Normally, I’m not a big fan of “preschool music”. I find it too sweet and too repetitive. Our marvelous preschool teacher used to play Hap Palmer music. Not only did the kids love it, I thought the songs were gentle, fun, and I loved the ways children could play along and learn at the same time.
Can a Cherry Pie Wave Goodbye? : Songs for Learning Through Music and Movement by Hap Palmer will introduce preschoolers to all sorts of concepts and vocabulary words. They learn colors and body parts in “Put a Little Color on You” as they are told to put the color blue on your shoe, put the color of a lemon peel on your heel, and put the color of stop sign on your spine. The concept of opposites is explored in “Say the Opposite”. Kids learn different occupations in “Everyone Can Be a Helper” and they learn about the value of different jobs in a community. In the “Bean Bag Alphabet Rag” children learn the alphabet letters, body parts, and are encouraged to catch, drop, jump, and zoom around the room with a bean bag. In “Animal Quiz” children try to identify animals based on characteristics like “my feathers make a fan when I spread my tail” or “I’m white and black and chew bamboo”.
Lyrics are included, along with the objective of each song, the needed setting (open area, sitting on a rug, sitting in a chair), what the suggested activity is, a list of needed supplies, ideas for follow up activities, and variations for groups. Follow up activities are things like showing movement, drawing imaginary pictures, finding different colors in a room, and spelling names.
My least favorite song on the CD is a rap that covers the days of the week. I find it abrasive after the gentle, folk sounding songs on the rest of the CD which are sure to charm preschoolers and those who work with them.
Also See:
School House Rock! Rocks
Arthur and Friends: The First Almost Real Not Live CD
Shel Silverstein’s Underwater Land – CD Review