Learning about animals through MUSIC & MOVEMENT

BUTTERFLY by Victor Tan
Butterfly, butterfly
Gently flying low and high.
Butterfly, butterfly,
Always friendly, never shy.

Say to the flowers, Good Morning, Good Morning
See how colourful are my wings.


I've always loved this song, ever since I heard it more than 7 years old when I took Javen to attend Victor Tan's music and movement class. When singing the song, the children were given a cloth/scarf each and they were encouraged to dance and move gently, like a butterfly. The fluidity of the children's movement as they danced and swayed to the music was very graceful, and the young children (he was only two then) could relate to the way a butterfly moves.



See how colourful are my wings - as the children spread out their arms, this beautifully describes the colours and flow of the butterfly's wings. I also told the older children that the wings are usually symetrical.


I've since introduced this song to the children in Little Beans and they too could relate very well to the song - moving their arms gently as well as swaying their body up and down accordingly. The music too is very soothing and calming - the effect a butterfly can have on stressed nerves!



CRABS ARE CRAWLING by Victor Tan

Crabs are crawling, crabs are crawling
Crawling day and night.
Crabs are crawling, crabs are crawling
Crawling day and night.


Always move from side to side
Move from side to side

Another action song. The tempo is fast and actually mimics the pace of the crabs walking... too bad I can't sing the song here. Perhaps your child can sing it for you.

As the children sing, they move from left to right and right to left; never forward or backward as crabs cannot do so! The tempo picks up towards the end, and we always end up laughing as we sing the song!



INSECTS by Victor Tan

One, two, three
Four, five, six
Three pairs of legs
Crawling up, crawling down
Busy all day
Insects have six legs
No matter big or small

This, of course, teaches about the 6 legs of an insect!


There are many more songs composed by Victor to teach about animals and many more concepts. Thanks Victor, for the wonderful resources.

Trip to Mitri Easy Bakery

BEAUTIFUL CUPCAKES - too pretty to eat. That's what we did when we visited Mitri Easy Bake as part of our community theme. We had a great time rolling and beating the dough to make the Bread Stix as well as decorating the cupcakes. Surprisingly, many of the children wanted to take the cupcakes home to share with mummy or daddy.

Making the bread stix by rolling and stretching the dough into a long stick.

Roll it and stretch it like this?

This is the way we roll the dough, roll the dough ...

Gee.... soft and mushy!

This is fun!

All ready for the oven!

Fresh from the oven, time to dip the stix into the chocolate sauce and coat with the delicious grounded almond.

Mmmm.. our lunch, fresh from the oven!

The Joy Of Reading!

I've always loved reading as a child and would love to inculcate this love to as many children as possible. My home as well as the taska are full of books, and to see a child flipping through the pages always warms my heart.


I had half an hour to spare and I let my 6-year olds read and read to their heart's content. We have a big basket of books in the class and whenever they have time to spare, they can take a book or two to read. Of course, the books are changed constantly to avoid boredom.

Honestly, not all children love the books or can read very well, but once they see many of their friends doing so, they will join in the reading. Some chose to read in pairs, sharing and telling the story to each other, some preferred to read on his/her own. Most are confident to read aloud, and usually enjoy a book more after I've read or told them the story.

As an extension to reading quietly, I took the mic out and ask them to read in threes or fours. The objective is two-fold - to shorten the waiting period, but more importantly, the more confident readers can guide their friends along. Everyone took to the mic with ease and I love the expression as they tried to act out the storyline or mimic the characters, just like how Teacher Yvonne has taught them!