As the cold weather starts to bite and we head into another lockdown, it’s important to remember some of the wonderful music we’ve been able to make so far this Autumn at Bangers & Smash – both in person and via Zoom!
Photo by Anne Nygård on Unsplash
Kitty has continued to run face-to-face sessions at Crystal Nurseries and School Outdoors Dulwich as well as delivering online sessions for Under the Willow and ‘The Elephants’ – a fabulous group of mums and daughters who have been singing together since April.
October’s sessions covered a variety of themes:
Under the Willow continued their termly Project on the theme of Europe
Crystal Nurseries and ‘The Elephants’ moved on to learn about Africa in celebration of Black History Month
School Outdoors Dulwich continued to learn about Autumn as well as singing songs from Europe and Africa
Under the Willow
Children and staff at Under the Willow enjoyed:
looking at a map of the world and identifying Europe
singing the Seven Continents Song and rapping a special Europe-themed call and response section written by Cathy
thinking about how we might travel to Europe and looking at a toy boat, aeroplane and helicopter
listening to a train whistle and copying the sound it makes (whoo whoo!)
singing I Love To Sail In My Big Red Boat (Fly In My Aeroplane / Ride On My Big Red Train / Fly In My Helicopter)
learning songs from three more European countries:
La Lluvia (Spain)
Боряно, Борянке [Boryano, Boryanke] (Bulgaria)
Αδελφέ Ιάκωβε [Adelfe Iakove] (Greece)
recapping our songs from France, Italy and Portugal:
Frère Jacques
Giro Tondo
As Pombinhas Da Catrina
looking at pictures of savoury and sweet foods from Spain, Bulgaria and Greece and singing our own version of Do You Like?
dancing and waving scarves in the colours of different flags to:
Bambaleo by The Gipsy Kings
Erghen Diado (Song of Schopsko) from Le Mystère Des Voix Bulgares
Zorba The Greek by Kostas Papadopoulos
Crystal Nurseries and ‘The Elephants’
Meanwhile, at Crystal Nurseries and ‘The Elephants’, children, staff and parents enjoyed:
looking at a map of the world and identifying Africa
singing the Seven Continents Song and rapping a special Africa-themed call and response section written by Cathy
singing:
Haya Ma, a hello song from South Africa
Here’s A Great Big Lion by Helen McCookeryBook
Alice The Camel
Bangers & Smash original, Funky Pharoah
looking at wooden salad servers carved in the shape of giraffes and tapping / clapping the names of African animals
listening and patting knees to Ssematimba Ne Kikwabanga by Albert Ssempeke (Uganda)
making junk shakers from dried beans and singing a song about beans cooking in a pot, Nzama, Nzama (Malawi)
looking at pictures of savoury and sweet foods from North, South, East, West and Central Africa and singing our own version of Do You Like?
singing and dancing to:
Fanga Alafia by Iya and the Kuumba Kids (Nigeria)
Jerusalema by Master KG featuring Nomcebo (South Africa)
traditional Sufi music (Egypt)
Staff at Crystal Nurseries dancing to Jerusalema
School Outdoors Dulwich
And finally, at School Outdoors Dulwich, children and staff enjoyed:
warming up with our finger rhyme, Five Little Leaves
listening to a bird whistle and learning a new song, Fly Little Bird, about what birds, hedgehogs and squirrels do in Autumn
thinking about the different sounds we hear in the forest – pattering rain, rubbing leaves, crashing thunder, rattling hailstones – and making up our own verses to the tune of Frère Jacques
listening to a rainstick and a thunder drum
making junk shakers from conkers, acorns and dried beans and comparing the sounds they make
shaking our shakers to Hey There, Shaky, Shaky by The Wiggles and Nzama, Nzama, a Malawian song about beans cooking in a pot
looking at pictures of savoury and sweet foods from Africa and singing our own version of Do You Like?
learning a Portuguese song about a little girl with two pet doves, As Pombinhas Da Catrina, and making up our own verses and actions
looking at a soft toy squirrel and making up our own words to Bangers & Smash original, I’m In The Mood For A Song!
Why not book your own Bangers & Smash music session?
As lockdown returns, Bangers & Smash are working with families, nurseries and childcare settings to provide music sessions that reflect their needs.
For some, this has meant continuing to deliver music via Zoom while for others, we’ve created bespoke risk assessments that allow us to teach safely in person.
We’d love to help out with your music offering so if you’re a parent, carer, childcare provider or arts setting and would like to discuss setting up one or more music sessions – either in person or via Zoom – please get in touch here!