Kitty Pidduck presents...

Last month, I presented my first outdoor music session as Kitty Pidduck!

Six families joined me at the wonderful Brockwell Park Community Greenhouses (BPCG) in Herne Hill for one and a half hours of singing, sound-foraging and junk instrument-making.

This wasn’t my first outdoor session by far – I’ve been working in forest school and wildlife settings for a while – but it was my first outing as Kitty Pidduck, the name I’ve chosen as my nom de plume as I venture into the world of children’s publishing and media.

I came across BPCG during lockdown. Every week, come Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall (to quote James Taylor ❤️), my friend and I would walk in Brockwell Park along with all the other stir-crazy locals who’d had enough of staring at their own four walls. As we sat drinking flasks of tea in the Walled Garden, we’d hear children singing on the other side of the wall and one day, we wandered round to find an enchanting hidden area with greenhouses, raised beds, a pond, a mud kitchen and a stage – perfect for presenting nature-inspired music sessions!

I was lucky enough to meet up with BPCG Director, Kate Sebag (a force of nature herself!) and she invited me to present yesterday’s session. We chatted about what might work and settled on making junk instruments using natural soundmakers like seed pods and flower heads.

I spent the two weeks before the session collecting examples of these on a road trip across the UK – grasses, dried artichokes, poppy heads and more – and invited the children to experiment with these before heading off on their own foraging expedition!

They came back with a beautiful array of found sounds and as they put them in recycled plastic bottles to make shakers, I sang them songs from my preschool series about outdoor learning and messy play, currently in development with King Bee Animation.

We finished by taking our shakers to the pond and singing two classic children’s songs, 12345, Once I Caught A Fish Alive and Five Little Speckled Frogs. It was a magical session and a fantastic first step into my new Kitty Pidduck persona.

Afterwards, I was chatting to Kate and she mentioned that one happy outcome of lockdown is that BPCG has expanded its reach to include much more community learning, which has created a blossoming of ideas brought in by freelancers, volunteers and visitors.

I’m thrilled to be a part of this and look forward to running more sessions in this beautiful and inspiring setting!

Introducing... Kitty Pidduck!

As some of you may know, Bangers & Smash has been going since 1987 when Sarah and I finished our training at CM and set out on the road to becoming fully fledged community musicians!

Back then, I was Cathy Tozer, a wannabe jazz singer and singer/songwriter with a love of children’s music.

25 or so years later, I got married and became Cathy Clethero and 10 years after that, I’m changing my name again – to Kitty Pidduck!

Kitty Pidduck was my grandmother – I never met her but my Mum used to tell me stories about her life as an actress, singer and cruise ship stewardess. I always thought it would be lovely to use her name as a pen name and now that time has come as I venture into the world of children’s publishing and media as a writer and content creator.

We’ve always used a lot of my songs and stories at Bangers & Smash and now I’ve created a musical series for 4-6-year-olds about singing and outdoor learning.

I’m lucky enough to have hooked up with a wonderful animation company based at Elstree Studios, KingBee Animation, and together we’re developing the series for broadcast.

It would be great if you could join us on our journey by checking out my new website (kittypidduck.com) and following me on Twitter (@kittypidduck), Instagram (kittypidduck) and Facebook (KittyPidduck).

On top of that, I’ll be premiering some of my songs from the series at a couple of Summer events so please do come along if you can:

• Kitty Pidduck at the Community Greenhouses

• Music in the Wildlife Garden

Thanks and have a great Summer!

Welcoming the Summer with Bangers & Smash!

Here at Bangers & Smash, we’ve welcomed the Summer with sessions on Minibeasts, the Sun & the Moon, Space & Planets and Weights & Forces!

‘I like the bee and the bee likes me!’ Children in the Mother Goose Wildlife Garden made up their own poem about a bee collecting nectar

Kitty is now back teaching face-to-face in all Bangers & Smash nurseries although sadly, Zoom sessions with The Elephants – a fabulous group of families who’ve been singing together since April 2020 – have come to an end in preparation for the children heading into Reception this September.

Regular nurseries and outdoor settings

Minibeasts

At Crystal Nurseries, School Outdoors Dulwich and Mother Goose Greendale, our Minibeasts theme has included songs and musical activities about bees, worms, ants, snails, spiders, caterpillars, butterflies, ladybirds and more.

Children and staff enjoyed:

• making their hands into a (pretend) beehive and singing Here Is The Beehive

• learning I Like The Bee, a poem about how bees collect nectar and make honey written by Kitty with the help of children in the Mother Goose Wildlife Garden

• singing A Worm Is Very Wiggly and making up their own actions for different minibeasts

• holding a leaf and singingThere’s A Tiny Caterpillar On A Leaf to the tune of She’ll Be Coming Round The Mountain

• looking at a picture of ants and singing The Ants Went Marching with actions

• singing two action songs about spiders:

  • Incey Wincey Spider

  • There’s A Spider On The Floor

• pretending to be stuck in a web and dancing to Sticky Situation by Kiko Bun

• taking it in turns to hide under a scarf while the rest of the group searches for a snail in Follow The Silver Trail

• playing sticks and pretend trumpets to The Ladybugs’ Picnic

The Sun and the Moon

While School Outdoors Dulwich and Mother Goose Greendale continued with our Minibeasts theme during July, Crystal Nurseries spent the month learning about the Sun and the Moon.

As well as teaching a lovely song by Raffi, Big Beautiful Planet, Kitty introduced a variety of musical activities, including:

• rolling an earth ball to different children while singing a name song

• finding yellow things (scarf, star, banana, chick, duck etc) and showing them to the sun while chanting, Come on, su-un… come on, su-un… come on, su-un… shine!

• looking at a picture of the sun and singing, Mister Golden Sun

• playing bells and singing, You Are My Sunshine

• playing peekaboo with a cloth embroidered with stars and moons

• looking at a rocket and a moon lamp while:

  • joining in with actions to Up Like A Rocket by Steve Grocott

  • singing Zoom, Zoom, Zoom and Hey, Diddle, Diddle

• making the face of the Man in the Moon with different kinds of food while singing Aiken Drum

• clapping along while Kitty taps a pulse on two salad servers to And he played upon a ladle, a ladle, a ladle… And he played upon a ladle and his name was Aiken Drum!

• lying down with the lights off and listening to a lullaby, Winkum, Winkum

Check out our Aiken Drum!

Under the Willow

Meanwhile at Under the Willow, Kitty was able to support the nursery’s monthly themes with sessions on Space & Planets in June and Weights & Forces in July and August.

Space & Planets

As well as singing songs about the sun and the moon (see above), Kitty introduced the following musical activities:

• singing Big, Beautiful Planet by Raffi

• rolling an earth ball to different children while singing a name song then asking them to roll it to somebody else

• teaching a call and response song, Solar System, during which children chant and tap the names of the planets

• walking round in a circle then switching directions to Sally Go Round The Moon

• making the face of the Man in the Moon with different kinds of food while singing Aiken Drum

• clapping along while Kitty taps a pulse on two salad servers to And he played upon a ladle, a ladle, a ladle… And he played upon a ladle and his name was Aiken Drum!

• teaching new words about a giant ball of glowing gas to Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

• dancing to Walking On Sunshine by Katrina & the Waves

In addition, preschoolers learned a leaving song, Big School, Big School, Here We Come.

Weights & Forces

This was a new theme for Bangers & Smash and Kitty scratched her head about it for a while before coming up with some rather cool musical activities:

• singing an action song, A Penny Balloon

• thinking about animals that are heavy and light and wondering what they might sound like while:

  • looking at a toy elephant and listening to a recording of an elephant trumpeting

  • mimicking the sound of the elephant and waving their arms in front of their noses like trunks

  • looking at a toy mouse and pretending to squeak and eat cheese

  • wondering whether each animal’s sound is loud or quiet and how that relates to their size

• listening to a recording of An Elephant Goes Like This & That

• learning actions to a new song, One Big Elephant, One Tiny Mouse, then adding in a dinosaur and an ant

• singing Hickory Dickory Dock and thinking about a pendulum swinging from side to side while playing a pulse on claves

• trying the pulse at different speeds

• looking at:

  • a picture of children on a seesaw and singing Seesaw, Marjorie Daw

  • a clockwork roundabout and singing Round & Round On A Roundabout

• getting into pairs and singing Row Your Boat

In addition, under-twos enjoyed singing and dancing to songs from Uganda and Malawi while looking at our Book of the Month, Handa’s Surprise.

Summer activities with Bangers & Smash

We’re proud to announce that Kitty has been invited to run a wildlife music session at Brockwell Park Community Greenhouses on 25 August. This is a new setting for Bangers & Smash and we do hope you’ll come along if you can!

In addition, Kitty and Sarah will be hosting another Music in the Wildlife Garden event at Mother Goose Wildlife Garden on 25 September.

There’s more information about both events at:

• Kitty Pidduck at the Community Greenhouses

• Music in the Wildlife Garden

And if you’d like to book your own wildlife music session, please click here!

Spring has sprung at Bangers & Smash!

Spring has finally sprung at Bangers & Smash and we’ve celebrated with music sessions on Easter, farm animals, our bodies and more!

Celebrating Easter

Children and staff at all Bangers & Smash nurseries – as well as families in our online group, ‘The Elephants’ – celebrated Easter with songs about eggs, bunnies, chicks and Easter bonnets.

We played shakers, listened to the story of Farmer Brown and danced to Louis Jordan’s There Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens.

Families and staff from Mother Goose Greendale also took part in a special Zoom Easter Concert.

We sang songs about Easter and baby animals, played wooden spoons to Hot Cross Buns and danced to Walking On Sunshine by Katrina and the Waves.

Crystal Nurseries, School Outdoors Dulwich and ‘The Elephants’

Farm Animals

Children and staff at Crystal Nurseries and School Outdoors Dulwich – as well as families in our online group, ‘The Elephants’ – spent April and May singing about farm animals.

They enjoyed:

• looking at a kitten, a puppy, a chicken and a duck and mimicking the sounds they make

• adding the sounds to the song, My Little Kitten

• learning the finger rhyme, Five Little Ducks Went Swimming One Day, and singing it with a Mummy duck, Daddy duck and five baby ducks

• singing and dancing to Ducks Like Rain by Raffi

• looking at a book of farm animals and making the sound of each animal

• extending this activity with older children to create a farm animal ‘soundscape’

• looking at a picture book about animals in a farmhouse and singing the song, Cows In The Kitchen

• adding in extra animals and thinking of places for them to hide e.g. Mouse In The Teapot

• singing Horsey, Horsey and dancing to Hoe Down from Rodeo by Aaron Copland

• clapping along to Old Macdonald Had A Farm

All nurseries were able to make junk claves with the children and Kitty used these to play a pulse and to explore different tempi (slow, medium and fast) while singing Horsey, Horsey.

‘The Elephants’ did the same using wooden spoons!

Under the Willow

Meanwhile at Under the Willow, Kitty ran sessions on our bodies in April and science experiments in May.

Our Bodies

Children and staff enjoyed:

• singing a song about wellbeing, Every Little Cell In My Body Is Happy (to the tune of Shortnin’ Bread)

• singing Bangers & Smash original, Two Eyes, about the different parts of our faces

• exercising to Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes

• learning a new song, Legs

• singing a song about a spider who climbs up our bodies and jumps off our heads, There’s A Spider On The Floor

• listening to a rattle and moving like skeletons to Dem Bones by Fats Waller

• shaking, clapping, jumping, yawning and wiggling to Shake My Sillies Out

Science Experiments

Children and staff enjoyed:

• making the sound of a train – chiffa chuffa, chiffa chuffa

• listening to a train whistle and mimicking the sound – whoo, whoo!

• joining in with actions to Up Like A Rocket by Steve Grocott

• looking at pictures of children doing scientific experiments and singing:

  • Molly Has A Test Tube

  • Can We Learn Something New About The World?

  • Will It Sink Or Will It Float?

  • The Arms On The Robot Go Up & Down

• looking at a clockwork toy robot and moving to Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger by Daft Punk

• looking at a picture of children on a seesaw and singing Seesaw, Marjorie Daw while moving backwards and forwards with a partner

• looking at a mechanical toy carousel and singing Round And Round On A Merry-Go-Round while going round and round with a partner

Photo by Clint Patterson on Unsplash

Kitty was delighted to be invited back into the nursery in May after running sessions on Zoom over the last year. It was amazing to see everyone in person again and to meet new staff and children!

Mother Goose Greendale

And finally, Kitty has been asked to resume music sessions at Mother Goose Greendale from June, which is wonderful news.

Sessions will take place in the Wildlife Garden and Kitty hopes to use the warmer weather as an opportunity to explore the garden and its inhabitants in all their glory!

Winter fun and healthy living with Bangers & Smash!

With the end of lockdown in sight and the first daffodils starting to show, it’s time to look back over the last three months at Bangers & Smash – with regular and bespoke sessions on Winter, healthy living and more!

Kitty continued to run face-to-face sessions at School Outdoors Dulwich – with Crystal Nurseries rejoining after half-term – 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 2020.

School Outdoors Dulwich

At School Outdoors Dulwich, children and staff enjoyed:

• learning a new hello song, Willaby Wallaby Wee

• warming up with a clapping / tapping / stamping song

• thinking of new verses to add to the song, Fly, Little Bird, about what animals do in cold weather:

  • Sleep, Little Hedgehog

  • Climb, Little Squirrel

  • Hunt, Little Barn Owl

  • Run, Little Fox

  • Hide, Little Mouse

  • Screech, Little Parakeet

• thinking about what sounds these animals might make and listening to:

  • a bird whistle

  • an owl hoot

  • a mouse squeak

• looking at soft toy animals and making up their own words to Bangers & Smash original, I’m In The Mood For A Song!

• learning poems and songs about Winter:

  • Snowland

  • Drifting Snowflakes, Swirling Snowflakes

• moving to slow and fast music played on a xylophone

• shaking their hands, clapping and jumping to Shake My Sillies Out

• shaking shakers to Hey There, Shaky, Shaky by The Wiggles and Nzama, Nzama, a Malawian song about beans cooking in a pot

• learning a new song, Jumping Bean, and taking it in turns to jump up and down

• dancing round some ivy and a buddleia bush to Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush

Under the Willow

Under the Willow moved to their new monthly curriculum in the New Year with sessions on healthy eating in January, exercise & fitness in February and dental health in March.

Healthy eating

Children and staff enjoyed:

• warming up with a clapping / tapping / stamping song

• looking at pictures of healthy foods like fruits, nuts, seeds and pulses and recapping the song, Do You Like?

• learning a new song, When The Boat Comes In, about a fishy on a dishy

• practising vowel sounds and singing Raffi’s Apples & Bananas

• pretending to chop up different fruits while listening to The Wiggles’ Fruit Salad

• looking at a junk shaker made from kidney beans and shaking their shakers to Nzama, Nzama, a Malawian song about beans cooking in a pot

• playing claves to Peanut Vendor

Exercise & fitness

Children and staff enjoyed:

• warming up with some simple exercises – yawning and stretching, standing on tiptoes, crouching down, making a star shape etc

• rolling their arms round and round to Roly Poly

• wobbling like a jelly and singing Jelly On My Plate

• singing a song about wellbeing, Every Little Cell In My Body Is Happy (to the tune of Shortnin’ Bread)

• joining in with two action songs:

  • Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes

  • The Down Up Song

• marching to The Grand Old Duke Of York

• shaking shakers to Hey There, Shaky, Shaky by The Wiggles

• learning a new song, Jumping Bean, and taking it in turns to jump up and down

• shaking their hands, clapping and jumping to Shake My Sillies Out

• pretending to exercise in a gym while listening to Pump Up The Jam by Technotronic

Dental health

Children and staff enjoyed:

• warming up, stretching and clapping to Every Little Cell In My Body Is Happy

• singing Bangers & Smash original, Two Eyes, about the different parts of their faces

• thinking about how people eat by pretending to bite, chew and swallow a banana

• wobbling like a jelly and singing Jelly On My Plate

• looking at a toothbrush and singing Brush Your Teeth (to the tune of Row Your Boat)

• clapping a steady pulse and singing / rapping a new song, Smile!

• shaking shakers to Hey There, Shaky, Shaky by The Wiggles

• shaking their hands, clapping and jumping to Shake My Sillies Out

‘The Elephants’ and Crystal Nurseries

‘The Elephants’ enjoyed all of the above as well as two sessions on minibeasts. As always, our cosy online parent and child sessions felt very special!

Meanwhile, Crystal Nurseries took a break until half-term, after which they enjoyed sessions on exercise & fitness and dental health. It was lovely to be back teaching face-to-face at all three nurseries and to reconnect with children and staff – we missed you!

Why not book your own Bangers & Smash music session?

As lockdown eases, Bangers & Smash are still 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!

Exploring the World with Bangers & Smash!

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!

Welcoming Autumn with Bangers & Smash!

What a fantastic September we’ve had at Bangers & Smash with sessions in all but one of our regular nurseries – either in person or via Zoom – as well as a wonderful new role for Kitty as music teacher at School Outdoors Dulwich, one of only 20 full-time forest schools in the UK!

We kicked off our School Outdoors Dulwich sessions with a series of songs and activities based on the theme of Autumn.

Children and staff enjoyed:

• warming up with a finger rhyme, Five Little Leaves

• thinking about the different sounds we hear in the forest – pattering rain, rubbing leaves, crashing thunder – and making up our own verses to the tune of Frère Jacques

• listening to a rainstick and thunder drum

• finding leaves and listening to the sound they make when we rub them together

• singing Going On A Picnic by Raffi and parading around banging plastic spoons on paper plates

• collecting conkers and singing Bangers & Smash original, Can You See The Conkers?

• making junk shakers from conkers and acorns and comparing the sounds they make

• shaking our shakers to Hey There, Shaky, Shaky by The Wiggles

• looking at a soft toy squirrel and making up our own words to Bangers & Smash original, I’m In The Mood For A Song!

• thinking about which animals might live in the forest and dancing to Sleeping Bunnies

Bangers & Smash also delivered online sessions on the theme of Autumn to ‘The Elephants’, a fabulous group of mums and daughters who have been singing with Kitty since the start of lockdown!

Regular Bangers & Smash nurseries

Regular Bangers & Smash nurseries spent September learning about Europe.

Children and staff 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 Kitty

• 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 four European countries:

  • Frère Jacques (France)

  • Giro Tondo (Italy)

  • As Pombinhas Da Catrina (Portugal)

  • Row Your Boat (UK)

• looking at pictures of savoury and sweet foods from France, Italy, Portugal and the UK and singing our own version of Do You Like?

• dancing to:

  • accordion music from France

  • Angelina by Louis Prima (Italy)

  • Trip To The Doryman Set by Richard Wood (UK)

Why not book your own Bangers & Smash music session?

With Covid-19 still very much a concern, 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!

Summer fun with Bangers & Smash!

We’ve had a chilled July at Bangers & Smash with a series of online music sessions on the theme of Summer!

Kitty has continued to host weekly Zoom sessions for:

• nurseries providing support for families unable to attend

• groups of families and friends

Sessions have had anything from one to 15 families logging in with prize for the furthest afield going to Jen, Steve and Elizabeth in Ramsgate!

In addition, Kitty has continued to provide online music sessions for two regular Bangers & Smash nurseries. Staff and children have adapted well to the new situation and it’s been great to bring music back onto the curriculum.

Summer fun!

Children, staff and families have enjoyed:

• warming up with a finger rhyme, Open, Shut Them

• finding yellow things (star, rubber duck, bee etc) and showing them to the sun to help it shine

• making their own suns from paper plates and playing peekaboo

• singing:

  • Come On, Sun!

  • The Sun Has Got His Hat On

  • Mister Golden Sun

  • Oh, I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside!

  • Little Crab

  • You Shall Have A Fishy On A Little Dishy

• learning a chant about a train made of candy floss, hot dogs, ice cream and chips and playing along on sticks or wooden spoons

• listening to a train whistle and mimicking the sound by calling ‘whoo, whoo’ into an empty kitchen roll

• listening and joining in with actions to Up Like A Rocket by Steve Grocott

• looking at a toy carousel and pretending to ride fairground horses to Galop Infernal (The Can Can) by Jacques Offenbach

• dancing to Walking On Sunshine by Katrina and the Waves

Under the Willow

It’s been lovely to see music resume at Under the Willow with Kitty hosting weekly Zoom sessions for:

• Under-2s

• 2-3-year-olds / Preschoolers

This term’s Project is Professions with five sessions in July on:

• Sports

• Art & Music

• Science

• Theatre & Entertainment

Children and staff have enjoyed:

• singing:

  • Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes

  • Row Your Boat

  • Legs!

  • My Mum Drives A Racing Car

  • I Like To Ride My Bicycle

  • Sing A Rainbow

  • Let’s Paint A Picture

  • Playing On The Old Banjo

  • Molly Has A Test Tube

  • Can We Learn Something New About The World?

  • Will It Sink Or Will It Float?

  • The Arms On The Robot Go Up & Down

  • If I Were Not What I Am Now

• looking at pictures of:

  • children playing instruments

  • children doing scientific experiments

• making the sound of a train – chiffa chuffa, chiffa chuffa

• listening to a train whistle and mimicking the sound by calling ‘whoo, whoo’ into an empty kitchen roll

• listening and joining in with actions to Up Like A Rocket by Steve Grocott

• looking at a robot and moving to Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger by Daft Punk

• dancing to:

  • Keep On Running by the Spencer Davis Group

  • Galop Infernal (The Can Can) by Jacques Offenbach

Online music sessions with Bangers & Smash

Bangers & Smash are taking a break in August so online music sessions will resume in September. If you’d like to take part, please visit the Bangers & Smash shop to book your place.

If you’re a parent, carer, childcare provider or arts setting and would like to discuss setting up one or more bespoke online music sessions, please get in touch here.

Fruit, Nuts & Seeds with Bangers & Smash!

This June, we’ve had an utterly fruiticious time singing about Fruit, Nuts & Seeds at Bangers & Smash!

Photo by Nick Sarro on Unsplash

Kitty has continued to host weekly Zoom sessions for:

• nurseries providing support for families unable to attend

• groups of families and friends

Sessions have had anything from one to 20 families logging in. Prize for the furthest afield goes to Luke and Arthur in Lancashire!

In addition, two regular Bangers & Smash nurseries have asked Kitty to restart music sessions – online for the time being – and it’s been great seeing everyone again after such a long break.

Fruit, Nuts & Seeds

Children, staff and families have enjoyed:

• identifying dried fruit, nuts and seeds in bowls

• looking at a giant nut from Africa

• singing:

  • I Had A Little Nut Tree

  • Feed The Birds

  • Oranges & Lemons

  • Apples & Bananas

• playing claves, shakers, xylophones and bells

• choosing different fruits from a bowl and putting their names together to create and clap word rhythms

• showing Kitty fruit, nuts and seeds from their own homes and nurseries

• thinking about birds and animals that like to eat fruit, nuts and seeds

• pretending to mix and bake a cake while listening to Kitty singing Everyone’s A Fruit & Nut Cake to the tune of Tchaikovsky’s Danse Des Mirlitons

• dancing to:

  • Banana Phone by Raffi

  • Peanut Vendor and Banana, Banana, Banana by the Kew Park Mento Band

Kitty has made a video of some of this month’s songs and activities so that parents and staff can enjoy them again with the children. There’s also information on next month’s sessions so check it out below!

Under the Willow

It’s been lovely to see music resume at Under the Willow – with Kitty hosting weekly Zoom sessions for:

• Under-2s

• 2-3-year-olds

• Preschoolers

This term’s Project is Professions with three sessions in June on:

• Health

• Transport

Children and staff have enjoyed:

• singing:

  • Miss Polly Had A Dolly

  • Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes

  • Three Little Monkeys Jumping On The Bed

  • Going To The Doctor’s

  • Twinkle, Twinkle, Chocolate Bar (about a Mum who drives a racing car!)

  • The Wheels On The Bus

  • Puffer Train

  • Bangers & Smash original, If You Could Be The Driver

• looking at pictures of:

  • a doctor with a stethoscope

  • a doctor taking someone’s pulse

• finding their pulses and tapping their hearts at different speeds to Bangers & Smash original, Here’s my Heart

• looking at a toy aeroplane, helicopter and speed boat

• listening to a train whistle

• playing claves to Little Red Wagon by Raffi

In addition, Kitty has introduced Preschoolers to If I Were Not What I Am Now (based on the vaudeville song, If I Were Not Upon The Stage) in which children sing about doing different jobs – so far, a doctor and an ambulance driver.

Online music sessions with Bangers & Smash

If you’d like to join one of our online music sessions, please visit the Bangers & Smash shop to book your place.

If you’re a parent, carer, childcare provider or arts setting and would like to discuss setting up one or more bespoke online music sessions, please get in touch here.

Zooming along with Bangers & Smash!

We’ve been zooming along this May at Bangers & Smash with a series of online music sessions on the theme of Gardens & Growing!

Children have enjoyed talking about the plants they’d like to grow – from tomatoes and rose bushes to dandelions and bamboo!

Bangers & Smash co-founder, Kitty Pidduck, has continued to host weekly Zoom sessions for:

• children of key workers still attending nursery

• childcare settings providing support for families unable to attend

• groups of families and friends

Sessions have had anything from one to 32 families logging in and Kitty has had a fab time meeting mums, dads and carers, grannies and grandpas, brothers and sisters and even family pets :)

Gardens & Growing

With day after day of sunshine and blue skies, it’s been a great month for getting out in the garden!

Children, nursery staff and families have enjoyed:

• meeting Gardening Bunny and looking at his bucket, trowel and tiny flowerpot

• singing and moving to:

  • Push Little Seed

  • The Parts Of Trees

• joining in with actions to Raffi’s Everything Grows

• looking at:

  • a bean growing in a jam jar

  • a beanstalk growing in a flowerpot

• watering the beanstalk and making a growing sound (rising ooh)

• shaking packets of mustard seeds and pea seeds and comparing the sounds

• planting the mustard seeds in a ramekin with some damp kitchen roll

• looking at and listening to:

  • small, medium and large rainsticks

  • shakers made out of recycled bottle tops

• singing and playing shakers and bells to:

  • Rain, Rain, Go Away

  • It’s Raining, It’s Pouring

  • Incey, Wincey Spider

  • I Hear Thunder

  • You Are My Sunshine

  • Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary

• picking a rose out of a basket with a daisy on it and dancing to Ring A Ring O’ Roses

• showing Kitty flowers and plants from their own homes and nurseries

In one lovely interaction, a little boy put a leaf on his head and Kitty used the opportunity to create a new song, I’m The King of The Garden, in which children take turns to (i) choose something to plant and (ii) tap its name on sticks from the garden.

Kitty has made a video of some of this month’s songs and activities so that parents and staff can enjoy them again with the children. There’s also information on next month’s sessions so check it out below!

Under the Willow

Under the Willow’s Africa Project Celebration took place on 6 May.

Parents, carers and children sang, played and listened to songs from across Africa as they took part in a virtual journey with the San bush people.

Families then joined in with Bangers & Smash’s Gardens & Growing theme for the rest of May.

The San people’s territories span Botswana, Namibia, Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho and South Africa. Image courtesy of Carolyn’s Travel Stories

Online music sessions with Bangers & Smash

If you’d like to join one of our online music sessions, please visit the Bangers & Smash shop to book your place.

If you’re a parent, carer, childcare provider or arts setting and would like to discuss setting up one or more bespoke online music sessions, please get in touch here.

Bangers & Smash online music sessions a hit!

After the upheaval of lockdown in March and subsequent cancellation of all face-to-face music teaching, April saw Bangers & Smash moving online with a series of sessions for children of key workers still attending nursery, childcare settings providing support for families unable to attend and groups of families and friends.

Huge thanks to F’s Mum for sending this photo of one of Kitty’s first online music sessions!

Free taster sessions

Kitty set the ball rolling with four free taster sessions for families from regular Bangers & Smash nurseries, Goslings, Smart Kids and Young & Smart aka Crystal Nurseries.

Sessions were well attended although it took Kitty a couple of goes to figure out that video conferencing platform, Zoom, works best when other participants are muted!

Bangers & Smash shop

From this, a core group of 10-15 Crystal Nurseries’ families is now meeting every Wednesday from 11.30am-12 midday on Zoom with sessions available at £3.00 per family per session in the Bangers & Smash shop (click Private – single sessions or Private – bundles in the shop menu [+ on mobiles] and choose sessions marked Crystal Nurseries).

Kitty is also running:

• an Open session every Thursday from 11.30am-12 midday on Zoom with sessions available at £3.00 per family per session in the Bangers & Smash shop (click Open – single sessions or Open – bundles in the shop menu [+ on mobiles] and choose sessions marked Open)

• a bespoke Private session for a group of friends every Monday from 10.30-11am on Zoom with sessions available at £3.00 per family per session in the Bangers & Smash shop (click Private – single sessions or Private – bundles in the shop menu [+ on mobiles] and choose sessions marked The Elephants)

In addition, Kitty has been asked to provide weekly online music sessions for regular Bangers & Smash nurseries, Under the Willow and Mother Goose, as follows:

• Under the Willow – Wednesdays, 10-11am

• Mother Goose – Thursdays, 10-11am

These sessions are split in two (under-twos followed by preschoolers) and have been very well attended with anything from 12 to 32 families in each half!

Easter, Spring & Baby Animals

All of April’s sessions except Under the Willow’s followed the theme of Easter, Spring & Baby Animals.

Children, nursery staff and families enjoyed:

• singing:

  • The Easter Bunny and The Easter Parade

  • My Little Kitten

  • Five Little Ducks Went Swimming One Day and Six Little Ducks That I Once Knew

  • Bangers & Smash original, Tadpole

  • Five Little Speckled Frogs

• making the sounds of farm animals

• looking at/listening to a pecking chickens toy

• playing shakers to Chick, Chick, Chicken and Hey Little Hen

• tapping claves to Horsey, Horsey and Old Macdonald Had A Farm

• looking at a picture book and singing Cows In The Kitchen

• listening to the story of Farmer Brown and dancing to There Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens

Kitty has made a video of some of the songs so that parents and staff can enjoy them again with the children. There’s also information on this month’s sessions so check it out below!

Africa Project at Under the Willow

Meanwhile, at Under the Willow, families were able to practise the songs from the nursery’s Africa Project Celebration, which was due to take place on 25 March but was sadly cancelled due to Covid-19.

Kitty recapped songs and activities from the project throughout April, including:

• singing:

  • Seven Continents

  • Haya Ma, a South African hello song

  • Nzama, Nzama, a Malawian song about cooking beans in a pot

  • three songs about animals, Monkey, Monkey, Up The Tree, Here’s A Great Big Lion and Alice The Camel

  • Bangers & Smash original, Funky Pharoah

• listening, playing and dancing to:

  • Pata Pata by Miriam Makeba (South Africa)

  • Walking With The San by Charlie Simpson & San Bushmen (Namibia)

  • a traditional Kalahari nomad chant (Botswana)

  • Ssematimba Ne Kikwabanga by Albert Ssempeke (Uganda)

  • traditional Sufi music (Egypt)

  • Fanga Alafia by Iya and the Kuumba Kids (Nigeria)

• acting out the story of Handa’s Surprise (Kenya)

Image © Eileen Brown / Walker Books

Under the Willow’s Africa Project Celebration will now take place on 6 May after which families will join in with Kitty’s regular monthly themes.

Online music sessions with Bangers & Smash

If you’d like to join one of our online music sessions, please visit the Bangers & Smash shop to book your place.

If you’re a parent, carer, childcare provider or arts setting and would like to discuss setting up one or more bespoke online music sessions, please get in touch here.

And finally, big thanks to Watermans Arts Centre for making last week’s Open online music session one of their April Family Picks!

Online music sessions available in new Bangers & Smash shop

Like many music providers, Bangers & Smash have been looking for ways to offer online sessions as a way to provide continuity and support to families during the Covid-19 lockdown.

This is new territory for us but we’re excited to announce that we’ve set up an ongoing series of Zoom sessions led by Bangers & Smash Co-Founder, Kitty Pidduck!

New Bangers & Smash shop

Sessions are available in the new Bangers & Smash shop as follows:

• Private weekly sessions for children from regular Bangers & Smash nurseries (click Private in the shop menu)

• Open weekly sessions for anyone who’d like to join (click Open in the shop menu)

Sessions cost £3.00 per family per session and can be booked as single sessions or as a bundle.

Parents and children will be able to:

• sing and dance together

• make and play junk instruments

• listen to traditional and original songs

• follow weekly or monthly themes

Bespoke online sessions

In addition, Kitty has been asked to provide bespoke online sessions for:

• Children of key workers who are still attending nursery

• Nurseries wishing to provide support for families who are unable to attend during lockdown

• Groups of families and friends

For more information about online sessions, please click here.

If you’re a parent, carer, childcare provider or arts setting and would like to discuss setting up one or more bespoke online sessions, please get in touch with us here.

Bangers & Smash music sessions halted due to Covid-19

With the rapid spread of Covid-19, musicians and music teachers across the globe have found themselves in the unprecedented position of being unable to teach face-to-face.

Here at Bangers & Smash, we continued to provide regular and bespoke music sessions in all our settings until they were asked to close by the government on 20 March.

Like many music providers, we are looking for ways to teach online during this difficult time as a way to provide parents, carers and settings with continuity and support for the children in their care. Please watch this space!

In the meantime, here’s an update on this month’s sessions up to 20 March.

Under the Sea at Bangers & Smash regular nurseries

At regular Bangers & Smash nurseries, Kitty delivered sessions on the theme of Under the Sea.

Children and staff enjoyed:

• using a blue cloth to create small and big waves while singing Little Ripples

• lifting the cloth over their heads and travelling down under the sea

• counting to 10 on their fingers while singing 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Once I Caught A Fish Alive

• looking at a picture of a submarine while singing Yellow Submarine

• thinking about animals that live under the sea and how they might sound and move (e.g. wobbling jellyfish, snapping shark)

• making a soundscape using the above sounds and actions

• looking at a picture of a nautilus and swimming slowly round in a circle to Nautilus by B Bumble & the Stingers

• singing and performing actions to Baby Beluga by Raffi

Africa Project at Under the Willow

Meanwhile, at Under the Willow, we started rehearsing for our Africa Project Celebration, which was due to take place on 25 March but was sadly cancelled.

Children and staff were still able to enjoy:

• singing:

  • Seven Continents

  • Haya Ma, a South African hello song

  • Nzama, Nzama, a Malawian song about cooking beans in a pot

  • three songs about animals, Monkey, Monkey, Up The Tree, Here’s A Great Big Lion and Alice The Camel

  • Bangers & Smash original, Funky Pharoah

  • three traditional songs, Sali Bonani (Zimbabwe), Kye Kye Kule (Ghana) and Ram Sam Sam (Morocco)

• listening, playing and dancing to:

  • Pata Pata by Miriam Makeba (South Africa)

  • Walking With The San by Charlie Simpson & San Bushmen (Namibia)

  • a traditional Kalahari nomad chant (Botswana)

  • Ssematimba Ne Kikwabanga by Albert Ssempeke (Uganda)

  • traditional Sufi music (Egypt)

  • Fanga Alafia by Iya and the Kuumba Kids (Nigeria)

• acting out the story of Handa’s Surprise (Kenya)

Short Breaks at Waterman’s Arts Centre

And finally, Kitty’s multi-arts project for children in the early years with additional needs came to an early close at Waterman’s Arts Centre.

In the last two sessions, parents and children enjoyed singing, playing and dancing to original live music as well as:

• decorating garden trowels

• playing with ducks and frogs in a sensory pond

• doing frog life cycle puzzles

Aislinn helping children to decorate trowels

Kitty was joined by fellow early years music specialist, musician and storyteller, Steve Grocott, and arts psychotherapy student and creative support leader, Aislinn Jeffers, both of whom helped to create this exciting new education pilot as well as playing in the Short Breaks band!

Monkeys are clever with Bangers & Smash!

It’s been another exciting September at Bangers & Smash with a series of music sessions inspired by Kitty’s Summer trip to Asia!

Photo by Jamie Haughton on Unsplash

Taking monkeys as our main theme, we’ve looked at a large toy monkey and thought about how it might move and what sounds it might make:

• oo oo oo

• aa aa aa

• ee ee ee

We’ve learned a new song, Monkey, Monkey, Up The Tree, and the children have enjoyed taking it in turns to make the monkey hang by its fingers, toes and tail.

Monkey, monkey, up the tree
I see you and you see me
Hanging by your fingers, hanging by your toes
But don’t fall down on your little pink nose!

By repeating the song every week, children have been able to get to grips with the lyrics and it’s been a pleasure watching them become confident at joining in. The final line has allowed them to find and point to their own noses as well as the monkey’s – a simple but pleasurable activity.

In the final session, Kitty has brought in a smaller toy monkey which attaches to the larger monkey with velcro. Watching the two monkeys swinging upside-down together has caused much hilarity and lots of chat about mummies carrying their babies!

Next, we’ve sung the classic children’s song, Five Little Monkeys Jumping On The Bed. We’ve experimented with different ways of performing the song:

• choosing five children to be the monkeys

• bouncing five toy monkeys on a cloth

• counting down from five on our fingers

The beauty of this song lies in its repetition but Kitty has been struck by how the melody varies from setting to setting. What’s great is that everybody knows a version of it, making it a fab song for staff and parents to build on outside the music session.

Moving on, Kitty has acted out the song, Animal Fair, with a soft toy elephant and a finger puppet monkey.

I went to the Animal Fair
The birds and the beasts were there
The big baboon by the light of the moon
Was combing his auburn hair
The monkey fell out of his bunk – uh oh!
And slid down the elephant’s trunk – whee!
The elephant sneezed – achoo!
And fell on his knees – boom!
But what became of the monkey, monkey, monkey, monkey
Monkey, monkey, monkey, monkey?

Once the children have become familiar with the story and song, Kitty has introduced claves and a steady pulse. This really kicks in on the last line, which can be repeated for as long as the children want and offers opportunities to play in different ways, for example:

• loudly

• quietly

• getting louder (crescendo)

• getting quieter (decrescendo)

• tapping on the floor

Some groups have even been able to experiment with singing and playing the last line as an ostinato (repeating phrase) while Kitty sings the rest of the song over the top. This is quite an achievement as it requires children and staff to do one thing while listening to something different. This kind of split thinking happens, for example, when we sing a round and lies at the heart of more sophisticated music-making (singing or playing in harmony, polyphony etc).

Finally, we’ve listened and danced to Bangers & Smash original, Monkeys Are Clever. The children have enjoyed joining in with Kitty as she makes a variety of monkey/ape sounds and actions, including beating her chest like a gorilla and climbing to the top of a (pretend) tree.

My Body

Meanwhile at Under The Willow, we’ve started our new theme, My Body, with sessions on:

• What is the body?

• The senses – taste, smell and hearing

• The senses – sight, touch and hearing

Children have enjoyed:

• clapping, wiggling, stamping, stretching and shaking different parts of their bodies

• singing about different body parts (eyes, ears, mouths, noses etc) in Bangers & Smash original, I’ve Got Two Eyes

• dancing to Me, Myself & I by De La Soul

• singing Ice Cream, a song about favourite foods

• tapping claves along to a simple chant about smell

• dancing like a ballerina to The Sugar Plum Fairy by Peter Tchaikovsky

• marching like a soldier to The Liberty Bell by John Philip Sousa

• lining up scarves to make a rainbow and singing, I Can Sing A Rainbow

• lying on the floor and quietly shaking bells while listening to Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head by B J Thomas

Kitty wasn’t sure how easy it would be to find songs and musical activities to support the My Body theme but, in fact, with a bit of lateral thinking, it’s proved to be a rich source of inspiration and the children are really enjoying it!

Fruit, nuts and British Woodland with Bangers & Smash!

This January and February, we’ve been thinking about fruit and nuts at Bangers & Smash!

Photo by Boba Jaglicic on Unsplash

We’ve started our sessions with a new welcome song, Learn To Say Hello, during which the children have taken it in turns to clap their hands as Kitty calls out their names around the circle.

Next, the children have chosen their favourite fruits and nuts – including apple, pear, orange, lemon, walnut, cashew and pistachio – and we’ve practised clapping these as call and response word rhythms. Kitty has extended this activity to include different pitches, which has allowed us to explore sounds which are halfway between spoken and sung – a bit like a market trader calling their wares!

We’ve then learned two nursery rhymes:

• Oranges And Lemons

• I Had A Little Nut Tree

In the first, we’ve used handbells and chime bars to mimic the sound of church bells; in the second, we’ve passed a toy tree in a pot around the circle and the children have described what it feels like:

• ‘The leaves are spiky’

• ‘It’s prickly’

Moving on, we’ve listened and sung along to two songs by Canadian children’s songwriter, Raffi:

• Apples And Bananas

• Bananaphone

In the first, the children have experimented with different vowel sounds while in the second, Kitty has pretended that different people (Mummy, Daddy etc) are ringing on a toy phone shaped like a banana. Individual children have enjoyed ‘answering’ the phone, resulting in much hilarity.

Next, we’ve learned a short poem, The Fruit And Nut Train, and used it as an opportunity to play longer word rhythms using claves. The children have enjoyed holding their claves above their heads at the end of the poem and shouting ‘Nuts!’

In February, we’ve concentrated on fruits and nuts from the Caribbean – including mango, banana, papaya, peanut and coconut. Again, we’ve clapped these as call and response word rhythms/market calls.

This has led on to another popular song, Mama Paquita, by Steve Grocott. Kitty has brought in a sombrero and some brightly coloured scarves and the children have enjoyed trying on the sombrero, waving the scarves (particularly at the end while shouting ‘Olé!’) and marching in time to the pulse.

We’ve finished our sessions with two songs from Jamaica, both performed by local Mento bands:

• Oh Banana

• Peanut Vendor

It’s been lovely to see the children choosing partners (with no prompting from Kitty) and dancing in pairs. We’ve also joined hands as one big group and danced round in a circle.

British Woodland

Meanwhile, at Under the Willow, we’ve started our new 12-week project, British Woodland.

Our first sessions have been about:

• a welcome to the woods

• trees

• animals on the ground

• animals in the sky

• animals underground

• bugs and insects

Photo by Marc Pell on Unsplash

As well as teaching another Raffi song, Going On A Picnic, Kitty has introduced a variety of musical activities, including:

• making the sound of leaves with shakers while dancing to Calico by Bangers & Smash Co-Founder, Sarah Allen’s band, Flook

• singing songs about trees, including The Parts of Trees (to the tune of Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes) and If You’re Ever In The Forest (to the tune of Did You Ever See A Lassie?)

• moving like woodland animals to Spring from Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, When The Red, Red Robin Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbing Along and I Wish I Was A Mole In The Ground

• singing and acting out Bangers & Smash originals, Owl Babies and Flutter By, with puppets and scarves

• inviting individual children to play and sing an ascending and descending phrase on glockenspiel and adding in words about different woodland animals and their behaviours

Children and staff are looking forward to performing some of the above for parents and carers at Under the Willow’s British Woodland Project Celebration on Wednesday 10 April 2019.

Minibeasts and more with Bangers & Smash!

What a fabulous May it's been at Bangers & Smash with plenty of sunshine bringing the minibeasts out in force!

Photo © Kitty Pidduck / Bangers & Smash

We've started our sessions with a song we learned last month: Fingers All. This was one of the first songs Kitty and Sarah wrote together and it's wonderful to think we're still using it 30 years on! With lyrics about everything from cats and centipedes to toothbrushes and helicopters, the song encourages the children to work on their fine and gross motor skills by making small and large movements with their fingers, hands and arms as they sing.

We've gone on to learn two songs about spiders: Incey Wincey Spider and There's A Spider On The Floor. Kitty has walked a toy tarantula up the children's bodies and onto their heads and they have enjoyed squealing and giggling at the feel of the spider's legs in their hair!

Next, we've chosen individual children to lie in the middle or at the front, wrapped in colourful woven scarves from South America. Our song, A Caterpillar Crawled To The Top Of A Tree, sees the children first sleeping, then hatching into butterflies and and finally spreading their wings and flying.

We've followed this by throwing brightly coloured silk scarves into the air and catching them. The children have had fun choosing two scarves each as butterfly wings. Kitty has commented on each child's choice e.g. 'Izzy is a green and purple butterfly', 'Jamie is a yellow and orange butterfly' etc. We've then paraded round in a circle fluttering like butterflies to Bangers & Smash original, Flutter By.

Each session has finished with The Ladybugs' Picnic, a catchy song in which the children count up to 12 in sets of three:

'1 2 3... 4 5 6... 7 8 9... 10 11 12
The ladybugs came to the ladybugs' picnic'

Kitty has used the song to introduce two sounds – tapping and tooting. The children have tapped using claves during the verses and tooted using empty cardboard tubes during the middle 'solo' section. After much repetition, the children have been able to remember when to play sticks and when to play 'trumpets'. It's been amazing watching them gain vocal confidence through whispering, shouting, speaking and singing into their tubes and great to see them pick up a simple AABA (verse/verse/solo section/verse) arrangement.

Everything grows...

This April, we've been learning about things that grow at Bangers & Smash.

Photo by Dean Ward on Unsplash

We've started each session by wiggling our fingers up in the air and down on the ground before moving them onto our toes, knees, tummies, necks, faces and heads. What does this feel like?

• 'It's tickly'

• 'Like spiders!'

Our song, Fingers All, has allowed us to work on our dexterity and spatial awareness by stretching and clenching our fingers and hands. Next month, we'll extend this activity by introducing verses with specific finger shapes and movements – a cat stroking its whiskers, a centipede crawling on the mat – allowing us to practise our fine motor skills in a fun and creative way.

We've extended this finger play to think about the idea of roots growing down into the ground. What has roots? The children have had all sorts of ideas: a tree, a flower, grass. Inspired by the video below, we've sung My Roots Go Down with lots of wonderful actions. Both children and teachers have loved this simple, engaging song – many thanks to Professor Pamela Burnard from the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, for pointing Kitty in its direction!

We've followed this by listening and singing along to Everything Grows by Raffi – again, with lots of actions. As the the children have become familiar with the song, they've been able to list all the things in it that grow: babies and animals, fingers and toes, a blade of grass, a red, red rose and – last but not least – mummies and daddies!

Finally, the instrumental part of our sessions has featured two traditional songs, Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary and In And Out The Dusty Bluebells.

• In the former, we've put two 'sounds' in the middle of our circle: a set of bells and a shaker made from goats' hooves (which look and sound a bit like shells). These represent Mary's 'silver bells and cockle shells' and children have taken it in turns to choose one then the other to shake, before walking round the circle tapping the girls ('pretty maids') or boys ('pretty boys') on the head.

• In the latter, younger children have sat in a circle playing bells while Kitty weaves 'in and out the dusty bluebells' leading one child by the hand. Older children have learned the well-known game which accompanies this song whereby one child weaves in and out during the first part of the song before tapping the shoulder of the child they end up behind and singing:

Tippy, tippy tap toe on my shoulder
Tippy, tippy tap toe on my shoulder
Tippy, tippy tap toe on my shoulder
You will be my partner

In other news, we had another successful Music in the Wildlife Garden event as guests of the Mother Goose Wildlife Garden on Saturday 29 April.

Kitty was joined by Bangers & Smash co-founder, Sarah Allen, for an afternoon of singing and instrument-making with families and members of the local community.

The sun shone as we sang songs around the garden and made shakers out of plastic containers filled with rice and claves out of bamboo. The children really enjoyed playing their instruments along to songs old and new, including Bangers & Smash originals, Owl Babies, Tadpole and Flutter By.

Water, water everywhere and ne'er a drop to drink!

This January, we've been thinking about water at Bangers & Smash.

Photo by Joshua Lanzarini on Unsplash

What does water look like? What does it feel like? What does water sound like when we:

• turn on the tap?

• water the garden?

• listen to the rain?

The children have enjoyed making the sounds of water using:

• their voices (pitter patter, drip drop, splish splash, swoosh swoosh)

• their bodies (tapping their cheeks, patting their knees, stamping their feet to make the sound of a rainstorm)

• instruments (shakers, claves, rainsticks)

We've begun each session with songs and nursery rhymes about rain such as I Hear Thunder, Rain, Rain, Go Away, It's Raining, It's Pouring and Incey Wincey Spider.

We've followed this with the story of the water cycle:

The rain falls on the mountain. It runs into the stream which tumbles into the river. The river winds its way through the fields, forests and towns all the way to the sea.

Along with this, we've listened and moved to Vltava by Smetana (making the shape of a river and following it to the sea) and The Sea from Sheherezade by Rimsky-Korsakov (diving down to the bottom of the sea and meeting an enormous whale!).

In addition, the children have listened and learned actions to Bathtime and Ducks Like Rain, both by Bangers and Smash's all-time favourite children's songwriter, Raffi.