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Rhythm sticks are great for building listening skills, fine
motor skills, and definitely self control! My favorites are the
shorter natural finish sticks made by Remo. Though more
expensive than the longer painted ones, they are well worth the
price and you will only need to buy them once. Whichever rhythm
sticks you have, make sure one of each pair is smooth, and one
has ridges for scraping.
Simply follow the directions in the lyrics. You can play along
with the recorded version, or sing acapella, allowing you to
slow down some lines when necessary for younger children. After
you do this very structured song, it’s fun to do the more
playful Peel the
Potato, letting children
choose ingredients for the stew. They just love it and will keep
the song going for quite a long time- adding sillier and sillier
things to the stew!
NOTE:
Before you use rhythm sticks with children for the first time,
talk about keeping their sticks in their own space, and keeping
the movements small, being careful not to accidentally whack the
child next to them! Some children have a lot of trouble with
this, but talking about it ahead of time is great prevention!
Rhythm
Stick Song
With my sticks I tap, tap,
tap (4 times)
I can tap them way up high
I can tap them side to side
I can tap them down below, very fast or very slow
With my sticks I scrape, scrape, scrape (4
times)
I can scrape them way up high
I can scrape them side to side
I can scrape them down below, very fast or very slow
I can make my two sticks walk, I can make my two sticks run
(tap sticks alternately on ground)
I can make my two sticks talk,
make them talk and then I’m done
(tap sticks together for “talk”)
I can play them way up high
I can play them side to side
I can play them down below, very fast or very slow.
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