15 Stretchy Band Music and Movement Favorites from Bear Paw Creek Customers Back in December I had fun in our Bear Paw Creek Facebook Group showing
I love movement props for my preschool and kindergarten music groups. One of my favorite movement props? Hands down, the Stretchy Band . The stretchy band is exactly that, a big band that is flexible, stretchy and made with elastic and a soft, colorful fabric. The Stretchy Band is machine was
Stretchy Band activity ideas for music and movement classes for Preschool through 2nd grades. Learn how to use the stretchy band.
15 Stretchy Band Music and Movement Favorites from Bear Paw Creek Customers Back in December I had fun in our Bear Paw Creek Facebook Group showing
I'm sharing creative ways to use Stretchy Bands in the classroom. In fact, I know you can stretch learning with Stretchy Bands.
Most of the therapeutic tools in my collection are incredibly versatile and can be used to address a number of different goals. One of my favorite tools is the stretchy band. When used in a group s…
As a young girl, I watched in wonderment when our family would attend a performance of "The Nutcracker Ballet." I absolutely loved the music, dancing, costumes, and scenery! And now... I get to teach it to my students! It has become one of my favorite units to teach. This year, I focused on teaching the Nutcracker to second grade. After reading the story of the Nutcracker and talking about it's origins, we watched and listened to some of the most famous pieces, including the "March." The students got so excited when they recognized this piece! Next, we listened to the song again and discovered it's form. Second grade classes have been talking a lot about form this year, so they figured it out very quickly! After studying the varying sections, the students learned that this is called Rondo Form (when the A section - or refrain - alternates with contrasting themes). The students were then introduced to our new movement prop, Mr. Stretchy Band! Using a lesson plan from Artie Almeida's "Parachutes and Ribbons and Scarves, Oh My!" we used Mr. Stretchy to move to the various sections of the March. During the A sections, students used the stretchy band to form a circle and marched to the music. During the contrasting sections, the students stopped marching and faced the middle of the circle. Holding the stretchy band above their heads, they listened as I called out different colors. When their color was called, they had to run under the stretchy band and quickly switch places with somebody else. Of course, they thought this was so much fun! Learning while having fun... my favorite combination! ツ
11 Circle Songs for Stretchy Band Music and Movement Activities A little over a year ago I was privileged to witness Harry Becket, MT-BC faciliate a group
I love movement props for my preschool and kindergarten music groups. One of my favorite movement props? Hands down, the Stretchy Band . The stretchy band is exactly that, a big band that is flexible, stretchy and made with elastic and a soft, colorful fabric. The Stretchy Band is machine was
15 Stretchy Band Music and Movement Favorites from Bear Paw Creek Customers Back in December I had fun in our Bear Paw Creek Facebook Group showing
I'm on spring break right now...aka I'm bored! We just finished our 4th/5th grade musical before break and even though my husband and I sp...
Here are some fun ways to use stretchy bands in music class, along with links to resources for activities and songs that incorporate stretchy bands.
Oh Stretchy Band, oh Stretchy Band, what to do with thee? It is funny how different things influence our teaching and blogging (not to men...
I'm on spring break right now...aka I'm bored! We just finished our 4th/5th grade musical before break and even though my husband and I spent tons of time at school rearranging my room and switching out a bulletin board, I was still itching for a project. I've always wanted a stretchy band, but could never force myself to spend the money for one thinking it would only be used a few times in the year. I had some fabric from the musical left over and decided to make one for myself! Final price: $19.06 The big question: WHAT'S INSIDE???? I asked some other music teachers on facebook and the consensus was something stretchy! Here were the possibilities: 1: 2" elastic 2: bungee cord 3: surgical tubing 4: fitness resistance tubing Elastic sounded too easy to me so I asked my sewing expert mother who agreed it wouldn't be the sturdiest choice. So off to the hardware store I went hoping to buy bungee cord by the foot. Alas, I can only dream. It didn't seem right to link the bungees together so I went back to the drawing board. After researching medical supply stores in my area, I learned that I could buy surgical tubing at the hardware store! Aisle 7 to be exact! I bought 10 feet, which is just a little too small for my classes of 15-20 students. I can use this test stretchy band for my small preschool class of only 5-6 students. So here are my DIY instructions! Supplies Surgical Tubing (10ft per 8-10 students) Cotton Fabric (multiple colors) 3 Zip Ties Directions 1. Cut fabric stripes into 20"x5" strips. In order to get the "scrunch" you will need approximately 2.5x casing per tubing. (example: 10ft. tubing = 25ft. casing) 2. Sew short ends together to form one long piece. Remember "right sides together" and keep all your seams on the same side. I also made a point to back stitch the ends for durability. Kids will be pulling and stretching! 3. Fold in half and sew down long side. Remember, "right sides together!" 4. Turn (I hate this part. Absolute torture. Thankfully, my husband was willing to help so we tag-teamed it, but still, awful!) My mother always says to use a safety pin to help. Here are some pinterest links that might work too! Ribbon Technique Saftey Pin Technique 5. Insert tubing into casing You'll start to see the "scrunch" here! 6. Zip tie tubing together Overlap the tubing about an inch and place 3 zip ties on overlapping sections starting with the middle. Pull VERY tight and snip off ends. EDIT:The zip tie idea worked great when my husband and I pulled, but the stress of a kindergarten class was a different story. My friend Sally Utley from Sally's Sea of Songs told me that the REAL stretchy bands are simply tied together with a square knot. (Left over right, right over left) So far that has worked better! 7. Hand stitch casing together Fold both ends in to create finished edge. Insert one color into the other and hand stitched closed. Voila! My husband and I have pulled and stretched as hard as we could and everything bounced back! I'm excited to try this with my preschoolers! Btw: I just ordered a 50ft roll from Amazon and I'll be making a much larger one for my whole class next week!
15 Stretchy Band Music and Movement Favorites from Bear Paw Creek Customers Back in December I had fun in our Bear Paw Creek Facebook Group showing
This post is going to give you some innovative creative movement activities to use with Stretchy Bands and Connect-a-Stretchy Bands.
Brief video showing how the Stretchy Band can be used to develop beat competence and to teach the skill of sound matching or alliteration.
Kindergarten through 5th grade Elementary Music blog. Complete with resources, ideas and technology for those in the elementary music classroom.
On Thursday afternoon I was in the school office and the secretary said, "This came in the mail for you... I have no clue what it is." It was the stretchy band I ordered!!! Needless to say, I was super excited and tried it out with almost all of my classes on Friday! Two kinder classes, two first grades, and two second grades, and two third grades. In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have done it all on one day because using it can get exhausting, but I was just so eager to share this new learning tool with my students. And they LOVED it! I started planning by collecting activities to try on my Pinterest. I couldn't find too much on there; I've heard great things about Artie Almeida's Parachutes book and I think I might order it soon to try some of those. If you have experience with this book or have other stretchy band activities you like, please let me know! Here's some of the things we did yesterday: Third grade was learning Liza Jane on solfege, so as a class we decided where the stretchy band should be for each pitch. In the primary grades we showed high and low sounds by holding the stretchy band over our head and in our lap. We practiced bouncing the band to a steady beat and counting measures in groups of four beats. In first grade, we listened to Elgar's piece, "Faeries and Giants." I asked the students to make a prediction about what the faeries would sound like and they voted by holding the band high or low. I also told my students about my favorite part of using the stretchy band: putting it away! We counted down "3-2-1-GO!" and all let go of the band at the same time so that it snaps into the middle of the circle. What fun. Have a great weekend!
5 Ways to Use a Stretchy Band From My Holistic Music Therapy Center This post is all about my 5 favorite ways to use a stretchy band in my sessions,
I'm sharing creative ways to use Stretchy Bands in the classroom. In fact, I know you can stretch learning with Stretchy Bands.
15 Stretchy Band Music and Movement Favorites from Bear Paw Creek Customers Back in December I had fun in our Bear Paw Creek Facebook Group showing
Here are some fun ways to use stretchy bands in music class, along with links to resources for activities and songs that incorporate stretchy bands.
15 Stretchy Band Music and Movement Favorites from Bear Paw Creek Customers Back in December I had fun in our Bear Paw Creek Facebook Group showing
Here are some fun ways to use stretchy bands in music class, along with links to resources for activities and songs that incorporate stretchy bands.
5 Ways to Use a Stretchy Band From My Holistic Music Therapy Center This post is all about my 5 favorite ways to use a stretchy band in my sessions,
11 Circle Songs for Stretchy Band Music and Movement Activities A little over a year ago I was privileged to witness Harry Becket, MT-BC faciliate a group
I'm on spring break right now...aka I'm bored! We just finished our 4th/5th grade musical before break and even though my husband and I spent tons of time at school rearranging my room and switching out a bulletin board, I was still itching for a project. I've always wanted a stretchy band, but could never force myself to spend the money for one thinking it would only be used a few times in the year. I had some fabric from the musical left over and decided to make one for myself! Final price: $19.06 The big question: WHAT'S INSIDE???? I asked some other music teachers on facebook and the consensus was something stretchy! Here were the possibilities: 1: 2" elastic 2: bungee cord 3: surgical tubing 4: fitness resistance tubing Elastic sounded too easy to me so I asked my sewing expert mother who agreed it wouldn't be the sturdiest choice. So off to the hardware store I went hoping to buy bungee cord by the foot. Alas, I can only dream. It didn't seem right to link the bungees together so I went back to the drawing board. After researching medical supply stores in my area, I learned that I could buy surgical tubing at the hardware store! Aisle 7 to be exact! I bought 10 feet, which is just a little too small for my classes of 15-20 students. I can use this test stretchy band for my small preschool class of only 5-6 students. So here are my DIY instructions! Supplies Surgical Tubing (10ft per 8-10 students) Cotton Fabric (multiple colors) 3 Zip Ties Directions 1. Cut fabric stripes into 20"x5" strips. In order to get the "scrunch" you will need approximately 2.5x casing per tubing. (example: 10ft. tubing = 25ft. casing) 2. Sew short ends together to form one long piece. Remember "right sides together" and keep all your seams on the same side. I also made a point to back stitch the ends for durability. Kids will be pulling and stretching! 3. Fold in half and sew down long side. Remember, "right sides together!" 4. Turn (I hate this part. Absolute torture. Thankfully, my husband was willing to help so we tag-teamed it, but still, awful!) My mother always says to use a safety pin to help. Here are some pinterest links that might work too! Ribbon Technique Saftey Pin Technique 5. Insert tubing into casing You'll start to see the "scrunch" here! 6. Zip tie tubing together Overlap the tubing about an inch and place 3 zip ties on overlapping sections starting with the middle. Pull VERY tight and snip off ends. EDIT:The zip tie idea worked great when my husband and I pulled, but the stress of a kindergarten class was a different story. My friend Sally Utley from Sally's Sea of Songs told me that the REAL stretchy bands are simply tied together with a square knot. (Left over right, right over left) So far that has worked better! 7. Hand stitch casing together Fold both ends in to create finished edge. Insert one color into the other and hand stitched closed. Voila! My husband and I have pulled and stretched as hard as we could and everything bounced back! I'm excited to try this with my preschoolers! Btw: I just ordered a 50ft roll from Amazon and I'll be making a much larger one for my whole class next week!
Once upon a time, I attended a Jim Gill early childhood workshop and he brought out a giant dance scrunchie. He showed off how he used his scrunchie and it was a lot of fun! Fast forward about 10 years to when I had extra money in my programming budget and my library got our own giant scrunchie. I will admit that giant scrunchies are not necessary to putting on a quality story time. There are many supplies that I would get first (such as books, shakers, and scarves), which is why it took 10 years for me to get one. There is a lot of good that you can do with them, though, in a group environment. The scrunchie that I bought is from Bear Paw Creek. There are various sizes that you can purchase, depending on your needs. I use the XL stretchy band that they say works with 11-14 people, but I can easily fit 25 2-year-olds around it. While it would be possible to make your own, this one is brightly colored and durable. My ideal group to use this with is with kids ages 2-5. I have tried it with the babies (under 24 months) and they like to squish it. They just aren't ready for the movement that this entails. With my 2-year-olds, we used to do Ring Around the Rosie and hold hands in a circle. My kids here don't like to touch so we would end up with a snaky shape, rather than a circle. They will hold the stretchy band though. When looking for songs, I look for ones that use a circle, similar to what I would do when planning parachute activities. Up and down, fast and slow, and colors all work well too. Here are some of my favorites: Ring around the rosie, A pocketful of posies, Ashes, ashes, We all fall down! While the kids work together on their circle, promoting cooperation and following directions, we all know that falling is the best part of this song. London bridge is falling down, Falling down, falling down. London bridge is falling down, My fair lady. Take the keys and lock her (them) up, Lock her up, lock her up. Take the keys and lock her up, My fair lady. This one works best for me if the parents hold the ring up tall while the kids walk around the room. When you get to the second verse, have the parents bring the ring down to trap the kids. You will get a lot of giggles as everybody wants to be trapped. Since the ring is stretchy and there is some give in it, it isn't scary like being trapped. The wheels on the bus go round and round, Round and round, round and round. The wheels on the bus go round and round, All through the town. The people on the bus go up and down, Up and down, up and down. The people on the bus go up and down, All through the town. For the first verse, we spin the circle as we walk with the scrunchie. For the second verse, we bring the scrunchie up and down. While there are more verses to the song, my 2-year-olds can't handle more and continue to pay attention. Here we go round the mulberry bush, The mulberry bush, the mulberry bush. Here we go round the mulberry bush, So early in the morning. This one is just a spinning circle song with the scrunchie. Row, row, row your boat, Gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, Life is but a dream. Row, row, row your boat, Gently down the stream. If you see an alligator, Don't forget to scream. For this one, we sit on the floor in a circle and row the giant scrunchie. Since there is some tension in it, we are working the kids' arm and hand muscles. At the end of the second verse, we all do our fake scream. These are some songs to get you started. Which ones work best for you?
On Thursday afternoon I was in the school office and the secretary said, "This came in the mail for you... I have no clue what it is." It was the stretchy band I ordered!!! Needless to say, I was super excited and tried it out with almost all of my classes on Friday! Two kinder classes, two first grades, and two second grades, and two third grades. In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have done it all on one day because using it can get exhausting, but I was just so eager to share this new learning tool with my students. And they LOVED it! I started planning by collecting activities to try on my Pinterest. I couldn't find too much on there; I've heard great things about Artie Almeida's Parachutes book and I think I might order it soon to try some of those. If you have experience with this book or have other stretchy band activities you like, please let me know! Here's some of the things we did yesterday: Third grade was learning Liza Jane on solfege, so as a class we decided where the stretchy band should be for each pitch. In the primary grades we showed high and low sounds by holding the stretchy band over our head and in our lap. We practiced bouncing the band to a steady beat and counting measures in groups of four beats. In first grade, we listened to Elgar's piece, "Faeries and Giants." I asked the students to make a prediction about what the faeries would sound like and they voted by holding the band high or low. I also told my students about my favorite part of using the stretchy band: putting it away! We counted down "3-2-1-GO!" and all let go of the band at the same time so that it snaps into the middle of the circle. What fun. Have a great weekend!
I'm on spring break right now...aka I'm bored! We just finished our 4th/5th grade musical before break and even though my husband and I spent tons of time at school rearranging my room and switching out a bulletin board, I was still itching for a project. I've always wanted a stretchy band, but could never force myself to spend the money for one thinking it would only be used a few times in the year. I had some fabric from the musical left over and decided to make one for myself! Final price: $19.06 The big question: WHAT'S INSIDE???? I asked some other music teachers on facebook and the consensus was something stretchy! Here were the possibilities: 1: 2" elastic 2: bungee cord 3: surgical tubing 4: fitness resistance tubing Elastic sounded too easy to me so I asked my sewing expert mother who agreed it wouldn't be the sturdiest choice. So off to the hardware store I went hoping to buy bungee cord by the foot. Alas, I can only dream. It didn't seem right to link the bungees together so I went back to the drawing board. After researching medical supply stores in my area, I learned that I could buy surgical tubing at the hardware store! Aisle 7 to be exact! I bought 10 feet, which is just a little too small for my classes of 15-20 students. I can use this test stretchy band for my small preschool class of only 5-6 students. So here are my DIY instructions! Supplies Surgical Tubing (10ft per 8-10 students) Cotton Fabric (multiple colors) 3 Zip Ties Directions 1. Cut fabric stripes into 20"x5" strips. In order to get the "scrunch" you will need approximately 2.5x casing per tubing. (example: 10ft. tubing = 25ft. casing) 2. Sew short ends together to form one long piece. Remember "right sides together" and keep all your seams on the same side. I also made a point to back stitch the ends for durability. Kids will be pulling and stretching! 3. Fold in half and sew down long side. Remember, "right sides together!" 4. Turn (I hate this part. Absolute torture. Thankfully, my husband was willing to help so we tag-teamed it, but still, awful!) My mother always says to use a safety pin to help. Here are some pinterest links that might work too! Ribbon Technique Saftey Pin Technique 5. Insert tubing into casing You'll start to see the "scrunch" here! 6. Zip tie tubing together Overlap the tubing about an inch and place 3 zip ties on overlapping sections starting with the middle. Pull VERY tight and snip off ends. EDIT:The zip tie idea worked great when my husband and I pulled, but the stress of a kindergarten class was a different story. My friend Sally Utley from Sally's Sea of Songs told me that the REAL stretchy bands are simply tied together with a square knot. (Left over right, right over left) So far that has worked better! 7. Hand stitch casing together Fold both ends in to create finished edge. Insert one color into the other and hand stitched closed. Voila! My husband and I have pulled and stretched as hard as we could and everything bounced back! I'm excited to try this with my preschoolers! Btw: I just ordered a 50ft roll from Amazon and I'll be making a much larger one for my whole class next week!
Start Using Stretchy Bands for Creative Movement & Music Enrichment Today Music therapists are in on the secret. They know how much fun it is to use
Parent/Child class enjoying the Stretchy Band! Hi! Miss Carole from Macaroni Soup back with my new-found favorite prop – the S t r ...
Oh Stretchy Band, oh Stretchy Band, what to do with thee? It is funny how different things influence our teaching and blogging (not to men...
I'm sharing creative ways to use Stretchy Bands in the classroom. In fact, I know you can stretch learning with Stretchy Bands.
Start Using Stretchy Bands for Creative Movement & Music Enrichment Today Music therapists are in on the secret. They know how much fun it is to use
Image Credit As the arrival of summer is upon us and the school year is coming to a close, I have been reminiscing about some of […]
As a young girl, I watched in wonderment when our family would attend a performance of "The Nutcracker Ballet." I absolutely loved the music, dancing, costumes, and scenery! And now... I get to teach it to my students! It has become one of my favorite units to teach. This year, I focused on teaching the Nutcracker to second grade. After reading the story of the Nutcracker and talking about it's origins, we watched and listened to some of the most famous pieces, including the "March." The students got so excited when they recognized this piece! Next, we listened to the song again and discovered it's form. Second grade classes have been talking a lot about form this year, so they figured it out very quickly! After studying the varying sections, the students learned that this is called Rondo Form (when the A section - or refrain - alternates with contrasting themes). The students were then introduced to our new movement prop, Mr. Stretchy Band! Using a lesson plan from Artie Almeida's "Parachutes and Ribbons and Scarves, Oh My!" we used Mr. Stretchy to move to the various sections of the March. During the A sections, students used the stretchy band to form a circle and marched to the music. During the contrasting sections, the students stopped marching and faced the middle of the circle. Holding the stretchy band above their heads, they listened as I called out different colors. When their color was called, they had to run under the stretchy band and quickly switch places with somebody else. Of course, they thought this was so much fun! Learning while having fun... my favorite combination! ツ
Lynn Kleiner's "The Waves" Movement Song with the Stretchy Band A few years ago I took Lynn Keiner's Music Rhapsody Online Teacher Program Course. I loved
Movement activities, brain breaks, freeze dance, scarf, stretchy bands, parachutes, bean bags and action songs for preschool, elementary teachers.
Oh Stretchy Band, oh Stretchy Band, what to do with thee? It is funny how different things influence our teaching and blogging (not to men...
The Airplane Song: Using Props to Connect with Children The longer I have worked as a music therapist, especially in the early childhood setting, the more
