Mother Goose Jam: A Musical Program for Preschoolers

Last week I hosted a program called Mother Goose Jam, which was basically an hour-long music themed preschool storytime. It was a lot of fun to plan and present! I was able to try some new material for storytime as well as to incorporate some of our lesser-used props. I put all the recorded music onto an iTunes playlist and burned it to a CD to save switching CDs around. I do not like to use an iPad/iPod/iPhone for this type of program personally (I prefer the bigger buttons of a CD player).

Here's what we did:

Opening rhyme: Let's All Do a Little Clapping (I actually did not learn this song from Jbrary and thus I had no idea you were supposed to sing it to the tune of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" so I... do not. I don't know how to describe how I sing it without actually making a video myself though) I changed the words to "and spread a little cheer" so I can do this year round and it has become my opening rhyme for my storytimes as well.

Story: Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin

Scarf Rhymes:

• We Wave Our Scarves Together 
• One Bright Scarf I chant this instead of singing
• Grandfather's Clock I use different words (Grandfather's clock, mother's kitchen clock, father's watch) 
• Snow on the Grass (I adapted from Rain on the Grass)
• Popcorn Kernels

Song: Zoom, Zoom, Zoom We're Going to the Moon
(with additional verses from Jbrary) 

Everyone Can March, March, March

Shakers: 

• "Up So High"from Kids Make Music, Babies Make Music Too
• "Shake and Stop" from Kids Make Music, Babies Make Music Too

Song with Stuffed Bats prop (1/child), would also work on parachute: 

• "Bats are Sleeping" by Carole Stephens (On Season Sings, thanks Lisa Shaia for this tip!) 

Stretchy Band (would also work with parachute): 

• Merry Go Round" from Kids Make Music, Babies Make Music Too This did not work so well, ha. 

Parachute:

•  "Popcorn" by Joanie Leeds (I was introduced to this rockin' song by Angie Manfredi suggesting Joanie's music for programs. I had never heard of her before!) We have a bunch of loofahs that we threw onto the chute for this song. 
• "Rolling Ball" by The Learning Groove (Goovy Green) 
• "Sleeping Bunnies" by Kathy Reid-Naiman (Tickles and Tunes) By request. I also like this version. 

Free Dance Songs (I put the scarves, shakers, rhythm instruments, and some streamers out for the kids to dance): 

• "Old MacDonald" by The Learning Groove (Bouncy Blue)
• "One Two Three Whee!"  by The Learning Groove (Goovy Green) 
• "Itsy Bitsy Spider"  by The Learning Groove (Yummy Yellow)
• "Moving In a Circle"  by The Learning Groove (Rocking Red)  
• "I Hear the Water"  by The Learning Groove (Rocking Red)  Great cool down, soothing song

Image Credit: OpenClipart.org