When I was about 3 or 4 years old, my older sister and I took bubble baths together. I remember us concocting a story where there were monsters in the water. We each had to take turns hanging off the soap bar holder so that the monsters wouldn’t attack our toes. Apparently, it was so much fun that we accidently tore off the soap bar holder down along with a couple of tiles. We laugh about it now after our parents forgave us…

Think about all the stories you’ve heard and told yourself. Maybe you’re thinking about what story you’re going to tell your little one when you tuck her into bed tonight. Some nights you like to read a classic children’s book – other nights when your eyes are too weary to read, you create your own princes and dragons until she has fallen asleep peacefully by your side.

Now think of a musical recording as a book. The composer is the author and the musicians in the recording are the storytellers.

Now how can you combine music and storytelling in your own home?

As for me, the first thing I have to do is get back in touch with my inner child. I have to be willing to get down on my hands and knees, roar like a lion, embody twinkling stars, and even prance around the room like a magical kangaroo. Ok, basically, I have to be willing to be incredibly silly. So if you’re afraid of what others might think of you, you’ll have to get over it.

The second step is to find music that inspires your imagination. So in other words, if the song sounds boring to you, don’t use it. You want something that will get you to move or act out a scenario. For instance, if the music is spooky, you can pretend to sneak around the house on a mission to find a treasure. There’s a plethora of exciting music out there, so no worries on running out of resources.

A great example comes from the collection called “Carnival of the Animals” by Camille Saint-Saens. His first piece from the set is “The Lion”. It easily depicts a marching lion and the rolling waves played by the piano will inspire anyone to roar like the King of the Jungle. At the end of the song, the lion gives out the biggest roar, making it clear that he is not an animal to be reckoned with.

Yes, I’ve been on my hands and knees, mimicking a lions walk, marching like a lion and roaring along with my 3 and 4-year-old students. And I love it.

I adore pumpkin pie. If I could have it my way, I would clean off an entire pie myself! Every Thanksgiving and Christmas I look forward to that first bite of creamy, pumpkin pie. But in the meantime, for the sake of my health (mostly my waistline!), I use the imaginary spoon and pretend to enjoy a bite now and then.

No, this is not about dieting. Yes, this is about an imaginary spoon and how you and your child can create an imaginary spoon as well. This is about pantomiming.

What is pantomiming? Pantomiming is acting without words.

I was first introduced to pantomiming when I started co-teaching classes with a theater teacher. I loved watching the teacher use her two hands and mold a baseball bat out of thin air. The students were so curious about what she was making. You could see the light bulb above their heads turn on, one by one, as they realized what she was making and acting out – getting ready to swing the baseball bat. When it came to their turn to create something, it was amazing to witness how this technique of using their imagination completely opened up their world to another form of expression and creativity.

Nowadays when I am teaching by myself sans a theater expert, I incorporate pantomiming into the songs and short poems. One of my favorite ones goes like this:

This type of game is a great way to share a laugh with your child while activating the imagination. It’s also a short and sweet so it can be played just about any time, anywhere.

Here’s to finding your imaginary spoon – making an everyday task just a little more creative!

“Take out your artist’s finger!” said the music teacher as she picked up a large piece of paper with unusual markings on it.

“Here is our first picture today – let’s see what this drawing is going to sound like…”

[The teacher holds up a piece of paper with 5 dots drawn randomly as the children use their pointer finger to follow along with the dots.]

[The lower the dots are on the page, the lower their voices go. The last beep is a high pitched squeal. Some children are still finishing drawing their dots in the air with their fingers.]

“What great artists I have today! That sounded like some amazing polka dots!”

This is a typical dialogue that I have with my 2-year-old classes. We usually continue on with different shapes like wavy lines, zigzags, and squiggly lines. How can wavy lines, zigzags, and squiggly lines be musically beneficial?

1. The rise and fall of a wavy line allows the children to explore their entire vocal range.
2. Long lines convey a continuous sound while polka dots evoke short, articulated sounds.  Associating certain sounds with the images they see are actually introducing them to basic notation reading.
3. Being completely free to make up silly sound effects helps them to be creative! For example, the wavy lines can sound like a siren one day or a buzzing bee the next day.
4. No words are necessary! This form of “reading” is inviting to the young ones who aren’t able to speak or form sentences yet.
5. When your child is learning to use a marker/crayon/pencil, you can both create your own artwork together and assign different sounds to the pictures.

Now take away the classroom environment. You are reading the paper in the family room and your little one toggles over and reaches to touch your arm. His eyes say it all.

“Daddy, I want to play!”

You smile and turn to the business section of the paper where there is a colorful graph of the stock market’s performance. You fold your arms around your son as he snuggles in your lap. You take his finger and encompass it in your hand. You guide his finger along the graph’s bumpy, sharp lines.

A silly moment shared between parent and child; a musical moment shared between two people; a bonding moment to look back when he is older and reading the newspaper along with you on the couch…

Cheers to being silly and making an everyday moment into a musical one!

Remember playing the Silent Game with your parents so that they could have a few moments of silence? Perhaps you just played this game in the car with your kids?  Let me introduce to you another version of the Silent Game that offers more benefits other than a few moments of silence.

The Silent Game can be much more than that. In the education world we call this: Internal Hearing. This is really just a fancy term for thinking quietly. Yes, it is an abstract concept and yes, toddlers can do this!

At this point, I have to confess. I am absolutely obsessed with teaching children Internal Hearing. I commit an entire year passing this technique on to my 3 year old classes. Not only do I love it, but the children love the challenge as well.  Now how can a non-music teacher, busy parent like yourself incorporate this technique? Here’s a step-by-step guide of how I teach my students in class using the classic song, “The Itsy Bitsy Spider”:

Step 1:

Use a song you and your child know well. If there are hand movements that go with your song, even better.

Step 2:

Propose a challenge to your child after singing through the song: “I wonder if we can sing this song INSIDE OUR HEAD? That means we will be thinking the exact same thing at the same time – with no sound!”

At first, they may not know what you mean. If this is the case, sing the song again but with no sound coming out. You’ll be lip-syncing and doing the motions if there are any. Your child may still sing out-loud, and that’s OK. She will eventually notice that you are singing along with her silently and start copying you.

Step 3:

Establish a phrase that will cue your child when you want to play this game. It can be something like: “Let’s sing this song inside our ______ (point to your head)!” Once your child is confident with this new game, he/she will be able to fill in the blank knowing exactly what you are thinking.

I love the idea that children can imagine a song in their head but most of all, I love the idea that the children can engage and connect with someone at a level with the absence of sound.

Whether it’s in the car, cooking with the family, or tucking your precious one into bed, this is just another idea of making an everyday task into a musical one.

“I don’t have a musical nerve in my body”

“My kid sings all the time at home, but I’m tone deaf. I have no idea where she got that from?”

“I use to take piano, I hated piano, and now I want my kid to play piano.”

Does this sound familiar to you? Have you said this yourself or to your child’s music teacher?

As a music teacher, parents tell me this all the time. I try to reassure them they don’t need to feel the way they do. People are naturally musical and there are many things that you can do at home that can have a big impact on your kid. Sometimes it might require the parent to be a little silly – even SUPER silly. Sometimes it might require the parent to explore their own musical personality. By doing so, it not only helps the parent grow their musical side but it encourages their children to do the same.

One of the things you’re hear me talk about all the time is that “musicality = everyday expressions.” Music is certainly not confined to concert halls or elite research doctorates. Music is the expression of sounds no matter how they come out. Music is every day. Music is every parent and music is possible in the home. It is as practical as making breakfast for your children in the morning or bathing them at night.

This leads me to a practical example of structured playtime called BATH TIME!!!! And why not? Bath time already serves as a safe environment for you and your kids after a busy day.

Bath Time Rhythms

Instructions: Substitute any two items into the phrasing and sing along with your kids. See if you can tap the syllables with your child by tapping a bath toy or even making small splashes – since you’ll be getting wet anyway! – in the water along with the rhythms. Have fun with it!

A single “X” represents a one sound/syllable. A double “XX” represents 2 sounds/syllables.

• “Bee, Bee, Mini Bee” X X XX X
• “Nail, Nail, Hammer Nail” X X XX X
• “Duck, Duck, Rubber Duck” X X XX X