Little Bird, Little Bird with Scarves

Thank you to Serena for introducing me to the music of Elizabeth Mitchell.

I love Elizabeth Mitchell's simple, clear voice and her choice of timeless songs. I especially love this album "You Are My Little Bird." Check out her version of Gillian Welch's "Winter's Come and Gone" and Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds."Elizabeth Mitchell includes a free songbook on her website with the chords to many of her songs. 

 I fell in love with the song "Little Bird, Little Bird" and I adapted my own version to use in storytime. I play it on the ukulele, but you could sing it as well. For this song I give each child a scarf and have them come up when their color was called and "fly" their scarf around the flannelboard.

Little Bird, Little Bird
(adapted from the Traditional version)
A
Red bird, red bird, come to my window.
E7
Red bird, red bird, come to my window.
A
Red bird, red bird, come to my window,
E7                              A
And wish us all good morning.

(Repeat with all the colors.)

All birds, all birds come to my window.
All birds, all birds come to my window.
All birds, all birds, come to my window,
And wish us all good morning.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

One of the first songs I learned to play on the ukulele was "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" and it's proven to be a perennial favorite. It's a great first song to learn because it's the same melody as "ABCD" and "Baa Baa Black Sheep." It's 3 songs in 1!

From Strictly Ukulele: http://www.strictlyukulele.com/pages/3-chord-songs-for-the-ukulele

We love repetition in storytime and I repeat all my songs twice. The first time I play it through and have the kids sing along. The second time I play it, I invite them to come up and put a star on the flannelboard to create our own night sky. Lastly, we count together all the stars - an added teachable moment.


Note: I made my stars with some leftover glitter foam sheets that were adhesive on one side. I stuck gray felt to the back of them, but you could use regular felt and glitter. You could also sing the song without playing it on the ukulele and have kids participate the same way.

Uke Can Do It!

Santa brought me a very special gift last year - a ukulele. I've always envied those talented librarians that could "wow" a storytime crowd by casually strumming along during storytime. After hours of sore fingers and mounting frustration I realized that the guitar and I were not meant to be, but then I discovered the ukulele.

The ukulele is the perfect storytime instrument because it's small, portable, and easy to learn. And thanks to Eddie Vedder, ukulele phenom Jake Shimbakuro, even doe-eyed Zoey Deschanel, the ukulele is growing in popularity. 

 Why play the ukulele in storytime? We know how important music is to a child's development. Singing familiar songs and rhymes reinforces emergent literacy skills, develops rhythym, and music can be both energizing and soothing. In my experience I've found that many young children have not been exposed to instruments, especially up close, and are fascinated by them.

Tips to getting started on the ukulele:

1. Learn your basic chords first. Many popular songs contain only a few chords. Here's a basic chord chart to get started.

2. Start with 1 or 2 songs. Expand your repertoire as you become more comfortable.

3. When you make a mistake, simply smile and keep going.

4. Have fun!