Song Time

On most nights we do a group song time with the kids before we read books at bedtime. We started doing it because I felt like Eli could learn a lot of new songs and hand motions if we just added it into our routine. I always wanted to do it during the day, but I never set a time to do it, so it got lost in the shuffle (like a lot of things). So we added it into the bedtime routine and the kids really look forward to it. It's a fun time that both kids enjoy a lot.

We start off with "The More We Get Together" and we put all our names into the song..."There's Daddy and Mommy and Eli and Elina." Elina is in charge of patting each of our heads as our names are called out. She loves this job.

Then we do the high-energy songs first. "Ring Around the Rosy" is the ultimate favorite because the kids get to run around and then fall to the ground. Most of the time we end up dragging Eli in the circle because he just wants to fall down already. Eli also loves to yell, "UP!" when we sing the last line to stand up..."The cows are in the meadows eating buttercups; ashes, ashes, we all get up!" It's the cutest thing. (So, before you play the videos, you have to excuse my loud, not-so-good singing. With kids you have to really keep the energy level up, so I have to sing loudly.)



Then we do "Row Row Row Your Boat" which is another one of Eli's favorites. He will sit in your lap, grab your shirt sleeves, push you back and forth while saying "row row." Then when we get to the last part..."and if you see a crocodile, don't forget to scream..." we usually tickle the kids and they scream. In anticipation to this part, Eli just buries his face into your body so that he can avoid getting tickled. And of course, he screams and laughs at the end. Elina only allows fake tickling now. She doesn't want to get tickled hard, so we have to hold our fingers away from her and pretend to tickle her...that's the only way she'll play with us for this song. Talk about high maintenance!



Afterwards, we do "If You're Happy and You Know It." This is probably where Eli has learned the most. He claps, stomps his feet, and raises his arm to "shout hooray." But in the part "then your face will surely show it" he used to point to his cheeks with his thumb and now he points with his pointer finger.



Sometimes we throw in "Pat-a-Cake," "The Wheels on the Bus," and/or "London Bridge." At the end, we always need a slower song to calm the kids down. We each pick up a kid and rock them while we sing "Rockabye Baby." This seems to be a favorite for Elina. She loves to pretend to be a baby. (She plays "baby and mommy" with her friends all the time.)

We love doing songs with the kids because we all have so much fun. Eli learns new things, Elina picks songs, and we get to watch them dance around and laugh. It's definitely something we'll keep doing for a long time.