It’s been a busy November and December at Bangers & Smash with Christmas plays, concerts and parties to prepare for and monthly and termly projects to bring to a close!
Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash
As before, 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.
Crystal Nurseries
Children and staff at all three Crystal Nurseries spent the run-up to Christmas preparing for concerts featuring festive favourites such as Jingle Bells, Santa Claus Is Coming To Town, Silent Night and We Wish You A Merry Christmas.
Parents helped with costumes (which ranged from angels, donkeys, Santas and reindeer to a selection of brightly coloured Christmas jumpers!) and staff videoed each performance to share on the Family app.
School Outdoors Dulwich
At School Outdoors Dulwich, children and staff enjoyed:
dancing with red and yellow scarves and singing two new songs for Bonfire Night:
The Firework Song by Steve Grocott
Red Flames, Yellow Flames Burning Bright (with lyrics by Cathy to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star)
rehearsing and performing songs about forest animals for the School Outdoors Dulwich Christmas Play and Video:
Going On A Journey
The Wide-Eyed Owl (with music by Cathy)
Happy Hedgehog
Climb, Little Squirrel (with lyrics by Cathy)
The Fox And The Moon
Huge thanks to the staff at School Outdoors Dulwich for the opportunity to be part of this wonderfully creative and collaborative performance!
Under the Willow
At Under the Willow, children and staff brought their Europe Project to a close by:
learning songs from three more European countries:
Picoulet (Switzerland)
Borsót Főztem (Hungary)
Abel Babel, Gänseschnabel (Germany)
looking at pictures of savoury and sweet foods from Switzerland, Hungary and Germany and singing their own version of Do You Like?
dancing and waving scarves in the colours of different flags to:
The Lonely Goatherd by Frankie Yankovic
Hungarian Dance No. 5 In G Minor by Johannes Brahms
The Wurst Polka by Paul Freitas
bringing everything together in an online Project Celebration on 25 November
We then practised Christmas songs, including Jingle Bells, Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer and Ten Little Elves, for a performance for parents and carers in December.
‘The Elephants’
Mums and daughters enjoyed singing songs about numbers and letters in November, including:
12345, Once I Caught A Fish Alive
Five Little Ducks Went Swimming One Day
Ten Fat Sausages Sizzling In The Pan
ABCD
Apples & Bananas and The Numbers Rhumba by Raffi
December was spent singing and dancing to Christmas songs, dressing up in reindeer antlers and Santa hats and generally having fun!
Mother Goose Nurseries and Watermans Arts Centre
And finally, Kitty was asked to host the Mother Goose Zoom Christmas Concert 2020 for families of children at Mother Goose Nurseries and to run two singalong sessions at the Watermans Short Breaks Festive Party 2020.
One Short Breaks carer said:
‘Thank you for such a wonderful party just now. Xxxx and I loved it very much. I think she smiled the whole way through.’
Kitty (bottom right) and the Watermans’ team at the Short Breaks Festive Party 2020
Merry Christmas from Bangers & Smash!
A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all from Bangers & Smash – let’s hope 2021 brings a safer, happier world for little (and big) smashers everywhere!!