During the Autumn term, we’ve been celebrating Africa and Christmas at Bangers & Smash!
In September and October, Kitty ran sessions on the theme of Africa at regular Bangers & Smash nurseries, Purple Jay Herne Hill Dulwich, The Oval Montessori, Crystal Nurseries, Under the Willow and School Outdoors Dulwich.
She also presented a special Diwali-themed session at School Outdoors Dulwich as well as Autumn Celebration, a family music and craft event at Brockwell Park Community Greenhouses in Herne Hill.
In November and December, it was time to rehearse and perform Christmas shows and concerts for parents and carers.
And finally, Bangers & Smash co-founder, Sarah Allen, joined Kitty on Saturday 14 December to present an afternoon of singing and Christmas wreath-making at the Mother Goose Wildlife Garden in Camberwell.
Celebrating Africa
Children and staff at regular Bangers & Smash nurseries enjoyed:
singing a new hello song in two parts, Choy Baboy / Kolele
looking at a map of the world and singing Seven Continents
looking at a giraffe-shaped wooden spoon and listening as Kitty tapped the word, ‘giraffe’
clapping the names of other African animals – lion, leopard, crocodile, cheetah, hippopotamus, zebra, gazelle, snake, monkey, meerkat – then transferring these word rhythms to claves
playing our claves to Ssematimba Ne Kikwabanga, a recording of Ugandan musicians by ethnomusicologist, Hugh Tracey
taking it in turns to wear a safari hat while singing Pole, Pole, a song about spotting animals in the wild
Check out the animals we saw on safari at Purple Jay Herne Hill Dulwich!
dancing to Pata Pata by South African singer and activist, Miriam Makeba
clapping the names of the animals and fruits in Handa’s Surprise by Eileen Browne
looking at pictures of food from different parts of Africa and singing Do You Like?
pretending to fly to Kenya on an aeroplane and singing a welcome song in Swahili, Jambo Bwana
dancing to a recording of Jambo Bwana
stroking a kidney bean and finding words to describe it:
smooth
hard
brown
red
shiny
taking it in turns to shake a kidney bean shaker and jump up and down to Jumping Bean
playing shakers and singing a Malawian song about cooking beans in a pot, Nzama Nzama
Black History Month
In October, Kitty also asked staff of African and Caribbean heritage if they would like to share songs and stories in celebration of Black History Month.
Huge thanks to Nkechi, Abi, Gay-Ann, Kemi, Miriam, Kat and Carol for the following:
Ojo N Ro (It Is Raining) and Iya Ni Wura from Nigeria (in the Yoruba language)
Onye Gabwe Wu Iya and Onye Mere Nwa Nebe Akwa from Nigeria (in the Igbo language)
Brown Girl In The Ring and Three Little Birds from Jamaica
Kitty and some of the teachers at Crystal Nurseries after three riotous whole school Black History Month celebrations!
Christmas shows and concerts
Nurseries began rehearsals for their Christmas shows and concerts in November, ready to perform them for parents and carers in December.
Under the Willow and School Outdoors Dulwich
Staff and children at Under the Willow and School Outdoors Dulwich sang and danced to Christmas songs, including:
Twinkle, Twinkle, Christmas Star
Little Donkey
Mary Had A Baby
Feliz Navidad
Three Little Reindeer (a Bangers & Smash original!)
When Santa Got Stuck Up The Chimney
Jingle Bells
All I Want For Christmas Is You
Carol Of The Bells
Stir Up The Christmas Cake
Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
We Wish You A Merry Christmas
Santa came down the chimney and ended up at Under the Willow!
Purple Jay Herne Hill Dulwich
Staff and children at Purple Jay Herne Hill Dulwich sang songs for parents and carers in front of a festive backdrop.
Babies played bells and waved homemade stars while toddlers and preschoolers took it in turns to perform Christmas classics like Christmas Pudding, When Santa Got Stuck Up The Chimney and Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer.
Everyone joined together at the end to sing We Wish You A Merry Christmas and dance to Feliz Navidad!
Crystal Nurseries
Crystal Nurseries hosted performances of Kitty’s musical play, Born In A Stable, in all three nurseries.
Staff and children dressed up as Mary, Joseph, a donkey, travellers and an innkeeper as well as shepherds, sheep, kings, stars and Christmas puddings.
They sang songs celebrating the Nativity, including a magical fairy-light-lit rendition of Silent Night.
Parents at Crystal Nurseries pitched in to make this fabulous inn!
The Oval Montessori
Parents and carers gathered at St Anne and All Saints Church in Vauxhall to for The Oval Montessori’s annual Christmas concert.
Kitty was joined by Bangers & Smash co-founder, Sarah Allen, on flute and accordion as staff and children performed a fantastic array of festive songs, including:
He’ll Be Coming Down The Chimney
Crimson Zapatitos
This Little Light Of Mine
The Children’s Band
Jingle Bells
You Gotta Sing
I’m A Little Christmas Tree
We Wish You A Merry Christmas
Afterwards, everyone celebrated with mulled drinks and biscuits – a happy end to a fantastic term!
Kitty Pidduck presents…
Autumn Celebration
Kitty presented sold-out family singing and craft event, Autumn Celebration, at Brockwell Park Community Greenhouses on 28 October.
As well as singing and dancing to songs about Autumn, children collected leaves, flowers, berries and seed pods and used them to make pumpkin selfies and junk shakers.
Carols in the Wildlife Garden
And finally, Kitty and Sarah hosted their annual Carols in the Wildlife Garden event on Saturday 14 December.
Families and members of the local community gathered to sing festive songs, make Christmas wreaths with co-host, Marlon Gibbins, and share mulled drinks and mince pies in the Mother Goose Wildlife Garden in Camberwell.
This little boy gave us a lovely rendition of Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer!
Happy New Year from Bangers & Smash!
We’d like to wish you all a very Happy New Year from Bangers & Smash – we look forward to seeing you in 2025!