Sing a Song

Mommy Tip of the Day: Make up silly songs about your child's live/day and sing them to common tunes.

I remember reading somewhere that kids love to hear all about themselves. Personally, I don't know if my life is interesting enough to hear stores about after I have lived it, but this is my daughter's current favorite game.

I find this especially helpful when I am trying to get her to accomplish a task. When I want her to accomplish something that she is procrastinating about it is amazing how "me" in the story is able to quickly and efficiently do the task the first time that mommy asks. She is soon able to do the same thing.

Even before we got to the storytelling stage, my daughter has always loved to sing. Since she was little I would make up songs about what was going on, or things that she had done and sing them to common tunes. Yes, for the record, this was partially because too many years had passed for me to remember the actual words. I thought that I would share a few to get you started. Be aware....once you start, she may never let you stop.

"Baby Kat Went to the Zoo" to the tune of "Old McDonald Had a Farm". This one is great for teaching animals and animal sounds just like the original. It is also a great way to "read" a picture book.

When it is time to sleep, especially when she was little, I would sing Brahms Lullaby to the lyrics "Go to sleep....Little Girl...go to sleep now, your tired...go to sleep now, baby girl...close your eyes now you are tired."

There are also some great songs that I learned from youtube videos.

I love the elephant song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cBtid-v_JE We make up our own animals now. This one can keep her entertained for a good 15-20 minutes most days.

Here is another song that we adapt to whatever objects catch my eye. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jW1E8f2qO4 If I need to burn off some of her energy, I will have her run and touch the object before we can sing the next verse.

I hope you guys have fun singing with your kids. And remember they NEVER care if you are in pitch.