Childhood obesity is a national problem that we can help prevent.
It's a lot easier to instill healthy habits during early childhood then to repair your teenager’s bad nutritional habits later on!

Exposing a child to teachable moments throughout the year is always beneficial. So during this time of Halloween candy, turkey, yams, Christmas cookies and Chanukah latkes, let's take a moment to teach a few “nutritional nuggets."

Introduce the big idea: “Let me see your muscles,” you say with great admiration.
“Put your thinking caps on. Whoa, you need a bigger cap! Your brain is growing,” you say in amazement.
Discuss with your class how what we eat fuels brains and builds muscles. 

Children learn through the senses. Here are some lesson ideas that use many of them:

Math and Science Activity: Follow a recipe using many of the fruits harvested in the fall. Some of the more popular in-season fruits include apples, clementines, cranberries, pears, pomegranates, and tangerines. As you measure, weigh and change the composition of foods, you can connect these concepts to their math and science lessons.

Musical Phonics Activity: Let’s Go Shopping is a fun and interactive song that combines initial phonemes with food.  Have your students call out alphabet letters starting with "A" as an adult leader or the recording responds to the call by answering with the shopping items.  
Enjoy singing the chorus (especially the “yeah, yeah, yeah” part) !!! 
Choreography tip: When the cash register sound effect occurs, have the children raise their hands over their heads and tap their thumb and index fingers together.

Language Arts and Science: Encourage children to expand upon the grocery list by thinking of other items alphabetically. As a follow up for older students, let them categorize their grocery list by food groups.

Physical Education and Language Arts: Have your students form two lines that face each other. One line is the “letter caller”, while the line that faces them has to respond with a food that corresponds to the initial phoneme. 
      Example: Call: “A” Response: “Apple” 
To designate whose turn it is, a ball can be passed between the two lines. To extend the activity, form two groups and have a relay.

Listen to Let’s Go Shopping in the audio player, below. 

See all of SongsForTeaching's Nutrition Songs and Physical Activity Songs.

Halloween costumes have been a popular subject of my "Sharing Songs" (short, musical invitations for students to share an event or story with their peers) since October began. But this week, it seems like that is all anyone wants to talk about!  I have been quite impressed with the creativity of some of these costumes, which range from popular celebrities and characters such as Michael Jackson and Hannah Montana, to the classic witches, ghosts and princesses.  

And now that I've heard about them, why they were chosen, and how they were put together (all of which make wonderful topics for songs and consequent discussions), I can't wait to actually see them.  Luckily I'll get to do so next Friday, when my school hosts its annual costume parade and party.

I still remember the costume parades from my own preschool and elementary school years, and my mom even has pictures! I love the idea of using a song to accompany such a parade, which is why I wrote "Costumes on Parade."  It can be used to help students prepare for the parade, and you can even substitute the costumes I list for those that the students will wear.

If you aren't having a parade, you can still sing the song; use the current lyrics or ask the students to suggest the costumes to be included. I can guarantee that your students will come up with much more creative and entertaining ideas than I did! They can even draw pictures of them as an art project.

Listen to my song, "Costumes on Parade" in the audio player below, from my Listen & Learn: Fall collection. 

See SongsForTeaching's Halloween Songs.

Ask any child what his or her favorite part of Halloween happens to be, and chances are good that most responses will be: "Trick-or-treating!".  After all, October 31st is the only night of the year when it is acceptable to dress up in costume, knock on neighbors' doors, and collect a bag full of candy.  

However, children must know and understand all of the rules of trick-or-treating, which is something that I've been addressing over the past few weeks with my students.  I have found that the most effective way to go about this is to use a social story...set to music, of course!  Social stories are tools designed specifically for children on the autism spectrum which help explain real-life situations that might be challenging or confusing; they teach the necessary social skills and responses involved with that situation.  But since trick-or-treating is a social activity in which most children engage, a relevant social story can be beneficial to any child.  

A social story about trick-or-treating should present the rules as they apply throughout the process.  It should follow the character in the story as he or she follows each rule, or is faced with decisions and makes the correct/safe choice.  The order of rules might go something like this:

1. Trick-or-treat during the hours designated by your neighborhood or city.
2. Stay with a trusted adult at all times.
3. Only visit houses with the porch light turned on.
4. If you cross the street, do so with an adult and be sure to look both ways.
5. Be polite: say "please" and "thank you". 
6. Throw away any candy or food that is not in a sealed wrapper.

The key to an effective social story is writing it in a way to which the child can relate, and using language that is clearly understood.  Pictures to go along with each step in the process are also helpful, and you can even ask the students to illustrate each rule.  

When I set my social stories to music, I usually improvise the melody as I go.  That way I don't have to worry about the words perfectly fitting a pre-arranged melody, in case I have to change them to meet the needs of a particular class or child.  The information itself is more important than the music; the music only serves as a tool to attract and keep students' attention.

Afterwards, you might want to follow up with a more light-hearted, fun song or activity about trick-or-treating.  There are so many great Halloween tunes from which to choose!

Listen to my song, "All the Candy I'll Eat" in the audio player below, from my Listen & Learn: Fall collection. 

See SongsForTeaching's
      Social Skills Songs ▪ Safety Songs ▪ Food Songs  ▪ Halloween Songs

Okay, so I admit it.  I'm almost a germaphobe!   I became that way when my daughter was out of school for 3 months with whooping cough and at the same time my teenage son got mono.  

I also know that music is a powerful teaching tool.  As often is the case, my songwriting partner and I took this real-life experience and turned it into a song, Germ Attack.  The song teaches children to cover their mouths with their arm or sleeve when they cough or sneeze. It’s great for children with special needs as well as the typical child. 

Teaching ideas: When introducing the song into the classroom, tell the children: “Batman is a friend of mine.  In fact, we had dinner the other night and Batman had a cold.  He shared with me his secret of covering his mouth by pulling his cape across his mouth.”  Next show the children how to cough into their elbow.  Everyone practices this “super hero” technique before the song is played. 

•    When singing the chorus, add a little “practical movement” as well as your own groovy sixties’ choreography.
•     When singing "Germ Attack," and "I must fight back," instead of singing the echo, everyone covers their mouths and coughs 3 times.

Extension Activities:
Art center: Encourage the children to draw posters to “Stop the Germ Attack." 
Language Arts Center: Encourage the children to create their own comic strip based on the lyrics of the song.
Science: While on the playground, let the children cover their hands with flour.  Watch how the flour spreads from surface to surface like germs do after someone coughs into his/her own hand.