people can’t bring back the animals that are gone
There’s fragile balance to maintain, and as we do, let us…

Chorus

Habitats are vanishing, endangering the lives
Of the humpback whale, the chimpanzee, the eagle souring high
So the children of our children can know the wonders of these
In our work and in our play, let’s all remember to….

Chorus x 2

Ending: ..with carbon footprints lighter than air, walk lightly on the earth.

C 1986 Pam Donkin and Greta Pedersen

Kitchen Jam

We don't necessarily need to buy expensive percussion instruments. Sometimes it's just fun to have a kitchen jam. To play along with the song hitting a pot or oatmeal box, or scraping an empty plastic ice tray. Then we can feel we can make music any old time!

Home or classroom activity: Use wooden or plastic bowls, potato masher, spoons, colanders, oatmeal or chip containers, plastic ice trays etc. Take an empty container like a yoghurt container and fill it with dry beans. Tap, shake or scrape them (that's the definition or a percussion instrument) and then talk about the different sounds you can hear, how are they different, can they be changed etc. Does a small bowl make the same sound as a large one? Play along with the kitchen jam song. Do a marching band! Here's an idea for making a cookie tin marching drum that I got from my friend, Anna Stange. Use ribbon to desired length and simply put the ends between the tin & its cover — close the tin, and you have a great marching drum. Give the children materials to glue on the sides & bottoms of the tins.

Find the rhythm. Demonstrate the rhythms to your students. Tap out a rhythm and have them echo it back to you. Try 4/4 time and 3/4 time.

Listening skills: Listen to the different sounds from wood vs metal, high vs low etc. soft and loud.

Curriculum Connection: Science, Music, Imagination

Watch On YouTube

"Kitchen Jam" - Featured on Kaleidoscope Kids TV Show

"Kitchen Jam" - LIVE at CMN Conference

Make an instrument:

Toilet Paper Kazoo
Punch a hole in one end of the toilet paper tube. On the other end, secure a piece of wax paper with a rubber band. Make sounds into the open end making sure not to cover the punched hole. Then there is no need to make any kind of a slit in the wax paper at all.

Shaker
Take a film canister or yoghurt container and fill it with either dry beans or small macaroni. Close the container and put tape around the cap to secure it. Shake it, shake it, shake it in your favorite jeans, along with the Kitchen Jam song on Pam's CD "A Hop, Skip, and a Jump!"

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Homemade Shakers from Patricia Shih, www.patriciashih.com, used with permission

Materials needed:

Paper or plastic plates (paper being more eco-friendly), ribbons, bird seed, rice or small beans, markers, crayons, staple puller, staplers & staples, hole punchers, metal or plastic buttons, duct tape, toilet paper tubes, scissors, scotch tape, used wrapping or other decorative paper

Tambourine shakers
Using markers, crayons or whatever you want, make colored drawings on the bottoms of two paper plates for decoration. Stickers could also be used. Put beans, rice, bird seed or whatever in between the two plates (top sides facing each other) and staple closely all around the edges of the two plates so the seeds don't fall out, leaving space some places for punching holes. Then punch a few holes around the stapled plates.

Thread brightly colored ribbons through the holes and tie off, leaving some length as "streamers". If you wish, string can be threaded through buttons and also tied closely to the plates to make even more "rattle." Voila! Play along to Patricia's song "Eating is Fun, Eating is Serious."

Simple shakers
Fill toilet paper cardboard tubes (you can also use paper towel tubes cut down shorter) with beans, rice, etc. Stuff both ends with a little tissue (or even toilet) paper, then use duct tape to seal the ends. Cover the tube with decorative paper and twist the ends like a party popper, tape or tie off with bright ribbons. Couldn't be easier. Try it with Patricia's "The Color Song"!

"Orville and Wilbur Wright"MP3
Download Music Notation PDF

Video: Yaw, Pitch and Roll Classroom Activity
Video: "Orville and Wilbur Wright"

Orville and Wilber Wright
Pam Donkin & Monty Harper

There once was a couple of fellers
Whose minds were as sharp as propellers
They dreamed they could fly way up in the sky
In machines that they built in their bicycle shop
At Kitty Hawk they found the best site
For giving each glider a test flight
There was plenty of breeze and sand from the seas
To soften the landing if either should drop

Orville and Wilbur Wright
Pioneers of motorized flight
Ne'er would a pair improve their height
Like Orville and Wilbur Wright

The first plane they flew was a glider
But she flew mighty low when they tried her
They did wind tunnel tests on what wings would work best
They made two hundred various shapes to compare
In four years of work they were able
To pilot a plane that was stable
With yaw pitch and roll all under control
It flew for twelve seconds, ten feet in the air!

Chorus

These days we think nothing
Of flying to Rome or Berlin
But a trip through the air would be fantasy fare
If it weren’t for the work of these men

Orville and Wilbur Wright
Pioneers of motorized flight
Ne'er would a pair improve their height
Like Orville and Wilbur, Orville and Wilbur
Orville and Wilbur Wright