What a colorful world . . .

We could learn a lot from crayons:

• some are sharp
• some are pretty
• some are dull
• some have wierd names
• and all are different colors.

But they all exist very nicely in the same box.

unknown

It's that time of year . . .

Green Rain

The weatherman predicted this,
the strangest weather seen.
The rain is coming down outside
a grassy shade of green.

He didn't say the weather would be
sleet or snow or fog,
but "light precipitation
with a chance of morning frog."

--Kenn Nesbitt

It's raining in our Imagine That! class so we put on our special rain hats to keep our heads dry. When we use our rain shakers we can even make a frog sound by scraping.

Happy Birthday Johnny Appleseed!

Johnny "Appleseed" Chapman was born on September 26th, 1774. In honor of his birthday, click here for a fun coloring idea or try this craft with the kids.

Apple Print Craft

Apples
Paper Towels
Styrofoam Plate, Meat Tray, or Other Shallow Dish
Construction Paper
Paint

Cut the apple in half. Experiment with your apples by cutting them different ways. Cut Through the top and out the bottom to make a 'traditional' apple print, cut through the middle to make apple 'star' prints. Cut the apple into quarters for a different print also!

Fold a paper towel into 4ths and lay it on the bottom of the styrofoam plate, etc. Pour paint into the center of the paper towel to make it into a stamp pad. I like to use red, green, and yellow paint to represent the different kinds of apples.
Dip the cut side of the apple into the paint.

Dab it around on the paper towel to wipe off excess paint, and then press it onto the paper.
Make a whole collection of apple pictures this way! You can use other fruits to make prints. Try making these prints with oranges, lemons, pears, etc. You can also use fabric paint and make an apple print T-shirt, towels, etc!

Family Discovery Concerts

The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs

October 1, 2006
Chenery Auditorium
3:00pm

Hear the Big Bad Wolf's side of the story! Actor Time Marrone joins the KSO in this hilarious musical setting of the book by Jon Scieszka.

Instrument Petting Zoo at 2pm!

Family Discovery Concerts are fun, one-hour musical explorations for young children and their families, with KSO Assistant Conductor Barry Ross.

To order tickets call 269.387.2300. To learn more about special group offers call 269.349.7759.

Hush with a Twist

Bobby and Yo-Yo - what a fun combo . . .

This snack is hopping good!

Our Imagine That! class (3-5 year olds) is learning to playact a Sunflower and Bunnies musical story. Here is a snack that goes along with that theme . . .

What you need:
1/2 pear, sliced lengthwise
1 baby carrot
3 raisins
1 tablespoon of cream cheese
salad plate
knife


What you do:
Place the pear, skin-side up, in the middle of the plate.
Use a small amount of cream cheese to stick on two raisins for the eyes, and one raisin for the nose.
Cut one baby carrot lengthwise to make the ears. Use cream cheese to stick on the ears as shown.
Add a tablespoon of cream cheese for a "cottontail." Happy nibbling!

More snacks like this can be found by visiting The National Wildlife Federation website.

Gesundheit!

Brace yourself - and be prepared to watch more than once. Your kids will love this, too!

Now Available - Holiday CD

Jingle Bell Jam - Stay warm and sing together. All the songs you'll want to sing this Holiday season on sleigh rides, car rides, and caroling in one special collection. Sing along with adult and children's voices on every track and experience a Kindermusik holiday this year--where old favorites become new favorites for you and your little ones.

Ten percent of the CD proceeds will go toward the Ruth D. Anderson Kindermusik Children's Fund, a scholarship that provides Kindermusik At Home music and learning materials and/or class tuition to children who are physically, emotionally, financially or educationally disadvantaged.

Call Debbie at 269.808.7002 to reserve your copy today!

Follow Me . . . to Kindermusik!

Won't you join us?

I Love Pandas

SICHUAN, China -- One zoo in southwest China has its hands full with 16 baby pandas. The Sichuan Wolong Panda Protection and Breed Center is dealing with the results of a breeding boom -- 16 pandas have been born since July, 2005. The brood includes five sets of twins. The cubs are weighed and measured every five days by a special panda nurse. The heaviest tips the scale at just over 24 pounds, while the lightest weighs about 11 pounds. The pandas are due to be weaned just about the time they'll start learning to walk. Once weaned, the panda cubs will attend panda kindergarten. In the meantime, more little ones are expected at the center, since 38 giant pandas were artificially impregnated.

For the Children

The biggest difference between Kindermusik and other music and child development programs . . . is in the music. We cross cultures, and countries, and languages. We collect, record, archive and distribute songs that literally have stood the test time. The tunes that were lovingly passed on one from generation to the next, one parent and child at a time, are still as relevant today.

We go to all this trouble collecting this music for a good reason: the children.

Exposure to a wide variety of music is good for them. Here's why:

Greater language proficiency—Just as you read a variety of books to expand your child’s vocabulary, exposure to a wide variety of music and sounds expands your child’s “ear vocabulary.” High quality musical recordings and real instruments help your child “fine tune” her ear to recognize and imitate the sounds that make up words and language.

Spatial awareness—When a child listens to music, her mind perceives the sound in multi-dimensional ways. The sound is loud or soft, fast and slow, it moves up and down, and from left to right. Her mind and body work together to be “aware of space” when she walks through the living room and tries not to hit the coffee table. Much later, it’s a necessary skill for learning how to get around things, to jump, run, and move in zig-zag ways.

Temporal reasoning—You hear this skill in action when a preschooler tells a story. He starts with his own experience and then moves to some imagined place with a princess or a superhero then goes back to something real again. Music does the same thing. It goes back and forth between established spaces (the chorus) and to new places that take you somewhere else (the verse). The ability to go back and forth from something established to something imagined comes from temporal reasoning, a skill used in music writing, storytelling, and problem solving.

Emotional intelligence—With exposure to a greater variety of musical styles—like jazz, folk, or classical, this increased exposure to music increases a child’s awareness, and understanding of different moods and emotions.

Thanks Molly