Are looking to liven up your morning with new calendar songs? Today I will teach you a months of the year song to the tune of the Macarena, and a days of the week song to the tune of the Addams Family. Get ready to move!
We usually start with the Month-arena, and here is a breakdown of the movements.
January (right hand – extended palm down), February (left hand – extended palm down),
March (turn right hand over – palm up) and April (turn left hand over – palm up),
May (right hand on left shoulder), June (left hand on right shoulder),
July (right hand on right ear), and August (left hand on left ear),
September (right hand on left waist), October (left hand on right waist),
November (right hand on right hip), December (left hand on left hip),
12 months of the year! (“shake your tail feathers”) Hey! (arms up and jump)
Here are my children in action. I needed to bring in big brother because the littles were hamming it up in front of the camera. hehe
Montharena from Jana @ Spanglish SH on Vimeo.
When first teaching the movements, try practicing in three speeds:
- Slo-mo (slow, exaggerated movements with deep voice)
- Normal (normal voice and song speed)
- Speedy Gonzalez (speed through just slapping at motions with high, nasal voice)
The children love this, and it is great for their coordination and crossing the midline. The download includes a color and black/white version, as well as a blank version. If you live somewhere that follows a different holiday schedule the blank version is perfect to customize. In the past, we have used stickers to decorate them.
My children have declared this our official Days of the Week song for years. I keep trying to warm them up to others…nope, not happening. (I have to say, I still secretly love it too. hehe) When teaching this song I do two things.
1) Always make sure younger children, or those who haven’t learned how to snap yet, don’t feel bad. Here’s a good line to use, “If your fingers don’t know how to make the snapping sound yet, you can always let your tongue click to help!”
2) Tell them “Listen carefully to the words, and raise your hands when you hear Friday (or whatever the day is.)” Either myself (or the calendar helper) points to the days of the week on the calendar while we sing. The children hold their clenched fists at their shoulders while singing, then extend their arms when we get to the current day.
I love those first weeks of school, when they are focused so much on getting the clicks timed correctly, they have no idea which day it is! hehe Here is what it looks like in action…
(Days video coming after haircuts next week! hehe)
My very favorite part of these songs, is that I don’t have to sing them every day! An awesome musician friend helped us record these years ago. When you download this packet, you will also receive the mp3 version of both songs. Enjoy!
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Very good website – bookmarked