If you’re looking for music and movement activities, our good friend and colleague, Laurie Gombash, has a new product out that we just LOVE! Laurie’s Move with Me and Learn the ABC’s CD is full of music that is perfect for encouraging kids to move and develop their literacy skills at the same time!
If you have never seen Laurie’s ABC’s of Movement card deck, it is definitely worth checking out. I picked them up at our state OT/PT school-based conference last year and the kids have really enjoyed using them during our sessions. We spell their names, do relay races, make silly words to combine movements, and more! Each letter of the alphabet has a corresponding movement that encourages developmental skills like bilateral coordination, balance, & motor planning.
Laurie’s Move with Me and Learn the ABC’s CD takes things to a whole new level. Now, in addition to a movement, each letter is given its own, quick, catchy song with words that rhyme. The music is influenced by styles from around the world so every song sounds different — from US country to Folk Pop to Brazilian Bossa Nova.
Not only do kids learn the letters and letter sounds, they are moving their bodies to the beat of the music. For instance, B is for BEAR WALK. In the song, the bear is walking “to the chair, over here and over there”. And, how about the letter K? Kids are encouraged to move like a blue kangaroo that “jumps through hoops while wearing his suit”. Fun, huh?
As Laurie says, “Preschoolers start school ready to learn, and research shows that children learn best through movement! 34% of children entering kindergarten cannot identify letters of the alphabet by name (NCES, 2000). By combining movement experiences with the alphabet, children learn their letters and make literacy connections while improving their large motor skills.” What better way to encourage movement than to add music?? Brilliant idea, Laurie!
