The Deptford library’s Making Music for Kids program begins Friday at 10 a.m. for children from 1 to 4 years old.
The goal of the program is to use musical rhythm and rhymes to help children begin the process of learning language and literacy skills. Its sessions will be held on the third and sometimes fifth Friday of each month; another is scheduled for Jan. 31.
“In a child-friendly manner,” said children’s librarian Sarah Kramer, “we learn about how we can make music and sound with our mouths, how we can make music and sound with instruments (and) jingle bell bracelets, and also how we can move to music by dancing with scarves.”
One example of the program’s music will be the song “Apples and Bananas,” used to help kids learn how to make different sounds with their mouths. Another is the “Hokey Pokey,” a song that teaches kids how to follow directions.
“Children are exposed to traditional songs like ‘The Itsy-Bitsy Spider,’ which we use to teach volume by singing loudly and quietly, and ‘Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star,’ which we use to learn about tempo by singing fast and slow,” Kramer explained. “Not only that, children sing songs like ‘Good Morning’ from classic movie musicals like ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ to greet each other, as well as ‘Do Re Me’ from ‘The Sound of Music,’ which is taught to emphasize that music, like reading, relies on building blocks.
“We end with the traditional nursery rhyme ‘Ring Around the Rosie,’ where the children very much enjoy throwing themselves on the floor to fall down.”
The program came about when Kramer began studying the importance of using music and rhythm.
“I don’t believe it can be emphasized enough in early childhood education,” she noted. “It’s fun to watch the students learn that they prefer singing loudly and fast over quietly and slow, that when the music stops and Mrs. Kramer yells freeze, they have to stay completely still, and to watch them become aware of their proprioception (the body’s ability to sense its location, movements and actions) or awareness of where they are in space, through moving and dancing.”
Making Music for Kids is free but requires registration in advance. Call the library at (856) 848-9149 for information on how to register.
