Christmas cheer with Bangers & Smash!

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!!

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 are moving online!

With the government’s recent closure of schools & nurseries and request that we all stay home under lockdown, family lives have been turned upside-down :(

Like many music providers, Bangers & Smash are looking for ways to offer online sessions as a way to provide continuity and support to families during this difficult time. This is new territory for us but we hope to master the technology and get going very soon!

Bangers & Smash online sessions

Kitty has already invited parents and children from some of our regular nurseries to a free Zoom taster session on Wednesday 1 April at 11am. More information is available in a video message here.

Other online sessions will be on offer soon so please contact us if you’re interested – whether you’re a parent, carer or childcare setting – and let’s keep the music going!

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!

Mellow Yellow, Africa and more with Bangers & Smash!

To counteract the cold, dreary weather, we’ve been learning about all things yellow this February at Bangers & Smash!

Photo by Giorgio Trovato on Unsplash

Children at regular Bangers & Smash nurseries have spent the month singing and dancing to:

• Yellow Bird – a traditional Haitian song

• Banana Banana Banana by the Kew Park Mento Band

• Songs about ducks, including:

  • Six Little Ducks That I Once Knew

  • Five Little Ducks Went Swimming One Day

  • Ducks Like Rain by Raffi

• Here’s A Great Big Lion – an original song by Helen McCookerybook

Children have enjoyed thinking about things that are yellow, both generally and in their immediate environments, including:

• the sun, moon and stars

• lemons, pineapples and bananas

• daffodils, buttercups and sunflowers

• bees, beehives and honey

• clothes, shoes and wellies

• shelves, cushions and curtains

• blonde hair

• sand

As well as using yellow scarves to create wings and fly up into a banana tree during Yellow Bird, children have enjoyed counting plastic ducks in Six Little Ducks That I Once Knew, waddling round in a circle in Ducks Like Rain and taking it in turns to hold a soft toy lion in Here’s A Great Big Lion.

Africa Project at Under the Willow

Meanwhile, at Under the Willow, we’ve continued our 11-week Africa Project with sessions on:

• African music

• Egypt and the pyramids

• The plains of Africa

Photo by David Clode on Unsplash

Children have enjoyed:

• Listening and moving to Ssematimba Ne Kikwabanga by Ugandan musician, Albert Ssempeke

• Singing a Ghanaian chant, Obwisana, while playing instruments made from natural materials from Drums for Schools’ Nursery Rhythm Kit

• Playing (i) a steady pulse and (ii) a simple ostinato (repeating rhythm) on claves while singing Bangers & Smash original, Funky Pharoah

• Dancing to traditional Egyptian music

• Taking it in turns to hold a soft toy lion while singing Helen McCookerybook’s Here’s A Great Big Lion

• Shaking African tree cones (which have a nut inside) and trotting like zebras during Bangers & Smash original, Big, Strong, Stripy Zebras

Short Breaks at Waterman’s Arts Centre

And finally, Kitty’s new multi-arts project for children in the early years with additional needs has continued at Waterman’s Arts Centre with more original songs and stories inspired by nature and wildlife.

Children have enjoyed singing, playing and dancing to live music as well as:

• making and playing junk drums

• colouring in pictures

• decorating gardening aprons with Art Jar

Early years music specialist, storyteller and mandolin player extraordinaire, Steve Grocott!

Kitty is 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 are helping to create this exciting new education pilot as well as playing in the Short Breaks band!

The Land of Ice & Snow, Chinese New Year, Africa and more with Bangers & Smash!

January 2020 has brought a host of exciting new themes and projects for Bangers & Smash!

Regular Bangers & Smash nurseries have spent the month learning about:

• The Land of Ice & Snow

• Chinese New Year

The Land of Ice & Snow

Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash

Children have enjoyed:

• rubbing their hands together and singing finger rhymes before dressing up in coats, hats, scarves, gloves and boots for a journey to the Land of Ice & Snow

• bouncing a silver snowflake on a cloth and listening to Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake

• singing Bangers & Smash original, It’s Snowing Outside

• listening to Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite while Kitty strokes their faces with a feather boa

• meeting some animals that live in snowy places and singing their names – Reindeer, Arctic Fox, Snowy Owl, Penguin and Polar Bear

• taking it in turns to dress up and hide in an igloo while singing Bangers & Smash original, Jack Frost

Chinese New Year

Photo by Valentin Petkov on Unsplash

Children have enjoyed:

• singing a Chinese hello song, Ni Hao Ma, to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle

• passing a Chinese rattle drum around the circle

• singing Chinese New Year Is Here Again while playing bells and chime bars

• waving red and yellow scarves and parading round with a paper dragon while listening to Training The Horses by the Peking Brothers

Africa Project at Under the Willow

Meanwhile, at Under the Willow, we’ve begun our 11-week Africa Project with sessions on:

• Introduction to Africa

• Desert landscapes

• Animals of Africa

Photo by Cole Keister on Unsplash

Children have enjoyed:

• finding Africa on a map and singing the Seven Continents song

• learning a new hello song from South Africa, Haya Ma

• looking at The Skin You Live In, a beautifully illustrated book celebrating skin colour

• dancing to Funga Alafia, a welcome song from Nigeria recorded by Iya and the Kuumba Kids

• looking at pictures of camel traders and listening to African Sanctus by David Fanshawe

• playing claves and chanting to a recording of tribespeople in the Kalahari desert

• singing traditional children’s song, Alice The Camel, and Helen McCookerybook’s Here’s A Great Big Lion

Short Breaks at Waterman’s Arts Centre

And finally, Kitty’s new multi-arts project for children in the early years with additional needs kicked off at Waterman’s Arts Centre on 10 January 2020.

Kitty with fellow presenter, Steve Grocott

In the first four sessions, Short Breaks children and their families have sung and danced to original Bangers & Smash songs and listened to stories about nature and wildlife especially written by Kitty.

They have also:

• made junk shakers

• played with a sensory garden

• made worms in slime

• created a bee in honeycomb collage

Playing with Aislinn’s sensory garden

Kitty is 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 are helping to create this exciting new education pilot as well as playing in the Short Breaks band!

Celebrating Christmas and My Body with Bangers & Smash!

We’ve had a busy end to the Autumn term at Bangers & Smash with rehearsals, performances, an outdoor community singalong and a Christmas party at Watermans Arts Centre!

Photo by Nati Melnychuk on Unsplash

Christmas shows

Preparations for Christmas began in November with Crystal Nurseries rehearsing Kitty’s version of the Nativity, Born In A Stable, and Mother Goose – Greendale practising their Christmas Show.

Come December, Crystal Nurseries parents and carers enjoyed performances in all three settings while Mother Goose – Greendale’s show took place at Christ Church in East Dulwich. Shows were jam-packed and it was wonderful to see the children and staff dressed up in their costumes, singing their hearts out.

My Body

Meanwhile, at Under the Willow, we brought our 12-week project, My Body, to a close with our final music sessions and My Body Project Celebration.

Our last two sessions were about:

• Growing and getting older

• The heart

Children enjoyed:

• growing up tall from a crouching position while making a rising ‘ooh’ sound

• singing Everything Grows by Raffi

• playing a steady pulse on claves while reciting Kitty’s rhyme, Here’s My Heart

• pretending to run while playing a fast pulse / pretending to sleep while playing a slow pulse

• taking it in turns to come into the middle and jump during the song, Jumping Bean

With songs and stories inspired by My First Book of the Human Body, which uses the Montessori method to help children develop an awareness of their own bodies, the My Body Project Celebration brought together songs and activities from previous sessions in a performance for parents and carers on 27 November 2019.

Christmas dress-up

We finished the term at Under The Willow with three sessions on Christmas during which children took it in turns to wear Santa and elf hats and to hold reindeer puppets while singing and dancing to:

• Here We Go Round The Christmas Tree

• Father Christmas

• Santa’s Little Helper

• Three Little Reindeer

• Jingle Bells

• When The Red, Red Robin

• Rockin’ Robin

• We Wish You A Merry Christmas

Carols in the Wildlife Garden

Kitty was delighted to host Mother Goose Wildlife Garden’s annual Carols in the Wildlife Garden event on 14 December 2019.

With carol singing and Christmas wreath-making, families and members of the local community enjoyed mulled drinks round the fire pit and homemade mince pies courtesy of wildlife gardener, Di Wallace.

Kitty will be back in the Wildlife Garden this April with a junk instrument-making and singing session. Please click here for more details!

New project at Waterman’s Arts Centre

Kitty’s final music session of 2019 brought a new and exciting chapter for Bangers & Smash with the launch of a multi-arts project at Waterman’s Arts Centre for children in the early years with special educational needs and disabilities.

Kitty launched the project at Waterman’s Short Breaks Christmas Party on 20 December 2019 with a drop-in music session for Short Breaks children and their families.

As well as singing Christmas songs and dressing up as elves, Santas and reindeer, participants were introduced to the project, which combines original songs with activities based on gardening, learning about wildlife and recycling.

The new project runs from 10 January to 27 March 2020 and Kitty is delighted to be working with fellow early years music specialist, musician and storyteller, Steve Grocott, arts psychotherapy student and creative support leader, Aislinn Jeffers, and art and craft workshop providers, Art Jar.

A very Happy New Year from Bangers & Smash!

'Mama Yay': celebrating Black History Month with Bangers & Smash!

As usual, we’ve been celebrating Black History this October at Bangers & Smash with songs and activities from Africa and the Caribbean!

We’ve started each session by looking at The Skin You Live In, a beautifully illustrated book which uses sumptuous language and imagery to celebrate skin colour:

• your coffee and cream skin, your warm cocoa dream skin, your chocolate chip, double dip, sundae supreme skin

• your marshmallow treat skin, your spun sugar sweet skin, your cherry topped, candy dropped, frosting complete skin

• your butterscotch gold skin, your lemon tart bold skin, your mountain high, apple pie, cookie dough rolled skin

Children have looked at their own and their friends' skin and Kitty has talked about how people with brown and black skin come from the continent of Africa and live all over the world.

Our main song, Mama Yay, has been popular with both children and staff. It has a lovely call and response section in the middle:

• I’ll give you a smile (I’ll give you a smile)

• I’ll give you a wave (I’ll give you a wave)

• I’ll give you a hug (I’ll give you a hug)

• I’ll give you a kiss (I’ll give you a kiss)

Kitty has invited children to choose their own ideas for this section and they’ve come up with everything from ‘I’ll give you a giraffe’ to a ‘I’ll give you a happy’!

Black and Brown staff members have also shared songs and stories from their childhoods and heritages.

Thanks to the following:

• Tolu for Bata Mia Dun Koko Ka, a Nigerian song about the benefits of study, and Kemi for Iya Ni Wura, a Nigerian song celebrating motherhood – both in the Yoruba language

• Nkechi and Juliet for Okereke, a Nigerian song in the Igbo language in which children sit in a line and bounce a rolled-up cloth from one end to the other

• Sarah for Brown Girl In The Ring and Diane for Linstead Market – both folk songs from Jamaica

• Vinette for Oh Cordelia Brown and Andrea for Underneath The Mango Tree – both Jamaican songs recorded by Harry Belafonte

• Tianna, Carlos and CJ for Brown Skin Girl by Beyoncé, Hey Mama Africa by Stylez and African Queen by 2Baba

Thanks also to Drums for Schools for their wonderful Nursery Rhythm Kit, which we've used to accompany the above songs throughout the month. The children have loved trying out the different instruments and identifying what they’re made from:

• wood

• animal skin

• coconut shell

We’ve finished each session by dancing to Battú by Angélique Kidjo. Children have enjoyed jumping, stretching up high and listening out for the African flute.

My Body

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

• Head, skull, brain

• Bones

• Muscles

• Health & hygiene

Children have enjoyed:

• tapping a simple rhythm on claves to Bangers & Smash original, Here’s My Skull

• using scarves to fire messages through the brain to Daft Punk’s Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

• moving around the circle like skeletons to Fats Waller’s Dem Dry Bones

• playing instruments from Drums for Schools’ Nursery Rhythm Kit to Bata Mia Dun Koko Ka, a Nigerian song about working hard

• working out to Pump Up The Jam by Technotronic

• singing two songs about washing and dressing, I Jump Out Of Bed In The Morning and Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush

Children and staff are looking forward to performing some of the above songs and activities for parents and carers at Under The Willow’s upcoming My Body Project Celebration on Wednesday 27 November 2019.

Christmas shows and activities

And finally, just a reminder that regular Bangers & Smash nurseries have their Christmas shows as follows:

• Crystal Nurseries Christmas Show

• Mother Goose – Greendale Christmas Show

In addition, Kitty and wildlife gardener, Di Wallace, will be hosting Carols in the Wildlife Garden at the Mother Goose Nursery Wildlife Garden from 11am-3pm on Saturday 14 December 2019.

With mulled wine, mince pies and more, this free community event is a great opportunity to belt out a few Christmas classics with your little ones – hope to see you there!

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!

I hear thunder – exploring the weather with Bangers & Smash!

This June and July, we’ve been thinking about weather at Bangers & Smash.

Photo by Alex Jackman on Unsplash

Each week, we’ve explored a different kind of weather or weather phenomenon:

• rain

• thunder

• wind

• rainbow

• sunshine

Children have enjoyed:

• identifying rain, thunder and wind from sound recordings

• taking turns to come to the front to play a rainstick and a thunder drum

• tapping their cheeks, patting their knees and stamping their feet to make the sound of rain and thunder

• trying out different phrases to describe rain and thunder e.g. ‘plip plop’, ‘pitter patter’, ‘boom’, ‘bang’, ‘crash’

• tapping and banging junk drums to make the sounds of rain and thunder

• blowing coloured scarves to make the sound of the wind then throwing the scarves in the air and saying, ‘Whoosh!’

• making the shape of a rainbow with coloured scarves then throwing them in the air and saying, ‘Rainbow!’

• making the shape of the sun with yellow scarves then throwing them in the air and saying, ‘Happy!’

• dancing to Walking On Sunshine by Katrina & The Waves

Kitty has introduced a new song, Beautiful Rain, which incorporates body percussion in a slow, out-of-time intro before inviting everyone to sing a repeating phrase over a 4/4 pulse while playing a simple rhythmic pattern on junk drums:

Rain falling on --------’s drum (bang bang)
Rain falling on --------’s drum (bang bang)

It’s been great watching the children get to grips with singing and playing in time while naming themselves and their friends around the circle.

Children and staff have also enjoyed singing:

• It’s Raining, It’s Pouring

• Incey Wincey Spider

• Rain, Rain, Go Away

• Ducks Like Rain

• I Can Sing A Rainbow

• You Are My Sunshine

• The Sun Has Got His Hat On

• Mister Golden Sun

In addition, we’ve practised I Hear Thunder every week, gradually building up to a performance:

I hear thunder, I hear thunder
Hark, don’t you? Hark, don’t you?
Pitter patter raindrops, pitter patter raindrops
I’m wet through, so are you

I see blue skies, I see blues skies
Way up high, way up high
Hurry up sunshine, hurry up sunshine
I’ll soon dry, I’ll soon dry

Children have enjoyed singing while making the sound of rain and thunder on junk drums, blowing their scarves for the wind and waving them for sunshine before spreading them on their knees to ‘dry’.

South America Project Celebration at Under the Willow

Meanwhile at Under the Willow, we’ve continued our South America project with sessions on:

• animals of South America

• carnival

• music and language

• landscapes

• stories and legends

Photo by Carmel Arquelau on Unsplash

Children have enjoyed:

• taking it in turns to choose a picture of an animal while singing Walking Through The Rainforest

• making the sounds of South American animals – a high whoop for a toucan, a screech for a parrot, a low growl for a jaguar etc

• pretending to hang from a tree like a spider monkey while dancing to Rodopiou by Nazare Pereira

• dressing up in woven shawls while singing a Brazilian carnival song, Mama Paquita

• joining in with call-and-response body percussion before parading round in a circle to Fanfarra (Cabua-le-le) by Sergio Mendes

We’ve finished with our South America Project Celebration, which tells the story of how a little boy, Sambalalay, journeys across South America from Machu Pichu in the high Andes to Rio de Janiero in Brazil before going to carnival with Mama Paquita.

Written and directed by Kitty, the performance took place on Wednesday 10 July 2019 and brought together songs and musical activities from across the term.

Music in the Wildlife Garden

Kitty (vocals, guitar), Steve Rose (keyboard) and Polly Pidduck (backing vocals) were delighted to play for another Music in the Wildlife Garden session at Mother Goose Nursery Wildlife Garden on Saturday 29 June 2019.

On one of the hottest days of the year, families and members of the local community gathered to sing songs about wildlife (many of them Bangers & Smash originals), make and play junk percussion and enjoy tea, cake and a nature trail courtesy of host and wildlife gardener, Di Wallace.

Check out the pictures and video below!

The band – Steve, Polly and Kitty

Check out these awesome homemade shakers!

The children made their own owls to go with Kitty’s Owl Babies song!

Celebrating Spring, birth and new growth with Bangers & Smash!

We’ve had a busy April and May at Bangers & Smash with a series of sessions on Spring, birth and new growth!

Photo by Jack Bulmer on Unsplash

Spring and Easter

In the run-up to Easter, we’ve learned two songs about rabbits:

• Little Peter Rabbit Had A Fly Upon His Nose

• The Easter Bunny

Kitty has brought in a soft toy rabbit and and the children have enjoyed talking about how the Easter Bunny delivers eggs made of chocolate.

This has led to discussions about real eggs and the opportunity to learn a song about a chicken:

• Hey, Little Hen

Kitty has put some egg shakers and a toy chicken in a basket and asked the children to choose an egg each to play during the song.

At Mother Goose – Greendale, we’ve taken this one step further with a visit to the new chickens in the Wildlife Garden and lots of talk about the baby chicks hatching in an incubator in the preschool classroom.

We’ve also danced to There Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens by Louis Jordan and marched round the room wearing brightly coloured scarves to The Easter Parade.

Gardens and growing

Moving on, Kitty has played a song by Canadian children’s songwriter, Raffi:

• Everything Grows

With lots of stretching actions, this beautiful song is a great introduction to things that grow – from babies and animals, flowers and plants to fingers and toes, sisters and brothers and even Mums and Dads!

Kitty has then introduced a nursery rhyme about gardens:

• Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary

We’ve chosen two instruments to represent Mary’s ‘silver bells and cockle shells’:

• a set of bells

• a chajcha

The children have taken it in turns to act out the song, walking round an imaginary garden, stopping to shake the instruments and, finally, touching all the children and staff on their heads during the line, ‘And pretty maids all in a row’.

Photo by Paige Cody on Unsplash

Next, the soft toy rabbit has made a second appearance, this time as Gardening Bunny, complete with bucket, trowel and garden fork.

After showing the children how the bunny uses his tools to plant and water a seed, Kitty has invited individual children to come to the front and have a go. The room has become silent as each child has dug a (pretend) hole, popped a seed in, covered it with soil and poured on some water from the bucket, all with vocal sound effects.

Babies, toddlers and preschoolers have enjoyed this quiet, focussed activity which uses so many key skills – watching, listening and copying; exploring our voices; matching sounds to actions; using our imaginations; and, of course, using fine motor skills to wield the garden tools.

We’ve backed this up with another song about growing:

• Push Little Seed

Where possible, Kitty has taken the children outside where they’ve been able to crouch down like little seeds under the ground before pushing up through the soil and lifting their faces and arms to the sun.

We’ve finished our sessions on gardens and growing with two circle songs, again, performed outside where possible:

• Ring A Ring O’ Roses

• In And Out The Dusty Bluebells

Discovering South America at Under the Willow

Meanwhile, at Under the Willow, we’ve started our new 12-week project on South America.

Our first sessions have been about:

• flags, maps and landmarks

• the Amazon rainforest

• the Inca Trail and Machu Pichu

• fabric and colour

Children have enjoyed:

• finding South America on a map and learning to say hello in Spanish (hola) and Portuguese (olá)

• learning a new hello song from Brazil, Dulce, Dulce

• dancing to a cumbia version of La Bamba by Colombian group, La Sonora Dinamita

• curling up on the floor and listening to Deep In The Forest by Heitor Villa-Lobos

• listening to the sound of rain and making a rainstorm using body percussion and junk drums

• learning Bangers & Smash original, Don’t Be Alarmed By A Llama, and taking it in turns to walk the Inca Trail with a toy llama while listening to Astrid Gilberto’s Lugar Bonito

• taking it in turns to dress up in woven shawls while playing a Quechuan drum during the song, Sambalalay

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

Music in the Wildlife Garden

Kitty (guitar/voice) and jazz legend, Steve Rose (keyboard), are delighted to have been invited to provide another Music in the Wildlife Garden session at the Mother Goose Nursery Wildlife Garden from 12 midday-4pm on Saturday 29 June.

This FREE session for families and members of the local community is part-sponsored by Southwark Council.

We'll be showcasing new songs about wildlife and gardening as well as making shakers and claves from recycled and natural materials – so do come along and bring your littl'uns!

If you go down to the woods...

…this March, you’re sure of a big surprise with a series of sessions on teddy bears at Bangers & Smash!

Photo by Oxana Lyashenko on Unsplash

We’ve started each session with the rhyme, Round & Round The Garden Like A Teddy Bear, which we’ve acted out with a teddy bear finger puppet.

Babies, toddlers and preschoolers have enjoyed interacting with the finger puppet and some older children have felt confident enough to come to the front to recite the rhyme on their own. It has been particularly effective as a way to explore the children’s ‘quiet voices’ and to engage in an activity which requires a high level of concentration and good listening skills.

Moving on, Kitty has introduced a bigger teddy bear and sung the song, I Know A Teddy Bear. Again, children have taken it in turns to come to the front to act out the song, rolling the teddy over and over on the line, Roly poly into town, knocking all the people down, and rocking him from side to side on the line, Pink pyjamas, furry feet, see him dancing down the street!

Following this, we’ve listened and sung along to Raffi’s version of the classic children’s song, Ha Ha Thisaway, which tells the story of a little boy who goes walking with his teddy bear and chooses a star ‘to go to’. Children have been quick to memorise the song and actions and have enjoyed repeating these every week.

Kitty has then introduced Teddy Bears’ Picnic, using the bigger teddy to mime walking out of the nursery to the park, climbing over the fence and walking through the woods to a clearing filled with picnicking teddies.

We’ve then acted out the song, sitting on a rug and using paper plates and spoons to:

• mime eating picnic food (which the children have enjoyed choosing)

• play a simple pulse

Finally, Kitty has played a recording of another Raffi classic, Teddy Bear Hug, and the children have either sung along with their own teddy bear (if nurseries have had enough for one per child) or passed Kitty’s around the circle, taking it in turns to give him a cuddle.

British Woodland

Meanwhile, at Under the Willow, we’ve continued our 12-week project, British Woodland, with three more sessions:

• tree dwellers

• nocturnal animals

• foraging in the woodland

As well as repeating songs and activities from previous sessions, Kitty has introduced a variety of new musical activities, including:

• taking turns to come to the front and play a clay bird whistle

• curling up like baby birds in a nest while listening to Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony

• closing our eyes and identifying the sounds of nocturnal animals (a bird whistle, an owl call and a screech owl)

• pointing at pictures of trees and animals while singing Land Of The Silver Birch

• taking turns to choose a picture of a different kind of foraged food (blackberries, hazelnuts, wild garlic, mushrooms) while singing A-Foraging We Will Go

Britta Teckentrup’s Tree

We’ve also begun rehearsals for our British Woodland Project Celebration, during which children and staff will perform songs and activities based on Britta Teckentrup’s picture book, Tree.

Music in the Wildlife Garden

Last but not least, Bangers & Smash has once again been invited to run a singing and junk instrument-making session at the Mother Goose Nursery Wildlife Garden from 12-4pm on Saturday 29 June 2019.

We’ll be introducing more of Kitty’s original songs and are delighted to welcome pianist, double bass player and all-round jazz legend, Steve Rose, who will be providing some first-class accompaniment.

Music in the Wildlife Garden is a FREE family event so please bring your little ones along and join in the fun!

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.

Celebrating Christmas and Earth Story with Bangers & Smash!

We’ve had an busy end to the Autumn term at Bangers & Smash with rehearsals, performances and an outdoor community singalong!

Christmas Shows

Preparations for Christmas began in November with Crystal Nurseries rehearsing Kitty’s version of The Ugly Bug Ball (featuring a host of songs about minibeasts) and Mother Goose – Greendale practising their Christmas Show.

Come December, parents and carers enjoyed performances in all four settings. Shows were packed to the rafters and it was wonderful to see the children (and, in some cases, staff!) dressed up in their costumes, singing their hearts out.

Check out some of the Ugly Bugs at Smart Kids Christmas Show!

Earth Story

Meanwhile, at Under the Willow, we brought our 10-week project, Earth Story, to a close with our final music sessions and Earth Story Project Celebration.

Our last two sessions were about:

• Dinosaurs and prehistoric animals

• Early man

Children enjoyed:

• choosing a toy dinosaur and singing Ten Big Dinosaurs and Where’s The Dinosaur?

• stomping around the room and roaring to The Prehistoric Animal Brigade

• dancing to Walk the Dinosaur by Was Not Was

• singing and dancing to a Nigerian welcome song, Funga Alafia

Inspired by Older Than The Stars, a beautifully illustrated picture book about the origins of the universe, our Earth Story Project Celebration brought together songs and activities from the previous ten sessions in a performance for parents and carers on 28 November 2018.

Winter Tree Festival

We finished the term with three sessions on lights and lanterns as part of Under the Willow’s Winter Tree Festival.

In the first two sessions, we looked at how light plays a part in three seasonal festivals, Hanukkah, Diwali and Christmas, while in the last session, we sang a selection of Christmas songs, including:

• Here We Go Round The Christmas Tree

• Let It Snow

• When Santa Got Stuck Up The Chimney

• Jingle Bells

Carols in the Wildlife Garden

Our final Bangers & Smash session of 2018 brought co-founders, Kitty and Sarah, together for an afternoon of singing and Christmas wreath-making in the Mother Goose Nursery Wildlife Garden.

Despite freezing temperatures and rain, the event saw families and members of the local community join in with carols and Christmas songs while tucking into mulled wine and mince pies courtesy of wildlife gardener and host, Di Wallace.

Thanks to everyone at Mother Goose for inviting us to perform and a very Happy New Year from Bangers & Smash!