Musical Kids (for ages 17-35 months) + Back to work Update

Hooray! I am finally blogging about my Musical Kids middle age-group! And not only that, I am doing it from work!

It feels great to be back. It's been two weeks now and I am pretty much completely adjusted. My first day back was awesome! The first thing I saw when I came in was a huge, colorful sign that said "Welcome back, Laura! We missed you!" taped to my desk. Then there were hugs galore, both from staff members and wonderful patrons. People from all around the library stopped by my desk to greet me. And I even got some little presents! Then my favorite 3-year-old came in and, when she saw me, we locked eyes, paused, and then she ran to me and hugged me like we were in a movie. I couldn't have imagined a more perfect first day!

The days since have been great too. Reuniting with my regular storytime moms was both exiting and humbling. Seriously, the fact that these moms care even at all about their kid's librarian's car accident is amazing! They're all so sweet and appropriately sympathetic. This is why I missed work so much while I was out!

Anyway, this morning I had week 2 of my current session of Musical Kids, and as I promised back in early February, I am now going to discuss it on my blog!

The middle age group are 17-35-months-old. This is always my most well-attended of the three classes. Today I had 26 people, which is actually less than my usual crew (but also it's absolutely incredible outside so it's to be expected). These were a lucky 26 though because I'd consider this to be one of my best Musical Kids classes ever! It just worked.

Here's my playlist:
(red = ipod, blue = sing)

1. A New Way to Say Hello by Big Jeff
2. Tapping On My Sticks by Kathy Reid-Naiman (sticks)
3. The Tempo Marches On by Jim Gill (sticks)
4. Ain’t Got No Home by "Frogman" Clarence Henry (drums)
5. The Fly is on my Foot * See below
6. Rocketship Run by Laurie Berkner (rockets)
7. 5 Green and Speckled Frogs (monkey mitt)
8. We’re Going To Kentucky by Bob McGrath (shakers)
9. No More Monkeys by Asheba (shakers)
10. The Goldfish by Laurie Berkner
11. Blow a Kiss by Laurie Berkner

* The fly is on my foot was a total score that I found on Jbrary. It worked really well. We had the fly land on our feet, knees, stomachs, elbows, and noses. Here's the video for how it's done:

What worked best: Always Rocketship Run! In fact I almost can't not do Rocketship Run. These kids are obsessed with it. A while back I made rockets-on-sticks to give out to the kids, as well as signs that I hold up. Here's a picture of them:

The kids are so funny when we do this song. When I hold up a given sign, they all run up and touch their rocket to the sign, like they're really going to the sun/moon/etc. I've never told them to do this yet every week it happens. They totally invented it and it's continued on from week-to-week. IT IS ADORABLE. Additionally, this song always gets the loudest end-of-song cheer from both the children and the adults. So basically, it's always a hit.

What worked least: It's minimal but sometimes the giving out and returning of instruments can be chaotic. This group is large and they sometimes get eager and crazy. However, it always works out. The kids really like to run up and choose their instrument from the bin, so there can be a lot going on at once. But after about two-minutes of what seems like chaos, it's done and everyone has an instrument.

It's so great to be back! And even greater to know (really know) that I was missed. I'll post again soon!