Music and Drama with Gavin!

 

 

Hello, families!

 

Gavin here, chief strummer and drummer of the music and drama program at Ada. 

 

It has been my pleasure to run these programs centre-wide for most of 2025. We’ve covered a lot of ground, sang a lot of songs and got plenty of steps in. 

 

We’ve had a few queries lately around what we do in our weekly music sessions, such as songs we use. It’s wonderful to hear that the children have been bringing stories home about their favourite components of the program, so I’ll attempt to support these with a little context for you. 

 

Our sessions generally follow a similar framework each week, which the children have become quite familiar with. Being able to loosely predict what might be coming next helps build confidence and gives the session a smoother flow. 

 

We usually begin up on our feet with a few full body, big movement (gross motor) songs to get us warmed up and energised. Some songs come and go as part of a current theme, but others stick around and become regulars, such as Shake My Sillies Out (Raffi) and The Silliest Dance Contest (Jim Gill). We’re going to Kentucky has been popular in the preschool room. And of course, certain timeless ‘classics’: Head, Shoulders Knees & Toes, Hokey Pokey, and Tofa Tafa (Singing in the rain).

 

Then we begin to ease back into some songs with smaller movements (fine motor) with finger plays for the younger groups or small instruments for the older kids. 

 

Often there is a song or two with a counting/number focus, such as the 5 little… (Ducks, Flowers, Wheely Bins… anything that ties in with the current theme really!) Many of these tunes also lend themselves to an engaging little dramatic element, for example 5 little ducks going out, but only four coming back?  Uh oh, where is the other little duck? 

 

We often have an instrument to focus on, such as shakers, clapping sticks or drums, which help us explore musical conventions like loud/soft, fast/slow, beat and rhythm etc, as well as developing our general coordination. 

 

Much like many other centre programs, many of the activities and games hold a component of development of dispositions: such as patience, sharing, team work and self-management – important foundational life-skill stuff we carry with us throughout our lives.

 

And of course, singing, dancing and making music together is a great way to develop a sense of community and shared experience. 

 

It is/has been a pleasure running this program in 2025, and look forward to continuing to explore and create with 

children continuing on with us in 2026!