Create A Musical Storytime with Singalong Storybook “One Little Owl” (Giveaway)

February 14, 2013 by Susan

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Children are born musicians. They naturally want to create sounds and rhythm and they will instinctively bounce to a beat or calm to a soothing lullaby.

Our role as parents is to nurture their gifts and provide opportunities for them to participate in music.

One amazing experience for families with young children is to join a family music class such as Music Together. These group musical classes are so much fun and allow you and your children to learn and grow from the teacher’s expertise.

But most of the time you spend with your children is at home, so it’s important to find ways to bring music into your home yourself.

Singalong story books are the perfect way to enjoy music, bond with your children and practice reading at the same time.

I was delighted to have the chance to review (together with my girls, Sophia age 5 and Julia age 7) the new Singalong Storybook from Music Together® called One Little Owl.

As soon as I pulled out the book, Julia saw the fun owl on the cover and was excited to read it. Before Sophia and I could even get seated on the couch, Julia was reading it out loud to us.

I then explained that it was a Singalong Storybook and we can sing the story as we read it. We played the accompanying song and followed along in the book.

They loved it!

We spent time together counting the animals as they sat in the tree, we sang the words and we pretended to fall out of the tree.

Since we also had the Music Together CD, after we finished the story, we listened to each song and the girls ran and got chopsticks to drum to the beat. They danced around the living room and turned tables, chairs, pots and pans into instruments.

This book and CD clearly became instant favourites and I foresee many more living room singing and dancing storybook times.

I absolutely recommend getting the CD as well as the book so that you have lots of other songs to sing together, but you don’t have to… when you purchase the book, you get a FREE DOWNLOAD of the song so you have it to listen together while you read the book.

I was pleasantly surprised by the value you get from this book. It is priced similar to other hard cover children’s books, but you get so much more.

Inside the book, in addition to the story, you’ll find…

A song page with the music and lyrics so you can see the tune and could play along on a piano or other instrument
Tips and ideas for how to use the book and the recording to enhance your children’s experience
5 Activity suggestions: Exploring, Variations, Literacy, Imagination and Counting
Free download of the “One Little Owl” song.

10 Tips for Creating A Musical Storytime

This video on the Music Together website does a brilliant job breaking down exactly how to create a musical storytime with your children.

In the video, you’ll see examples of the following 10 tips to use while reading your singalong book…

Linger on each page and let your child explore before you move on.
Point out different objects in the picture and talk about them and perhaps count them.
Tap to the beat on the pages – use little beats and big beats.
Tap on what you are singing about as you are singing.
Use the tune to point and name objects or colors on the pages.
Trying leaving off the the last word of a line to let your children sing it.
Read the story without the melody, but with the rhythm and words.
Make a “duet” with your children as you sing one page and they sing the other.
Personalize a story by inserting your child’s name in the song, for example “Sophia sells seashells by the seashore.”
When you all know the song, you can put the book down and experience it in a musical way without the book.

I love how through the tips, ideas and activities in the book, I learned how to make the most of a singalong book.

One Little Owl is the third singalong storybook from Music Together… now I can’t wait to get the other two.

Win A Copy of the Book and CD

One 5 Minutes For Mom reader will win a copy of the book and CD! Use the Rafflecopter form to enter this giveaway. New to Rafflecopter? Watch this 45-second video on how to enter!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: We received sample products and monetary compensation for our time. All opinions are my own.

Written by Susan Carraretto, co-founder of 5 Minutes for Mom
Talk with me: @5minutesformom and Facebook.com/5minutesformom
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About Susan

Susan Carraretto and her identical twin, Janice Croze, created 5 Minutes for Mom in 2006. Susan loves all social media, but her top addiction these days is Pinterest.