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B-I-N-G-O or "The Farmer's Dog Jumped O're the Stile"

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This classic children's song is so fun to sing, but still manages to be educational. Children are learning to spell as they sing. Clap each time you leave out one of the letters of Bingo's name to make the song more interactive and fun for little ones! What other 5 letter words can you pop in to expand your little one's spelling practice? Think of it as wordle for babies 😉 Uke Chords used for this song: C, F, G7, Am Lyrics: There was a farmer who had a dog and Bingo was his name-o B-I-N-G-O, B-I-N-G-O, B-I-N-G-O and Bingo was his name-o There was a farmer who had a dog and Bingo was his name-o (clap)-I-N-G-O, (clap)-I-N-G-O, (clap)-I-N-G-O and Bingo was his name-o There was a farmer who had a dog and Bingo was his name-o (clap)-(clap)-N-G-O, (clap)-(clap)-N-G-O, (clap)-(clap)-N-G-O and Bingo was his name-o There was a farmer who had a dog and Bingo was his name-o (clap)-(clap)-(clap)-G-O, (clap)-(clap)-(clap)-G-O, (clap)-(clap)-(clap)-G-O and Bingo was his name-
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Love and Friendship

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Tis the season to talk about love .  Valentine's Day is a great time to think about a library storytime or a preschool unit focused on friendship, kindness and love . Why are these themes important to teach to our little ones? Because the average 18 month old to 5 year old is pretty egocentric (actually many of us that are adults could probably benefit from being a little less egocentric as well).  Today I will be sharing with you a few stories and some songs that you can incorporate into your next Love and Friendship storytime! Relationships have lots of challenges sometimes children may just be shy and not want to participate in a group. The book, "Those Pesky Rabbits" by Ciara Flood may help children feeling this way have a greater desire to reach out to others and befriend those who they might think they don't want to be friends with at first. In this story a family of rabbits moves in next door to bear and they are always asking for something; a bit of ho
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Hello Songs

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Hello! Is it circle time at your preschool/playschool or story time at the library ? Your "hello song" sets the tone for your story time so finding the right song for your group or for the particular day is important. It is good to have a few "hello songs" up your sleeve so that if you need to change at a moment's notice you aren't scrambling. What different kinds of hello songs might you need? You might need a song to help you learn the children's names, you might need a hello song to get the kids up and moving to work out some wiggles, you might need a hello song to get the students settled down or you might want a hello song that gets your students vocalizing. Whatever your need,  Reading Rena has a song for you!  At the beginning of the school year or if you are just starting out with a group of children you might not know all of their names super well. Hello songs that use the student's names can be a great way to repeat and get to know thos
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Start and Stop Songs that Teach Self Control

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 Learning to control our impulses and emotions is a lifelong endeavour, but it is something that we can teach intentionally. One of my favourite songs that teaches this principle of self control is "We're Going to the Market"  Self control (the ability to start and stop in this song and others) is a learned behaviour, but if your little one is having a hard time with it that is okay because things that we learn we often have to practice! Let your child, students or participants practice lots; focus on and celebrate the successes while completely ignoring any failures. You can start working on impulse control with your baby even before they can control their own bodies with this great baby bounce: I'm including links to a couple of my other favourite songs that focus on intrinsic control, "Do as I'm Doing" and "We Clap and we Clap and we Stop!" But if you have any other suggestions for other favourite songs or rhymes that teach self co
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