Bubbles, Bubbles!

We're LOVING Family Time here at Serendipity Studio! 

We've been focussed on Bathtime for the past couple of weeks, and have been brainstorming loads of ways to make splashing in the bath even more fun than it is already is!

A few of our fantastical ideas:

• Make soap pens! Using empty liquid glue pens (well washed!), mix together clear liquid soap, detergent, or shampoo, and add a few drops of food colouring. Give it a good shake, and you have a soap pen! Best just to write on the bath itself, or the glass door - just in case the colouring stains the shower walls ;) 
• Make bath finger paint! Mix soap/detergent/shampoo, food colouring, and a little cornflour together to make a paste. Use as above!
• Blow bubbles! Get pieces of food grade hosing in different widths & lengths. Blow bubbles!
• Cooking Time! An old fashioned hand beater is an awesome bathtime accessory - mix up the bubbles :)
• Row your Boat - best with two! Play, sing and splash away!
• Blow bubbles - take your bubble mix and wand into the bath, it doesn't matter if it gets spilled!

We'd love to hear your suggestions - if you have a fun bathtime idea, feel free to add it to the comment section.

Have a musical day!

Kath and Jarvis 

Creatures in my Backyard!

What will we see in term three?

Look up high in the trees! Now see what's down on the ground..Dedicated to the great outdoors, the environment, and our many animal friends, Creatures in My Backyard is full of songs, finger-plays, nursery rhymes, musical stories & dances that will inspire toddlers & their parents to explore, wonder & discover the wonders of the natural world.

As many of you will know, our classes will be taking a break later this year while I add another little person to our Kindermusik Family! 

This is one of the reasons I've chosen Creatures for term three, as it's an extra special five week programme for our very special toddlers, aged 18 months - 3. 

This is a very special programme indeed - as well as your usual At Home Materials, for the first time you'll have access to Kindermusik's brand new, state of the art, digital home materials! You'll find videos, activities, stories, tips and developmental information especially for our class. 

Kindermusik's dedication to providing you with the best ever programme means that our curricula are now being updated constantly - meaning you get the benefit of our ongoing research and expertise :) Pretty exciting stuff! 

Contact me today to secure your place for term three! 

A Very Overdue Post!

Hello!! This long overdue post from Serendipity Studio features a really interesting article about the importance of Children's music for children :) Although it doesn't always appeal to the grown ups in the house, music especially for our smallest friends really does benefit them in so many ways!


And I do find it grows on me after a while ;) It's not only Jarvis singing along to the Wiggles when we're driving down the road!


Enjoy :)
Kath


Why Children's Music is Crucial


Love and nourishment are the keystones of healthy development for every baby. But next is music; in fact sometimes it is hard to tell them apart!


Babies hear sounds and feel the rhythm of the heartbeat in the womb. When they are born, they associate their experience of our moods with the sounds around them; loving voices are soothing, while sudden loud noise is distressing.


As you nurse, the steady beat of your heart is baby’s experience of rhythm. As you sing, shake baby’s rattle or bells, baby is responding to the high frequency sounds and the drama in your voice.


Newborns have been crooned to since the dawn of time; we rock them, singing lullabies - and for good reason: it is fundamental to healthy development! Early learning begins in the senses – through touch, taste, smell, sight and hearing. And learning is faster when baby can focus on simple things, one at a time, (even if only for a micro-second!) Neural pathways are rapidly developing as they taste a particular taste or hear a particular sound.


Though babies respond to all sound, there is a natural progression taking place, from simple isolated sounds and songs on a parent’s lap, through to the full orchestration of music on the radio, and sophisticated singalong songs for older kids. In any arena ‘you gotta crawl before you can walk’



We don’t expect children to behave like adults, so why is it that so many parents, in effect, force their children to ‘jump’ straight out of the nursery into the world of adult music? Our mature taste dominates our adult world, but why do we let it dominate the child’s?


Quality children’s music is a response to the genuine developmental needs of the young, rather than an adults’ world imposed upon them. While good children’s music also often communicates on an adult level, this is only to delight us into keeping involved for our children’s sake.


It is crucial for full, healthy development that we let our children progress from simple nursery songs, through dance and action songs, to a wealth of stimulating songs set in their own world as they grow. They need children’s music, because they are children!


Like us, they need music that celebrates their issues, their struggles, their victories, music that appeals to their sense of humour. And like us, they need to be able to be transported listening to it or to be moved to dance or sing to it. If they are going to watch, let it be a live performance. 


Quality children’s music, in an atmosphere of love:


1) Promotes healthy parent-child bonding
2) Establishes a foundation for a child’s development in speech and reading
3) Provides a "good-feeling" base for a healthy self image
4) Helps to develop motor skills and co-ordination
5) Helps build memory skills
6) Awakens humour and creativity


The "live" music you do with your child is the most valuable. Recorded children’s music also stimulates infants and can aid parents in learning songs and games to sing directly with them. It is never too early to start.


Next time you’re thinking of a new toy for your child, consider giving them music; rather than DVDs, just music or musical toys. Children tire of many toys very quickly, but note how often they come back to their musical instruments and how often they ask for their favourite albums to be played!


Music is primal. And perhaps it is the one worldly thing that can take us through our emotional world to touch the sublime. Our children not only deserve music, it is an essential ingredient in being human.


This article had no listed author and was taken from http://www.ucamusic.com/content/childrens_music_crucial/