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Sing A Song For Earth Day!

whole world hands

Over a decade ago I wrote a song for Earth Day that has made it literally around the world.  Since it was recorded, it’s been used in programs and presentations in Taiwan, China, Singapore, Japan, Scotland, South America and across the entire United States, too!  It’s just a fact that honoring the Earth is a concept shared by everyone, everywhere, all around the globe!

“We’ve Got the Whole World In Our Hands” had very humble beginnings.  I was working with a group of elementary school students on an Earth Day project and they were excited about the many ways they could make a difference for the Earth.   To share what they learned, we decided to write a song to a melody that everyone recognized.  We chose the beautiful spiritual song  “He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands” and changed the lyrics slightly to reflect the idea of being a good steward of the Earth.

earth day handsNext, we added the children’s ideas to the song.  Naturally, the first suggestion had to do with the three “R”s – reduce, reuse and recycle.  Then the kids got really creative.  They offered dozens of suggestions that encompassed not only being green and living simpler, but also being kind to everyone and everything around them.  It was truly inspiring to see their vision of a planet filled with peace, harmony and more thoughtful life choices!

The original song has over 10 verses filled with great ideas about caring for the Earth.  When we recorded the song, we had to limit it to 4, so the song would not be too long.  Here’s the words to our final version:

Chorus:      We’ve got the whole world, in our hands
                     We’ve got the whole world, in our hands
                     We’ve got the whole world in our hands
                     We’ve got the whole world in our hands

We should recycle now – all that we can
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – all that we can
We should recycle now – all that we can
We’ve got the whole world in our hands

Be kind to the plants and animals – of our land
Be kind to the plants and animals – of our land
Be kind to the plants and animals – of our land
We’ve got the whole world in our hands

Join hands with sisters and brothers – throughout the land
Join hands with sisters and brothers – throughout the land
Join hands with sisters and brothers – throughout the land
We’ve got the whole world in our hands

Dream your bright dream – then do all that you can
Dream your bright dream – then do all that you can
Dream your bright dream – then do all that you can
We’ve got the whole world in our hands

Here’s the video!

Lyrics and songsheet here:

http://www.dariamusic.com/wholeworld.php

An Earth Day Song Challenge!

Stay tuned.  Next week we’ll be asking you to write your own version of this song.  Cool prizes and more details to follow!

 

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Make Your Own Bodhrán Irish Drum

Screen shot 2014-03-07 at 10.50.39 AMEvery culture has it’s own favorite types of drums.

In the Celtic tradition of Ireland, the bodhrán (pronounced “bow-ron”) is a drum that seems to have evolved from the tambourine.  Originally made from farm implements such as a sieve to separate grain, it’s generally 10 – 26” inches across and is played with a small wooden stick called a “tipper” (or cipín, in the Celtic language).

Whether you attempt to create a realistic bodhrán and tipper or just want to create an Irish-style drum, this easy craft makes a great introduction to Irish folk music.

bodhran drum suppliesGather Your Supplies

To create your homemade bodhrán, find a used pie tin or recycled take-out containers.  Circular metal containers  press-on tops work perfectly for this craft.  In addition, you’ll need materials for decorating the drum and a pencil or two plastic homemade bodhran (tin)spoons to serve as your tipper plus a bit of tape.

It you’re using a pie tin, you can decorate the sides or the top and you’re ready to play.  If you’re using take-out containers, decorate the blank side of the top circle with any kind of theme you like.  Since we’re writing this close to St. Patrick’s Day, we’ve chosen to decorate with shamrocks.

Make A Plastic Spoon Tipper

tippers yellowTo make a “tipper” for your drum, tape together two recycled plastic spoons.  If you don’t have any spoons handy, you can use an unsharpened pencil or a similar item like a chopstick or small thin piece of wood.

Time To Play!

Everyone loves to play on a drum.  If you have a simple stick as the beater, tap out a rhythm along with any of your favorite songs or discover some new Irish music to accompany.

If you’ve made a tipper, hold it in your hand between your thumb and first finger.

Tap on the drum with one side of it.  Then tap in the other side.  Practice tapping right, left, right, left until you get the hang of it.

Once you’ve mastered the back and forth tapping of the tipper, try picking up speed. You’ll be amazed at what some musicians can do with this drum after they’ve practiced a bit.

Below is a short video showing basic bodhran technique for kids as well as a Youtube video of a master musician who can really rock out on this awesome Irish instrument.

Homemade Bodhrán Musical Fun

Homemade Bodhran Fun- Click Here To Learn The Basic Techniques

Traditional Celtic Bodhrán – One Amazing Instrumentalist!

Links and Resources

Make Your Own Bodhran -  tutorial from TPT https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Irish-Drum-Make-and-Play-Your-Own-Bodhran-and-Tipper-2410657

 

All Natural Instruments – Sticks, Stones and Bamboo Percussion For Kids

natural instruments

How were the first musical instruments created?

It’s most likely they were made from “all natural” materials and were probably the result of wonderful coincidences.  Perhaps someone was gathering wood and realized that two sticks tapped together could create a beat.  A rock fell on another rock and made a pleasing sound.  Bamboo made a wonderful noise when rustling in the wind and inspired Hawaiian rhythm sticks. And since these noise-makers are made of such basic materials, they make great “first instruments” for exploring music with children at home, in the classroom or in the homeschool environment.

Here are three of our favorite “all natural” percussion instruments.

Austalian Clapsticks – “Bilma”

stick bilma1In Aboriginal Australia, two sticks struck together form a beat that can accompany the didgeridoo and become a part of singing, dancing and celebrating.  Whether you tap together two unsharpened pencils or take a nature walk to retrieve two perfect sticks, bilma making dots with q-tipsthese simple clapsticks can keep a beat while you sing or play along to any your favorite songs.

If you want to decorate your clapsticks with an Australian theme, you can use a dot motif.  In the activity below you can find step-by-step directions for making several different versions of crafty “dot” bilma.

hula rocks on blueRiver Rocks – Hawaiian `ili`ile

Can rocks make music?   Take a nature walk, collect a few and see for yourself.

In Hawaii, special smooth river rocks are part of the hula tradition. These small stones; called ‘ili’ili, are held in a dancer’s hand and tapped together for a percussion sound and that becomes part of the arm movements of the dance.  If you want to play “Hawaiian-style”, check out the post below for more about this tradition.

But you can also get creative and make up your own way of “playing rocks”.  Try josef rocks outsetting a few rocks out on the ground or table and hold one in your hand.  Use the rock in your hand to tap out a beat on one – or several- of the other rocks while you sing along, play recorded music or create your own rhythms with a friend, sibling, parent or fellow musician.

Bamboo Rhythm Sticks

Hawaiian pu’ili are rhythm sticks with one distinct difference.  They are made of lengths of bamboo, left whole on one side and split on the other.  When tapped together, the split ends rattle against each other making a unique sound.

Although making traditional bamboo pu’ili is not too hard, it does require some special tools and involves sharp edges.  An easier version; especially for young children, can be made from cardboard rolls from paper towels. They are easily cut and decorated and sound great for percussion play.

You can get complete instructions for homemade pu’ili at the post listed below.

Explore Nature and Music

Sticks, stones and reeds can make music.  Why not combine an exploration of music and nature to see what kind of inventive creations you can discover and play!

Screen shot 2014-03-03 at 5.26.10 PMLinks and Resources

Australian Bilma (From Teachers Pay Teachers)
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Australian-Instruments-Make-Your-Own-Bilma-Clapsticks-1133140

Playing River Rocks As An Instrument – Hawaiian `ili`ile
(Post in Making Multicultural Music)
http://makingmulticulturalmusic.wordpress.com/2014/02/13/playing-river-rocks-as-an-instrument-hawaiian-iliile/

Play Some Pu’ili  (Post in Tiny Tapping Toes)
http://www.tinytappingtoes.com/classroom-music/make-your-own-puili-hawaiian-rhythm-sticks/

Musical Craft pdf’s from DARIAMUSIC
http://www.dariamusic.com/crafts.php

E-books, CD’s and more Musical Fun from DARIA’s TeachersPayTeachers Store
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Daria-Marmaluk-Hajioannou

How Loud Is Too Loud? Part 1

Screen shot 2014-02-05 at 12.51.40 PMThis guest post by Rob Doole tackles the important topic of hearing loss and young children.  Rob is the director of Allearplugs.com.

Music can be very beneficial to young children, allowing them to develop their sense of creativity and melody while generating memories that will stay with them forever. I always remember the songs I sang at school and appreciate how they developed my love of music that remains today.

However, musical memories are not always fond; young children exposed to high noise levels can develop hearing problems such as tinnitus during their youth.  Children’s hearing is highly sensitive and vulnerable to harm from loud noises and damage to their ear drums at an early age will inhibit their development later on in life.  It’s therefore important that you take some steps to protect and educate your children about the dangers of loud noise from music.

As illustrated below, the risks of your child developing hearing loss depends on the volume of noise and the exposure time:

Screen shot 2014-02-05 at 12.39.43 PM

Sound is measured in decibels (dB), with 85db being the threshold for safe or dangerous noise; to put this in context, playing a piano is around 70dB, and within the safe limits; listening to a live violin performance, at 92dB, would be above the threshold.

Exceeding the threshold for ‘dangerous’ noise is possible, provided the time frame of exposure is within safe limits, as outlined below from dangerousdecibels.org.

permissable exposure tim

Long periods of loud noise can be just as damaging as quick, sudden bursts and it’s important that you take precautions to reduce the likelihood of both exposures from occurring over time.

Most of your child’s music lessons or home practice is likely remain within safe thresholds, particularly when lessons only last for up to an hour at a time. However, as your children get older and want to try new instruments, these thresholds are likely to be exceeded; for example, the violin (86dB), flute (103dB) or cello (110dB) are all loud.

Other musical activities, like an all-day family music festival, could also create risks, with noise reaching 110dB very close to the stage (safe for under two minutes); my advice here is to use hearing protection, Edz Kids Ear Defenders (http://www.allearplugs.com/children/kids-ear-defenders/)  work really well, while moving as far away from the speakers as possible and taking regular breaks.

With new technology highly focused towards high-volume, personal ‘in-ear’ devices like MP3 players, it’s also really important that you educate young children about their dangers as soon as possible.  On their loudest settings, MP3 players can reach sound ratings of up to 115dB, which can be seriously detrimental over a sustained period of time.

Make sure music is turned down below 85dB for longer periods, or limited to very short time time frames above this threshold. It is often the sustained, lower-level sound exposures which have the potential to cause ‘unseen’ damage in children, so be sure to monitor their exposure as their enjoyment of music grows.

Rob’s company, Allearplugs.com offers the Edz Kids Ear Defenders as well as a full range of options for children’s hearing protection, check them out at http://www.allearplugs.com/.

Read more from Rob Doole and get his latest updates at: https://plus.google.com/115842769732285976259/posts

Bang a Gong!

blue nipple gongBang a gong and every pays attention!

Tap a gong and you got a quiet, calming, resounding tone.

Gongs are wonderful instruments made from a circular metal object that hangs on a stand and is tapped or struck by a stick or beater.  Some are simple and plain.  Others are decorated beautifully with designs etched into the surface and hung on elaborately carved wooden stands.  All of them create beautiful notes when played.

What Can You Do With A Gong?

Gongs are great for marking time.  They are perfect for starting a day or an activity.  They can call kids in from recess or playtime or announce that a meal is ready.  They are a perfect addition to any home play, homeschool or classroom environment as well as a great way to learn about the culture of China, Tibet, Korea, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and other countries where these play an important role in the cultural and religious life of the people.

Make Your Own Gong!

a smaller pie-tin gongDo you need a big budget to acquire a gong?  No way!  If you have a metal item such as a pie tin or recycled turkey roasting pan, you can craft your own unique gong.  Here are the supplies you’ll need:

Supplies

Metal pan

Broomstick, long stick or cardboard tube from inside wrapping paper

Yarn, string or pipecleaners

Materials for decorating the gong

Two chairs (to use as the stand for the gong)

horse gongInstructions

You can find step-by-step instructions in the pdf below, but basically, you decorate the pan, poke two small holes about 2 – 3 inches apart, slip string, yarn or pipecleaners through each hole and hang your gong from a broomstick or cardboard tube.  A makeshift stand is easily made from two chairs positioned back to back.

Last, to create a beater for your gong, cover a stick or wooden spoon with a bit of red felt or silk and tie it around the top.  Then experiment with the sound when touching it lightly, tapping harder or by striking several times in a row.  Below is a video of a serious gong being played to give you some  inspiration.

Decorate Your Gong

January 31st, 2014 marks the Chinese New Year and we welcome in the year of the horse.  It can be fun to create a gong with the theme of the New Year or to look up your birth year and make a gong with a pig, a rat, a sheep or a dragon.  Find a chart of birth years and Chinese Zodiac signs in the pdf below, along with more suggestions for making and playing this fun world music craft!

Resources

Step-By-Step Instructions/Make Your Own Gong And Chinese Zodiac Symbols PDF

http://www.dariamusic.com/docs/chinesegong.pdf

What Does The Gong Say?

Favorite Holiday Songs From Around The World – Jingle Bells in Chinese

jingle bells chinese 1 Have you ever heard the song, Jingle Bells in (Mandarin) Chinese? It’s irresistible! And it’s a perfect way to introduce your child to a beautiful new language as part of their musical play and exploration!

I learned this song from a wonderful Mommy blogger named Lina Dickson who is actively “bringing up baby, bilingually”. Since the winter festivities are close at hand, it can be a perfect way of combining music, learning a new language and holiday fun.

Even if you don’t attempt the whole song, the chorus is very easy to learn. Instead of Jingle Bells, it is:

(Pinyin) Dīng dīng dāng Dīng dīng dāng
(English Translation) Ding ding dang, Ding ding dang,

(Pinyin) Líng’ér xiǎng dīng dāng
(English Translation) The bells jingle

(Pinyin) wǒ men huá xuě duo kuài lè
(English Translation) We have lots of fun sledding

(English Translation) Riding of the sleigh
(Pinyin) wǒ men zuò zài xuě qāio shàng hei

jingle bells chinese 2Check out the video animation below or head over to Lina’s Best4Baby site to see a version that has the perfect word by word translation. Lina’s site also has a pdf teaching the complete lyrics in Chinese through the actual Chinese characters, through pinyin and the English translation. If you aren’t familiar with pinyin, it is a system developed to write out how Chinese characters or words are pronounced including the correct inflection to use.

http://www.best4future.com/blog/chinese-childrens-song-jingle-bells

Jingle Bells Lyrics in Chinese Characters, Pinyin and English Translation form Best4Future Website

http://www.best4future.com/blog/Songs/jinglebell.pdf

Jingle Bell Craft Booklet pdfWant to make some jingle bells to jingle along with the song – no matter what language you’re enjoying it in? My monthly song page has a free craft booklet sharing 4 different ways to create homemade jingle instruments from recycled materials.

Stop on over, get your copy and you can … jingle all the way!

http://www.dariamusic.com/monthly_song.php

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAwC0GorjCs&w=500&h=375]

Jingle Marching Sticks

making jingle sticksOne of the most wonderful things about making music with young children is that it easily becomes part of an active day.  Who can resist making a parade or dancing around the house or the classroom when they are carrying a marching jingle stick?  Best of all, the materials needed for this craft are often trashed (extra ribbon, tape, cardboard wrapping tubes, stray jingle bells) so this craft encourages you to upcycle, exercise and make music all at the same time.  What a great way to begin the holiday fun!

Make Your Own Jingle Stick

Here are the supplies to assemble:

A jingle stick – look for a cardboard tube from wrapping paper, 3 foot ruler or large stick

1 (or more) pipecleaners

6 – 10 jingles per pipecleaner

Colorful electrical tape or duct tape

Optional: Paint, stickers, yarn or duct tape, for decoration.

Screen shot 2013-11-15 at 3.05.34 PMBegin by stringing any number of jingles onto a pipecleaner.  Use electrical tape to fasten the pipecleaner into place on the stick.  It helps to fasten the pipecleaners to the stick between the jingles as well.  If you like, make several pipecleaners strung with bells to add to different parts of your stick.

Once the jingles are in place, decorate the rest of the marching stick.  Use paint, more tape, colorful ribbon, yarn or stickers to make it unique and wonderful.

Time To Play!

Other then using the jingle stick to lead a parade, there are lots of ways to get creative with your new instrument.

Sing any of your favorite holiday songs along to a beat created by your marching jingle stick.

Try tapping the stick on the floor while marching and use that sound as part of the rhythm being created.

Use marching jingle sticks as part of a holiday music presentation.

Try playing the jingle stick at a particular part of the song (like the chorus) or when you hear a particular word in a holiday song.  For instance, a class can jingle the bells only when you hear the word “jingle” in the song “jingle bells”.

If you like, try it along to this version of Jingle Bells which shares lots of different ways to say “Happy Holidays” in different countries around the globe.

Resources

Jingle Anklets –  http://www.dariamusic.com/docs/jinglebells.pdf

4 Easy Jingle Bells Instruments For Holiday Fun  – Craft Booklet from TeachersPayTeachers http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/4-JINGLE-BELLS-CRAFT-ACTIVITIES-940926

4 Easy Jingle Bells Instruments For Holiday Fun  – Craft Booklet from DARIA’s Little Village Store http://dariasvillagestore.storenvy.com/collections/34585-all-products/products/3498803-4-jingle-bell-craft-activities-booklet

Halloween Musical Fun!

monster rattlesMusic is a great way to share the lighter side of Halloween.

We recommend creative crafts and some of the classic kids songs and rhymes as ways to connect with the changing seasons and focus on a creative and whimsical celebration of Halloween.

Make A Silly Monster Rattle

Have any extra egg cartons?

It’s easy to make this kids rattle inspired by a real jawbone instrument from Peru.  In the actual instrument – called a quijada – teeth rattle in the sockets making the percussion sound and keeping a beat.  Spooky, huh?

In our version, one object goes into each egg space creating the same type of rattling effect.  Here are some suggestions that make great noise-makers for this Halloween craft:

monster rattles - innerds12 pebbles or stones
12 acorns
12 jingle bells
12 buttons
12 pieces of dried pasta
12 marbles

Once you’ve counted to 12 and sealed up your rattle, it’s time to give it a mask!  Pick a bright, colorful mask or get out crayons and markers and use the black and white versions to color your own.  Complete directions and masks are all on the free pdf at the link below.

5 Little Pumpkins And Five Little Turkeys

I love how kids enjoy these simple poems.  They are so proud to find they’ve mastered the skill of counting to five and can hear how the words work as a rhyme!  Here’s two of our favorite “5” rhymes:
5 little pumpkins
5 Little Pumpkins

Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate.

The first one said, “oh my it’s getting late.”

The second one said, “there are witches in the air.”

The third one said, “but we don’t care!”

The fourth one said, “let’s run and run and run.”

The fifth one said, “I’m ready for some fun!”

OOOhh OOOhh went the wind 
And out went the lights

And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight.

5 Little Turkeys
The 5 Little Turkeys went out to hunt for food.

The 1st one said, “I’m in a THANKFUL mood!”

The 2nd one said, “Let’s go eat some corn!”

The 3rd one said, “It’s a beautiful autumn morn!”

The 4th one said, “I’m filled with GRATITUDE!”

The 5th one said, “I need to change my attitude!”

Then the 5 Little Turkeys ate the corn and sat to rest;

Counting harvest joys and how richly they are blessed!

Halloween Finger Play Fun!

And here’s two Halloween songs and rhymes that work perfectly as fingerplays, too!

Ten Little Witches

One little, two little, three little witches
Four little, five little, six little witches
Seven little, eight little, nine little witches
Ten witches in the sky

Ten little, nine little, eight little witches
Seven little, six little, five little witches
four little, three little, two little witches
One little witch, bye bye!

(Finger Play – Use fingers to count up to ten and then back to one.)

Gobbling Turkey Finger Play

The turkey is a funny bird
His head goes “wobble wobble”
And he knows just one word
Gobble, gobble, gobble!

(Finger Play – Pretend your hand is a turkey – with the thumb as the head and the fingers as the feathers.  Wobble the head for the second line. Use your hand to point make a “1” with the “just one word”, then use your hand to pretend to gobble for the last line of the rhyme! )

Make Your Own Silly Monster Rattle

http://www.dariamusic.com/docs/MONSTERInstructions.pdf

Sharing The Culture Of India With Your Children

meeras india graphic

We’re pleased to have a guest post this month by noted Indian-American Author, Meera Sriram.  In this short article Meera shares ways she stays in touch with her birth culture and makes it a welcome and enriching part of her children’s lives.

It’s been almost two decades for me and my husband in a country on the other side of the world. We had our challenges, big and small – navigating through grad school, finding what we liked to do for a living and adapting to new ways of life in the U.S. But little did we realize that the climb in the learning curve was yet to come.  The joys of parenthood came with the responsibility of keeping our children aware of our roots in India, and to constantly foster a connection between two diametric continents.
As an effort in that direction, we have been spending most of our summers with family in India. Besides providing great cultural immersion, it also helps my children find answers to why we do certain things the way we do in our home in the U.S. But how do we keep them in touch while we go about our lives here? Food is one way. I often put in the extra effort to learn and prepare traditional recipes besides standard fare. Books have hugely helped us learn about the places and people of India. Holidays and family traditions periodically help us celebrate our culture and customs in fun ways.  To add to this list is music. While I come from a family of well-trained classical musicians, my knowledge of Indian classical music is still limited (strange, but that’s a story for another day-:) And since we don’t watch Bollywood, film music is not the staple. However we do expose our children to classical (Carnatic) music and Indian film music now and then. But there are some songs that cannot be boxed into either of these, but have better appealed to their senses. They have also opened up beautiful passages to connect with the music and culture of India. Here are some of them:

Favorite Songs For Sharing With Kids

Both my kids have been soothed to sleep by the comforting and melodious songs in this collection of traditional lullabies by Bombay Jayashri. Interestingly, each song is in a different regional language of India.
Karadi Rhymes was my first find to consciously introduce cultural elements of India to my first born, when she was a toddler. The songs are set to folksy tunes and the lyrics bring out the flavor of the country through simple themes like mangoes, chai and Diwali.

Vaishnava jan to tene (Preview) is a song I often listen to which caught the attention of the kids as well. Interestingly, one of the reasons for this song’s claim to fame is that it was a favorite of Mahatma Gandhi. Maybe this tidbit is why they are fascinated?  I’d never know!

Lately, our palette has grown to include fusion music as well, the kind where East meets West. Some recent favorites are  A.R. Rehman’s Zariya (Preview) ,  Maatibaani feat. JoyShanthi (Preview) , Karthick Iyer’s Clown’s junket (Preview) and Shankar Tucker’s Jaane Kaise (Preview) .

Vande Mataram is an eternal favorite at home – a patriotic song that celebrates the diverse landscapes and people of India with amazing visuals that reinforce the love for the land.  Here’s a Youtube version of that song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRPpSgRqtRc

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Color The Instruments From India!

dhol imageYou can find coloring pages including the dhol drum and the Indian sitar on DARIA’s world music for kids site, in the activity and craft section here:

http://www.dariamusic.com/crafts.php

 

Creating Meaningful Music Experiences For Children

Looking for creative ways to combine music, play and learning for young children?

We love the recent article by Carla from Preschool Powol Packets (nice blog!) with 5 different activities young children and their and parents can do to explore music together.

Plus, there’s a give-away of a DARIA cd and a beautiful, authentic fair-trade rattle from Africa.

(Give-away open until September 16, 2013).

Check out the great ideas for musical play that include making simple instruments, ideas for a rhythm band and creating songs to express feelings.

Stop by to check out the fun and learning here:

http://preschoolpowolpackets.blogspot.com/2013/09/musicactivitiesDaria.html

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