Themed activities are great for young children, especially when it comes to the holidays. Some of the themes I use with my students during this time of year include snowmen, Santa, giving and sharing, and Christmas trees. The more creative, the better!

With just a few props and some special tunes, you can easily create a reindeer theme for your classroom.  Here are some suggestions:

1. Costumes.  I found some inexpensive reindeer antlers (made of felt and attached to a headband) at a discount store. Pass out to the children as they arrive.  
2. Reindeer nametags. Rudolph, Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen will all be present at this party!  To make the nametags, I printed them on cardstock, laminated, hole-punched, and created lanyards by looping sparkly green yarn through the holes.  
3. Instruments.  In lieu of clacking hooves, the children will tap rhythm sticks together to make that signature reindeer sound.  I even wrote a song called Do You Hear the Reindeer Tapping on the Roof? for this occasion. 
4. Appropriate songs.  Of course, we'll sing "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", along with the song I mentioned above.  I'm also including my song "The Other Eight Reindeer" which you can listen to below.  
5. Choreography.  Before singing "The Other Eight Reindeer" I will ask the children to line up in a row, in order of reindeer name.  As each one "flies away" according the the lyrics, I will instruct them to "fly" back to their seat until no more remain.  
6. The Big finish.  We'll end the music portion of the event by singing We Wish You a Merry Christmas together, at which point the children will move on the next station and I will get ready to do it all again with the next group!
   Written by Rachel Rambach

   Listen to "The Other Eight Reindeer" in the audio player below, from Listen & Learn: Christmas

Kwanzaa (“first fruits of the harvest’) is a holiday celebrated by African-Americans. First created by Ron Karenga in 1966, Kwanzaa is a celebration and fusion of African heritage and culture.
Kwanzaa lasts six days, from December 26 to January 1.

There are seven principles (nguzo saba) of Kwanzaa:
     ▪ Unity
     ▪ Self-determination
     ▪ Collective work and responsibility
     ▪ Cooperative economics
     ▪ Purpose,
     ▪ Creativity
     ▪ Faith

Each day, participants ask “Habari gani” (“what is the news?”). Each day, the answer to this question highlights the principle of the day. A special candelabra called a kinara (kee-na-rah) is used; one candle on the first day, two on the second, etc. Homemade gifts - underscoring the principle of creativity - are often exchanged.

One of my favorite books on Kwanzaa is Seven Candles for Kwanzaa by Andrea Davis Pickney, beautifully illustrated by Brian Pickney. Penguin Books: 1993.

Several years ago, I was asked to write a song to honoring Kwanzaa: Kwanzaa is Here is both simple to learn, and easy to use as a performance piece.

When I first teach the song, I present it in a “call and response” pattern.  I “call” the first and third lines; the class or audience “responds” by alternating the second line (“habari gani”) or the fourth line (“Kwanzaa is here.”). It doesn’t take long for the students to learn all the words. Then, you can play with arrangement: have half the class “call” and the other half “respond.”

This becomes a wonderful performance option!  The caller may be a soloist, a group solo, or ½ of the class. You may have the call/response pattern only in the verses, and have everyone sing together (tutti) for the chorus. Or you may have the call/response all the way through the song.

Curriculum Integration:

Language Arts:
Discuss what each of the principles mean.
     ▪ Kindergarten and first graders may do this together, while the teacher records on chart paper.
     ▪ 2^nd grade and higher: After the first discussion, each student chooses one principle to write about: what does this principle mean to me? How do I observe it or experience it in my life?

Math:
Music has patterns just like math.  A song with a verse and chorus has an ABAB pattern. The pattern for Kwanzaa is Here varies, depending on how you sing it! A simple call/response, alternating each line, would be ABAB.

Musical Vocabulary: 
     Call and response - a musical pattern in which a one person or group begins one phrase and another person or group responds with another phrase.
     Solo - one person singing (or playing an instrument) alone
     Tutti - everyone sings together.
Written by Greta Pedersen

Listen to a short sample of Kwanzaa is Here in the audio player, below.

Fun Thanksgiving Activities from Months of Music
by Karen Rupprecht & Pam Minor

The Thanksgiving Shopping Game

•    Supply pictures of food, paper plates and grocery bags.
•    Spread the pictures on a table and have the children "go shopping" by selecting 3-5 items they would enjoy eating, then placing them in their bags.
•    Each child names and counts the food he or she chose and puts those foods on a plate.
•    Everyone joins hands and gives thanks!

A Fun Fingerplay: A Turkey is a Funny Bird

A turkey is a funny bird
(Hold up one hand.)

Watch him wobble wobble
(Sway your hand)

All he knows is just one word:
Gobble, gobble, gobble!

Make Your Butter for Thanksgiving Bread!

•    Fill a small jar halfway up with cold whipping cream.
•    Each child shakes his or her jar for five minutes, until the cream makes butter.
     Shake to some lively music!
•    Pour off liquid. Refrigerate butter.
•    Serve with your Thanksgiving bread.
  Hint: Add a little salt to the cream for taste.

Listen to a short sample of Every Day is Thanksgiving from
Months of Music in the audio player, below.

Along with topics such as gratitude, food and family, Thanksgiving is a good time for learning and teaching about Native American cultures, including their rich and diverse musical traditions.  As a nation, we have thankfully come a long way from the simplistic and offensive ways in which Native American music was sometimes represented in times past.  It can sometimes be daunting to find materials that are respectful of the complexities of the various Native American nations (or tribes), which are also accessible to young children.

Ya Ha Haway is an inter-tribal greeting song.  It is not associated with one particular Native American nation, but has been used as a cross-cultural welcoming song. This song also features a drum part that is fun to play on either drums or body percussion (clapping, stomping, patting, etc.)

There are many wonderful Native American game-songs.  Wee Hee Nah is a “duck-catching” game played in a similar fashion to “London Bridge.”  Two children (the duck-catchers) make a bridge with their hands outstretched high towards each other.  The other children are the ducks, and they walk in a circle going clockwise, passing under the bridge.  At the end of the song, the two duck-catcher children bring their hands down to catch whichever “duck” happens to be under the bridge at that point in the song.  Some versions have the caught child excluded from the game or sent to sit in the middle of the circle, but I prefer to have the “duck” take the place of one of the duck-catchers.

Children often ask “what do the words mean?” and this can be confusing with many Native American songs.  The lyrics of both Ya Ha Haway and Wee Hee Nah are “vocables” – sounds that cannot be translated into specific meanings in another language.

In addition to music, there is a rich tradition of Native American stories, and often stories and songs are combined in mutually enriching ways.  There are a number of wonderful story-song combinations in the book The Singing Sack, including “Gluskabi and the Wind Eagle” (Abenaki) and our favorite, “The Boy Who Lived With Bears” (Iroquois).

Hey, Hey Watenay is a beautiful Ojibwa lullaby, which has made its way into the repertoire of folksingers such as Sally Rogers and Claudia Schmidt.  The minor pentatonic melody is both haunting and comforting, and this song is accessible in both its original form and in English (“sleep, sleep little one...”).

There are also many songs about Native Americans and related subjects.  Older students will learn a lot from Fred Small’s song “The Heart of the Appaloosa”.  Nancy Schimmel’s 1492 and Two of a Kind’s Columbus Revisited both deal with the irony of “being discovered”.

I have heard a number of Native American speakers make a plea to educators that we teach children that Native Americans are alive and present in today’s world – not merely a part of past history.  The vibrant traditions of Native American songs and stories can help to bring this point home.
This article was written by Two of a Kind.