We’ve had a great Summer at Bangers & Smash with songs, activities, projects and celebrations on the theme of Carnival!
In regular Bangers & Smash nurseries, children and staff have enjoyed:
learning a welcome rap and performing it as a call and response with Kitty
tapping the pulse on:
their bodies
claves
drums
looking at We All Celebrate by Chitra Soundar and Jenny Bloomfield and talking about Carnival in different parts of the world
looking at pictures of children celebrating Carnival in Brazil, Trinidad & Tobago and the UK
dancing to music from Latin America and the Caribbean, including:
Fanfarra (Cabua-Le-Le) by Sergio Mendes
Rodopiou by Nazare Pereira
Banana, Banana, Banana and Peanut Vendor by the Kew Park Mento Band
Hot, Hot, Hot by Arrow
singing songs from Latin America and the Caribbean, including:
Dulce, Dulce
Mama Paquita
Brown Girl In The Ring
Come Back, Liza
Hill An’ Gully Rider
Linstead Market
Kitty also set a poem about Carnival to music. Children and staff enjoyed playing along on junk drums and joining in with a rhythmic ostinato (repeated phrase) at the end.
Carnival Project Celebrations
Under the Willow and School Outdoors Dulwich presented Carnival-inspired Project Celebrations for parents and carers on Thursday 21 July.
All set for our Carnival Project Celebration at School Outdoors Dulwich!
Children dressed up in Carnival costumes and performed songs and poems learned during the term.
Under the Willow’s Carnival backdrop
Kitty Pidduck presents…
Kitty was also delighted to present two family music sessions at Brockwell Park Community Greenhouses as well as a five-week outdoor music project at Purple Jay Nursery in Peckham Rye.
Carnival of Sound
Families gathered at Brockwell Park Community Greenhouses’ new learning centre, Brockwell Barn, on Tuesday 26 July to celebrate the sounds of nature, Carnival-style!
Participants sang songs and learned about Carnival before heading to the orchard to forage for natural soundmakers (leaves, seedpods etc).
So many wonderful sounds to collect!
They put their sounds inside recycled boxes which they decorated with brightly coloured paper to make junk drums / shakers. They also made drumsticks out of hazel and bamboo.
An old chocolate box filled with twigs and leaves makes a great shaker!
After dancing to music from Brazil and Montserrat, they dressed up in colourful cloaks and paraded in a circle with their drums, singing a specially written song, It’s Carnival Time.
Sing me a song, tell me a rhyme, dance me a dance, it’s Carnival Time!
The Birds who Flew to Carnival
Kitty was also invited to devise and run a five-week project at Purple Jay Nursery in Peckham Rye with the aim of engaging preschoolers and staff in an outdoor music performance.
Entitled The Birds who Flew to Carnival, the project encouraged participants to take inspiration from natural, found and experienced sounds and to weave them together with story, song, music, dance, art and craft to create a performance for parents and carers on Tuesday 2 August.
Getting ready for our Carnival performance!
As part of the project, children took a ‘sound walk’ to Peckham Rye Park to collect their own sounds (leaves, twigs, pebbles etc) before putting them in recycled bottles to make junk shakers. They also made claves out of hazel and bamboo.
They used these instruments to accompany songs from Latin America and the Caribbean – including songs suggested by staff members – as well as their own song, We’re Making A Carnival Of Sound.
Mama Paquita and her baby all set to go to Carnival!
Everything came together in a performance about two birds who fly to Brazil and Jamaica – growing brightly coloured feathers on the way – to experience Carnival first-hand.
The children decorated their own birds and gave them names!
Thanks to everyone at Purple Jay for making The Birds who Flew to Carnival such a success. We look forward to working with you again!
Moving into Autumn
As we move into Autumn, we’ll be thinking about ourselves and our families as we explore the theme of Me, Myself and I at Bangers & Smash.
Kitty and Sarah will also be presenting a session for parents and members of the local community at Mother Goose Wildlife Garden in December so watch this space!