Day 29 SoL Story Challenge: A Mash-Up

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You know that phenomenon where once you learn about something, you start to see it everywhere?  Well, a few years ago, it seemed like  everywhere I turned, "mash-ups" were coming up. I'm a fan of the show Glee, where mash-ups were in vogue on the show for a while, and maybe they still are. Friends kept posting mash-ups to their Facebook "walls," and even in my doctoral program courses colleagues were taking on the concept of the mash-up as a tool for researching student identity and culture.

Here's an example of a mash-up, in case you're not familiar. DJ Danger Mouse mixes The Beatles with Jay Z to create this mash-up:

Mash-ups are so interesting to me because they often bring together elements of style, culture, and identity that might at first seem disparate, but when juxtaposed or mixed, the common threads pop out. The Beatles are larger than life, Jay-Z is larger than life (if you're a New Yorker especially), and there's a demographic that is attracted to both. The mash-up demonstrates how some of the same people who love the Beatles can also love Jay-Z. I find it very cool.

Anyway, I hadn't thought about mash-ups in a while. Then, tonight Little L. did this:

Go Little L., mixin' it up. Why let the limitations of one genre get in your way, when you can mash them up into a Poem/Song/Story combined?

What I love about L.'s mashup is that she's included her classic go-to's for each genre. She starts with a poem that goes "I am a wish box…" Earlier this month L. made up a similar poem about a "hello box." I loved it so much, that she repeats variations of it often--in the car, at the dinner table, while playing...  Next she moves into ABC's… classic. Finally, a chipmunk story. If you've been following Little L. and I this month, then you know she loves a good chipmunk story. All in all, her mash-up does a nice job summarizing the recurrent themes in her body of work to date!

Day 27 SoL Story Challenge: The What Is It Poem

Join hundreds of teachers and students as we we share stories each day in March!

It's also Poetry Friday! Join us!

Once again, Little L. knows that Mommy cannot resist allowing her to stay up a little bit past bedtime to tell stories, or in this case a poem.

What Is It

What is a bag? 
A bag is something you carry something in.

What is a person?
I am a person.

What is an eyeball?
It is on you.

What is a baby?
It is a kid when it is not grown up yet.

What is hair?
It is on your head is this.

What is a nose?
The nose is what you smell with.

Done!


UPDATE: Wow, so I later realized that it is actually only Thursday, so Little L and I are a little early for Poetry Friday. But doesn't it feel like Friday?

Day 21 SoL Story Challenge: Combining Storytelling and Singing in Dramatic Play

Little L. was busy this afternoon creating an elaborate story using plastic toy dinosaurs and her dollhouse. The gist of her story is that the dinosaurs discover "treasure" in the dollhouse that lead them to believe that their grandparents are "out there" somewhere. The treasure then becomes clues that lead the dinosaurs on a search for their missing grandparents. As Little L. tells the story and plays, she mixes dramatic play with singing.

Here's a clip of the singing (I was having trouble editing with YouTube, so if the clip is longer than 45 seconds, than the singing is at 2:30):

I'm constantly amazed at how children appropriate material from all sources when it comes to dramatic play. Here's a list of  just a few sources that I think L. was drawing from as she constructed her dinosaur narrative:

1. Her love of dinosaurs is an obvious source of inspiration here. She's been a dinosaur kid practically since birth. and it just so happened that at her preschool they are studying dinosaurs and paleontology, and her teacher gave each kid a little plastic dinosaur to take home today.

2. Building on the paleo/archaeology theme, my husband has been doing some oral storytelling with Little L. At every bath time, meal, and bedtime, Little L. wants to hear a bit more of the story of Indiana Jones. She's obsessed now, and her dramatic play now includes a bit more mystery and intrigue that I think comes from the Indiana Jones storytelling. (BTW I'm amazed at the level of detail my husband can recall from those movies!)

3. Little L.'s all time favorite show (one of the handful of television programs she's ever even seen) is Wonder Pets, and as you may already know, the Wonder Pets sing throughout every episode. It's like opera for little kids.

Day 20 SoL Story Challenge: The Donut Song

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A few nights ago, Grandpa taught Little L. this song. Please enjoy this little slice of life.

Thanks for the donut! So long!

Day 14 SoL Story Challenge: She's A Poet And She Knows It

Join hundreds of teachers and students as we we share stories each day in March!

It's also Poetry Friday! Join us!

Little L loves to create songs and poems. In this poem, she starts out by creating a sort of list, with a pattern to it. Then she begins to make up rhymes. Please enjoy this little "slice" of my life:

***

I’ve got a shoe on my head

I’ve got a shoe on my foot

I’ve got a cloth on my head

I’ve got a cloth on my foot

I’ve got a brush…I don’t use

I’ve got a…neck I have choosed

I’ve got a earring that I don’t care

I’ve got a ring that I don’t spare

Haha…That’s silly.

I’ve got a phone that ran out of known…that ran out of drone

I’ve got a blanket that has a canket

That doesn’t make any sense!

It’s just a silly song.

I’ve got a fan that has a ban

I’ve got a mirror that has a birror

I have a pictures that have a wictures

I have a house, got mouse, got a pouse

I have a shoe on my head

I have a shoe on my foot

I’ve got a house, I’ve got a brouse, I’ve got a touse

I’ve got a mouse

I’ve got a brush I don’t wear I don’t care I don’t share I don’t spare

 ***

This goes on and on for about three more minutes! As you can see, using rhyme in a poem is challenging. Not the actual rhyming words part. She's got the hang of that. But once her attention is on the rhymes, she gives up trying to make sense! For now, that's okay. We can make silly poems and have fun. But as time goes on, I'll keep nudging her to create songs and poems that have meaning.

In the classrooms I work in, kids and teachers often ask me why I don't teach them how to write poems that rhyme. Well, as Carl Anderson often says, meaning comes first. And I believe in that. I want kids to know that poems are powerful tools. We can use poems to describe objects and experiences. We can use poems to express ideas or feelings or to tell a story. I devote my teaching to meaning in poetry, because that is usually the part that kids and adults need more help with.

And yes, we can use poems to have fun and be silly too.

Day 7 SoL Story Challenge: The 'Hello Box' Poem

Join nearly 200 teachers as we practice our own writing by sharing a story from our lives each day in the month of March!

It's only been one week, working on the March Slice of Life Story Challenge, and I've already learned so much!

I've been watching the way my colleague, Stacey, uses technology on her blog, Raise a Literate Human: Vines, Skitch, ThingLink, and other cool techno doodads pepper her blog. There's always something neat there.

I've been inspired and awed by the way some bloggers are approaching this challenge with so much bravery and courage, the way Kris Shrontz has been doing on her blog, I Survived Today. As I learned from my colleague Betsy's thoughtful post, this is Kris's first time participating in the challenge, so visit her and give her some love. Betsy's post in and of itself is an inspiration for this post-- why had I not thought about using my blog to recommend other blogs before? Thanks Betsy!

And I've been loving the way Kevin Hodgson has been commenting all over the blogosphere using poems! It's creative and thoughtful and lovely. So cool.

This morning, I discovered Margaret Simon hosting the Friday Poetry Roundup on her blog, Reflections on the Teche and this inspired me to ditch my original plans for this morning's post and write create a new one.

Little L. has poetry in her veins, I think. Watch her make one up on the spot:

Hello, hello.

I'm a Hello Box.

And I have a pet bunny saying boing boing boing

And a owl pet that says hoo hoo hoo

And a dinosaur pet that goes roar roar roar

And a bird pet that goes chirp chirp chirp

And a chipmunk pet that goes snk snk snk

And a mouse pet that goes squeak squeak squeak

And I let them say hello hello hello hello!

Whenever they want.

And I don't let you say hello hello hello hello

Everyone

Heeeello

Hello HELLO

Heeeello hello hello.

I just like it when my animals say hello

Hello. Hello lo lo. Hello.

And… the end.

Maybe Little L.'s poem will be inspiration or for some other tiny poets somewhere?

A few strategies I notice Little L. uses to create her poem:
* she pretends that the object is alive (metaphor)
* she organizes/structures her thoughts (a pattern, and "parts" of the poem, or verses)
* her poem has a clear beginning and ending, starting and and ending in similar ways (in the classroom I might call this a "sandwich structure" when the beginning and ending of a poem are similar, with the rest sandwiched between)
* she uses interesting word choices (precise animal sounds)
* she elaborates (not just one animal--lots!)
* repetition (lots of it)
* she's got rhythm (mostly)

Howd'ya like them apples, Common Core State Standards! (Just kidding. She's four years old. We're trying not to worry about that right now. I can't help thinking like a teacher… It's not like there's a switch to turn it off.)

Poetry Friday!

You Can't Always Get What You Want

Little L. waits by the window for her cousin, Little J., to arrive.

Little L. had her seat pulled right up next to the window so that she could wait and watch for her cousin, Little J. to arrive. As soon as their car pulled into our driveway she jumped out of her chair shouting, “He’s here! He’s here! He’s here!” She ran around in little circles of excitement.

Little J., and his dad, Uncle J. walked in the front door, said hello, and Little L. promptly whisked her older cousin downstairs to our playroom, where all the toys are. I followed them downstairs to get them set up, and a few minutes later the dads joined me as well.

The two cousins couldn’t be better playmates. Little L. (who is four) usually just does whatever her older cousin (who is five) wants to do. She followed Little J. as he went from toy to toy, trying to decide what to do first. “Do you want to play grocery store again?” Little L. asks. Her little voice is so sweet—all three adults look at each other acknowledging the cuteness of the moment. “No thanks,” says Little J.

A few minutes later, Little J. still can’t decide what to play with, so we all go upstairs to the living room, where we keep the Legos and the board games. Little J. loves board games. Little L. loves Legos.

Little J. goes straight to the cupboard where we keep the board games, while Little L. drags out the big plastic storage container of Legos. The Legos are heavy for her, but she manages alright. She’s so occupied with dragging the Legos across the room that she barely notices that Little J. and Uncle J. have already started to play Dino Bump—a favorite board game in our house.

Little L. sees what they’re doing and suddenly melts down. “Hey, I wanted to play that!” she shouts.

Whoa. Where did the sweet little friend from two minutes ago disappear to? I think to myself.

“Mommy! J. has my Dino Bump and I wanted to play with that! He can’t play with it! I want to!”

I respond calmly. Usually L.'s outbursts pass as quickly as they come. “L., when we have friends over they can play with all of our toys.When you go to J.’s house you get to play with all of his toys, too, right?”

  

This wasn’t helping. Little L. went from Level 1 or 2 meltdown to a 5 or 6. Now she was shouting and crying, demanding the Dino Bump game in the bossiest sounding four year old voice possible. I wound up taking her into the other room to try and have a “cool down” with her. We don’t really do timeouts in our house, but we do remove L. from the situation when she has a tantrum, to let her blow of some steam. Usually she starts to come back to life as soon as we’re in a different room—but this time she wasn’t giving up. Her shouting just got louder and more angry. I had a feeling that if I could leave her on her own for a few minutes she might calm down, but each time I got up to move away, she grabbed on to me. “Don’t leave me Mommy!” Me, nine months pregnant and counting, unable to pick her up, with back pain making it so I was barely able to sit down next to her—I was at my wit’s end. Let’s just say it wasn’t my best parenting moment. Eventually Dad B. swooped in (thank goodness), picked her up, carried her up to her bedroom, and waited with her while she cooled off for a minute.  It was Little J. who went upstairs a few minutes later to her bedroom to invite her to come join us—and she did.

***********

Fifteen or twenty minutes later, Little L. and Little J. were playing happily in the playroom downstairs.  They pulled out all the dress-up clothes and got busy pretending. L. dressed up as “Clara from the Nutcracker” which was really a dress, fairy wings, a crown, and a veil. Little J. was dressed as  dragon – he wore the head from L.’s dragon Halloween costume, polka-dot velvet gloves, more fairy wings, and a scarf. They had been play-acting for a stretch while Dad B. and I were upstairs getting dinner ready. As we were chopping carrots and onions, we heard the sounds of giggling, and roaring, and storytelling.  We also heard music from the playroom drift up to the kitchen. I had put on a CD of kids music earlier.

You can’t always get what you wa-nt.

You can’t always get what you wa-nt

L. and J. were singing along to it. Ha. Of course they would sing along to this song of all songs! The cutest thing you have ever heard in your life is a four year old and her five year old cousin singing along to a kid-version of the Rolling Stones classic (The Randy Kaplan version, if you must know). Us grown-ups froze in our spots and listened to the two kiddos singing at the top of their lungs.

You can’t always get what you wa-nt.

But if you try sometime

You just might find

You get what you need.

Each Tuesday my colleagues and I at the blog Two Writing Teachers host a Slice of Life Story event. Teachers, students, and writers from all over the world share a short, focused story from a small moment in their own lives. See more Slices by clicking here.

Sing Your Thanks: Songs and Verses for Thanksgiving

When visiting my daughter's preschool for their Thanksgiving celebration, I was inspired to round up some songs for the season. Enjoy!

Giving Thanks

First we give thanks for the food that we've been given (hold one hand like a bowl and the other like a spoon; pretend to eat)

Then we give thanks for the houses that we live in. (Put hands, fingertips together, over head to represent a house)

And we give thanks for the sun that shines above (Point with finger to sky and look up)

But mostly we give thanks for the people that we love. (Cross hands on chest and rock back and forth slightly as if you are giving/receiving a hug.)

* Sung to the tune of Itsy Bitsy Spider)

The Earth Is Good To Me

Oh, the earth is good to me,
And so I thank the Earth,
For giving me the things I need
Like the sun and the rain and the apple seed,
The Earth is good to me.

For every seed I sow,
Their grows another tree,
And soon there’ll be apples there
For everyone in the world to share
The Earth is good to me

Earth who gives to us this food
Sun that makes it ripe and good
Dear Earth, Dear Sun, by you we live
To you our loving thanks we give.

For the food before us,
For the friends beside us,
For the love that surrounds us,
We are truly grateful.

This food is a gift from the earth, the sun, the rain, the
whole universe
It comes to us through the hard work of many people
May we live in such a way as to be worthy of it
May it give us energy to do the work of love

From you I receive, to you I give
Together we share, and from this we live

Nature's Thanks

The eagle give thanks for the mountains

The fish give thanks for the sea.

We give thanks for the goodness

And for what we're about to receive.

(arms like wings, then become mountain peaks)

(hands together like swimming fish, then wave motion)

(arms raised in front like receiving something being passed down from a height)

(arms lowering, hands like they are holding something)

* spoken

Things I'm Thankful For

There are many things I am thankful for
I can find them near and far
There are many things I am thankful for
Let me tell you what they are

I'm thankful for the earth
I'm thankful for the sea
I'm thankful for my friends
And I'm thankful to be me.

There are many things I am thankful for
I can find them near and far
There are many things I am thankful for
Let me tell you what they are

I'm thankful for the sun
I'm thankful for each tree
I'm thankful for my home
And I'm thankful to be me

There are many things I am thankful for
I can find them near and far
There are many things I am thankful for
Let me tell you what they are

I'm thankful for my food
I'm thankful to be free
I'm thankful for the stars
And I'm thankful to be me
* Song by Hap Palmer, from the album Holiday Magic

Our Little Musicians

Make March Music in Your House Month

I just learned from another blogger that March is Music in Our Schools Month. Yippee!

Baby L. comes from a musical family - Daddy plays guitar, and so does Grandpa J. (You can hear a clip of Grandpa J. here!) Great Grandpa E. plays the clarinet, and her Great Uncle T. plays drums. There's even a family band and a few albums that Grandpa J. made in his recording studio! Mommy was a band geek in high school and college, and her Grandpa K. knows every piece of trivia you ever could imagine about every jazz, blues, soul, and rock and roll artist ever.

So it's in Baby L.'s blood and it shows. She LOVES music.

To foster her love of music, Baby L. has a box of her own instruments that she often goes to. We always have music on in our house, and she'll often start dancing in the middle of doing something else when she hears a good tune! She'll even pick up her instruments and play along, sometimes she'll even "sing."

Here are some tips for supporting musical kids in your family or classroom:

1. Have music on whenever you can

2. Play lots of different kinds of music, even if they aren't your personal preferences

3. Talk about the music. Name and talk about the instruments you hear if you can

4. Clap, dance, and sing along with the music

5. Make a box of instruments - it's easy! (see below)

6. If you can, seek out music classes in your neighborhood or town. Often the local library, school, or YMCA offers music classes or sing-a-longs for free, or for low cost. It's great for your child to see other kids and grown-ups who like to sing and dance as much as they do.

7. Encourage your child to make up songs! (Even those "songs" that you don't think really sound like songs).

Some instruments you can make:

1. Fill an old plastic bottle with beads, pasta, beans, or coins to make a shaker. Use a drop of glue to seal the cap on so that your baby or toddler can't get it open.

2. Save the tubes from your paper towels. We call them Der-Der Tubes in our house because you can hold them up to your mouth and sing "Der der der der!" An instant trumpet!

3. Cookie tins make great drums - so do oatmeal containers!

4.Good ol' pots and pans are always fun to bang on!

5. You can clap two blocks together to make a great sound along with the beat of a fun song.

6. Your child's baby rattles can go into their instrument box as they get older.

All this music is great for a budding reader or writer, believe it or not. Lyrics to songs build vocabulary, as well as oral language fluency and expression. Clapping, dancing, and playing instruments along to the beat of a song supports phonological awareness - hearing the sounds in language. Just google "music and baby brain development" and a zillion academic research articles appear. Whether you buy into the "Mozart effect" or not, music is a great way to engage your little one in the world of language, words, communication, and fun!

***

Note: (I personal feel that the catch phrase "Mozart effect" it is a bit oversimplified - though it sounds wonderful, and there are some intriguing studies on the short and long term effects of listening to classical music. Some researchers explain that simply playing Mozart to your baby is not going to make her smarter. However, families who provide music, singing, a love of those kinds of things, are likely to be the kinds of families who provide lots of other great support too - books, language, stories, and lots more.)

What We're Singing Right Now

Let it Snow!

Oh the weather outside is frightful
But the fire is so delightful
And since we've no place to go
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

It doesn't show signs of stopping
And I've bought some corn for popping
The lights are turned way down low
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

When we finally kiss good night
How I'll hate going out in the storm!
But if you'll really hold me tight
All the way home I'll be warm

The fire is slowly dying
And, my dear, we're still goodbying
But as long as you love me so
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

What songs are you singing right now? Post a comment and let us know!

Song for a Happy Rainy Day

It's a rainy day here in Brooklyn. We haven't one in a while. It feels good!

If all of the raindrops

Were lemondrops and gumdrops

Oh what a rain that would be!

Standing outside with my mouth open wide,

Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah

If all of the raindrops

Were lemondrops and gumdrops

Oh what a rain that would be!

If all of the snowflakes

Were candy bars and milk shakes

Oh what a snow that would be!

Standing outside with my mouth open wide,

Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah

If all of the snowflakes

Were candy bars and milk shakes

Oh what a snow that would be!

If all of the sunbeams

Were bubblegum and ice cream

Oh what a sun that would be!

Standing outside with my mouth open wide,

Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah

If all of the sunbeams

Were bubblegum and ice cream

Oh what a sun that would be!

Music Together

Alee galloo galloo, alee galloo gallee, Allee, galloo galloo gallee. WHEEE! (Dance around, pick your baby up high and have fun).

About a month ago, Baby L and I started going to Music Together, a music class for babies and grown-ups. Our teacher, Jeff, began with this song, Allee Galloo, and we were sold. L and I already loved to dance around the apartment, but now we were in a whole room full of grown-ups and babies dancing around, singing, and clapping. L was in heaven!

Music Together is an early childhood music program with classes all over the United States. Maybe there's one near you? The basic idea is that all of the grown-ups sing, dance, and play instruments like shakers and drums. We model enthusiasm for music for the babies, and the babies learn to mimic and even invent their own singing, dancing, and instrument playing. Each "semester" the class uses a list of about twenty songs over and over, so that we get to know the songs really well. We sing them in class, and we have a CD and a songbook to listen to and read at home, and in the car.

Recently, our family just did a very long road trip with lots of little trips once we got there--from Brooklyn, to Underhill, VT, to Stowe, VT, to Monkton, VT, back to Underhill, then to Boston, MA, back to Brooklyn. For short trips around the neighborhood, Baby L usually just entertains herself in her carseat. But for this trip, we had to pull out all the stops. Daddy B and I took turns sitting in the back, playing with every toy we could find, playing every game we could think of, and nothing seemed to work. Until we put on the Music Together CD! L is such a music lover, she does a little dance as soon as she hears a familiar song. Why didn't we think of it sooner?

Road Trip Mix Tape!

I love a good road trip. Road trips include little traditions, routines, and rituals that I find comforting. Picking out books to read on the way (or some trashy celebrity magazines), digging out the bean-shaped neck pillow (I love my little neck pillow), and of course making a MIX TAPE (well, okay, it's an iTunes playlist).

This time, I not only made myself my own special mix of music for the road, but I also made Baby L a playlist.

Here's a sampling what Baby L's been going to hear on her way to Vermont, then Boston:

Elizabeth Mitchell (You Are My Flower, You Are My Sunshine, You Are My Little Bird)

Jerry Garcia and Dave Grisman (Not For Kids Only)

Bob Marley (Legend)

The Beatles (The White Album, Abbey Road)

Nina Simone (Miscellaneous)

Louis Armstrong (Miscellaneous)

The Music Together Songbook

Ziggy Marley (B is for Bob)

Baby L loves to hear the same music again and again. She bangs her little hands against the carseat to play "drums," shakes her rattles and shakers, kicks her tiny feet, and sings at the top of her lungs "Ahhhhh!" to her favorite tunes.

Bon voyage!

Show Tunes

When I was a little kid, I wanted to be a singer on Broadway. I took Tap & Jazz dance lessons, and I knew all the words to Annie, A Chorus Line, Cats, and The Wizard of Oz. My mom and my grandmas would take me to see musicals at the local theater, The Flynn Theatre, whenever a good musical was showing, and I had a whole collection of the book-versions of the stories that went along with each show.

Of course, as the years passed, my dream of being a Broadway singer was replaced by other dreams: being a Broadway singer turned into being a musician, and I learned to play the clarinet and saxophone. Being a musician turned into being a writer, and I would spend hours making my own magazines and writing stories with animals as characters. This eventually grew into a short phase in which I wanted to be an artist, which eventually changed to wanting to be a teacher, among other things...

I had all but forgotten about my love of show tunes until I recently discovered the TV show Glee! Friends of mine know that our family does not own a TV, and we don't have cable. But, I figured out how to download seasons of certain shows using iTunes, so that I could keep up with my favorites--and Glee! is now one of my favorites, not because of the storyline, but because of the nostalgia that the songs spark.

Show tunes can be like old friends. No matter how many years go by, when you hear a song that you know all the words to, it's like the song has always been there.

After watching Glee! I decided that Baby L. needs to have some show tunes in her repertoire, so that someday she could also sing along to all the words. I figured out that if you make a Lion King station on Pandora, it plays lots of kid-friendly musicals like Mary Poppins, Beauty and the Beast, and Wicked. So now, L. and I spend our mornings listening to show tunes, and singing along, gleefully.

Car Talk

Question: What does Baby L. like to do best in the car?

Answer: L. loves to look at herself in her carseat mirror. Babies love mirrors! Faces are one of the first categories of information that the brain begins to understand. Did you know there is actually an area of the brain devoted just to understanding faces? Baby L.'s mirror also has a colorful pattern border around the edges of it, and fun silky tags for her to grab onto, for developing her fine motor skills.

Question: When L. starts to get a little grumpy, what do you do about it?

Answer: I sing to her and tell stories! She especially likes songs with silly voices, or storytelling songs like Little Bunny Foo Foo. Literacy researchers agree that immersing children with stories and songs from the littlest age helps foster a love of literature and an understanding of text structure (how stories tend to go). Stories that contain dialogue, rich vocabulary, a problem/solution, and are told with expression and fluency are especially great. But if you can't come up with a good one on the spot, don't worry! Sometimes I just retell our day, step by step. "First we went... then we did..." The sound of my voice calms her down, and she's learning sequencing and all kinds of other important literacy-related skills.

Question: What about poosplosions?

Answer: Definitely pull off the highway, find a decent enough rest area, or at least a fast food restaurant (they always have changing tables) and spend some time cleaning up. I always pack a back-up set of clothes!

Baby's Rainy Day Play List

Rainy days can be just a little bit sunnier with some songs and nursery rhymes to help build your child's vocabulary. Try singing your favorite rainy day song over and over-- pretty soon your little one will recognize it and she'll light up when she hears the familiar tune!

1. Itsy Bitsy Spider

2. You Are My Sunshine

3. Drip Drip Drop Little April Shower

4. Somewhere Over the Rainbow

5. I Can See Clearly Now (The Rain Is Gone)

6. It Won't Rain, It Won't Rain

7. Singin' In the Rain

8. Here Comes the Sun

9. It's Raining It's Pouring

10. Rain, Rain, Go Away

11. I Know the Colors of the Rainbow

12. Mr. Sun

One of Baby L.'s faves is Itsy Bitsy Spider. We sing it in the bathtub every night (plus on rainy days, of course). She smiles at the words "Itsy Bitsy" because they sound funny to her, and she loves it when I use my fingers to make the spider crawl up her tummy.

She also LOVES Drip Drip Drop Little April Shower. She heard it for the first time today when we were listening to Pandora and dancing around the living room. Her little face lit up at the sound of all the voices. Who needs the sun when you've got an adorable toothless smile to brighten your day?

Top Ten Things to Do With a Five-Month-Old on a Rainy Day

10. Bounce in the bouncy-seat!

9. Walk around the apartment looking at things.

8. Dance to reggae in the living room.

7. Take naps.

6. Go for airplane rides on mommy's knees.

5. Practice kicking at toys in the play gym.

4. Try eating some rice cereal - but most of it winds up on the bib in the end.

3. Change lots of diapers. And a few outfits.

2. Sing our favorite songs (which include You Are My Flower, Ladybug Picnic, and Little Sack Of Sugar)

1. Read our favorite books, of course!

What are your favorite things to do on a rainy day? Post a comment and share!

Our Favorite Song Lately

You Are My Flower

The grass is just as green, the sky is just as blue
The day is just as bright, the birds are singing too

You are my flower, that's blooming in the mountain for me
You are my flower, that's blooming there for me

The air is just as pure, the sunlight just as free
And nature seems to say, it's all for you and me

You are my flower, that's blooming in the mountain for me
You are my flower, that's blooming there for me

So wear a happy smile and life will be worthwhile
Forget your tears but don't forget to smile

You are my flower, that's blooming in the mountain for me
You are my flower, that's blooming there for me

When summertime is passed and snow begins to fall
Just sing this song and say to one and all

You are my flower, that's blooming in the mountain for me
You are my flower, that's blooming there for me

~ Sung by the Carter Family

Songs to Sing About Peace and Love

Baby L. loves it when Daddy B. and I sing to her, so naturally we sing all kinds of songs: counting songs, alphabet songs, silly songs, animal songs, and sweet soft lullabies, just to name a few.

Our favorite songs of all are the ones that carry a little meaning - but are still really easy to learn and remember. Here's our gift to you: Ten easy-to-remember songs to get you thinking (and singing) about peace on earth with your little one. To hear each song, just click on the titles!

Peace Like A River by Elizabeth Mitchell: Elizabeth Mitchell is our favorite children's artist to listen to in our house. Check her out and you'll see why! On her website you can listen to songs, and even download a songbook so that you can sing along.

We Shall Overcome, Pete Seeger's version: Baby L.'s favorite civil rights anthem, along with This Little Light of Mine. Still appropriate today, don't you think?

Here Comes the Sun by The Beatles: When I taught fifth grade, this was one of my students' favorite songs to study. Kids love the Beatles (and so do I!). More recently, this has become one of my favorite songs to sing to Baby L. - it makes a great lullaby!

Imagine by John Lennon: Need I explain? Of course this song is on our list of favorite peace songs!

Give Peace a Chance by John Lennon: Yes, I realize this is the third Beatles/Lennon song on the list. So what?

We Are the World: When I was a kid, we did the "Hands Across America" thing at my school. Remember that? Around the same time, we all learned We Are the World. The video is awesome.

From a Distance by Better Midler: Cheesy, I know, but kids still dig it!

Where Have All the Flowers Gone? by Peter, Paul and Mary: To this day, I have my elementary school teachers to thank for all the Peter, Paul and Mary songs I know like Puff the Magic Dragon, Leaving on a Jetplane, and this one.

With My Own Two Hands by Ben Harper & Jack Johnson: Some of the first graders I taught didn't even know that there were Curious George books-- they had only seen the movie! But along with the movie came a really good children's album - so we have that to be thankful for.

What A Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong: These days, when I do workshops for teachers, I often use What A Wonderful World as an example, because everyone loves this song, no matter how young or old. Even adults will sing along to this song-- and that's saying something.

As a teacher, I always used songs throughout the day, especially for what we teachers call "shared reading," to study how words and language work and to spark conversation. Singing not only helps babies and children develop phonemic awareness, but the songs we sing also introduce new vocabulary and ideas. For more songs about peace and love, try these resources: Culture of Peace, Spinner, and Rolling Stone.