Your Baby:
Bring your baby into your lap and simply enjoy time together. If he’s fussy, rub his tummy or back in a heart-shaped motion, or gently squeeze his arms and legs in a milking motion. Sing some favorite lullabies. If you put on a CD, sing along. After all, your voice is his favorite sound, whether or not you sing in tune.

Your Toddler:
Turn down the lights and play soft music. Sit or lie down (but not in bed, because you’re modeling relaxing, not going to sleep!) and just breathe deep and enjoy. Allow your toddler to simply wander if she’s not ready to sit still. She’ll learn to relax by watching you.

Your Preschooler:
The urge to stacy awake and learn is strong in preschoolers, and they often need help calming down. Play quiet games: Who can whisper the softest? Can you float like a feather? Or a cloud? Listen to soft, soothing music and then lay on the floor and do…blissfully, quietly, absolutely nothing.

-posted by Miss Analiisa, who is tempted to stop working and go lie down with a good book… and maybe take a nap.

My daughter, a Kindermusik veteran since the womb, had a blast!   She sang, danced and socialized with the other children in class as if they were familiar friends.  The magic of the class was so great that to this day, one year later, her favorite book and CD she received from her time with Teacher Aaron is still her personal favorite.  As a Kindermusik mom going on 5.5 years and a Kindermusik Educator, I have a lot of CD’s and books in my house yet, she continually wants to read and sing her Play Dates favorite.

Following our musical adventure with Teacher Aaron, my daughter with much glee explored Soundbridge. What an amazing place!  Children of any age are encouraged to play with instruments and make as much joyful noise as they please!  The xylophone and keyboard were her personal favorites.

For $15, it was truly a bargain.  Not only did we get a 45 minute Kindermusik class, 30 minutes to explore Soundbridge, 15 minutes of musical story time, but also a book and CD so the memories and fun could continue in the car, at home, at grandma’s and so many more places!

You can check out our Play Dates featured for this July, and even register online.  Even if you do not live in Seattle, I guarantee it is worth the trip to downtown. You can even make a Seattle day of it!  Pikes Place Market is just around the corner, as well as the Seattle Aquarium; or hop on over to the zoo to round out the afternoon.

-posted by Miss Jesikah, who is looking forward to a new magical experience with Teacher Aaron this July in “Tub Tunes”, one of the Play Dates featuring ducks and bubbles.

We all have a natural rhythm when we talk, so like music, our speech pattern has a beat and a tempo. Singing in a different language can help learn how a language flows.  Our brains are fully engaged and stimulated when we sing and move to music, which in turn activates both sides of the brain.

Songs in other languages not only promote that specific language, but also gives insight into those cultures.  Singing in a group setting helps build confidence that is needed to carry on day to day conversations.

We get to experience music from all over the world in our classes, so adding songs from around the world at home is a breeze!  In this June’s World Traveler camp, we took a “trip” to Japan to learn a fun song about Panda, Usagi, Koala (usagi is Japanese for rabbit). See – you already know the “foreign” words panda and koala!  The children had such a great time learning the song and it was made all the more fun by singing it faster and faster!

Domo arigato to all the children who helped make this a song one of my favorites!  Enjoy!

-posted by Miss Beth, who enjoys singing and dancing to music from all over the world.

But let’s talk about the positive side.  I’m discovering there are some unexpected benefits that come with getting a house ready to move, benefits that can be applied to anyone, moving or not!

When our house went on the market this month, I learned about staging a home to sell.  Staging a home means getting it to look like nobody in particular lives there.  All photos come down so that buyers can envision their photos up.  Any distinctive art that a buyer with different taste may dislike goes under a bed. Bookshelves have just a few books and knick knacks instead of the usual overflow.  Bedrooms are emptied except for a tastefully placed item such as a toy or stuffed animal in the pink room.

While this process has taken lots of time and energy, not only does our home look better than ever, but life in our home feels better than ever. There is margin everywhere.  Space on the bookshelves.  Space in the closets.  Space in the cabinets.  Space on the counter.  Space next to my computer.  Even space in the pencil jar.  The best way I can summarize it is that I have felt lightness and accompanying joy from having less stuff around.

One of the most stuffed rooms in the house was my daughter’s.  It took 4 hours to pack her collection of animals, Littlest Pet Shops, games, dolls, knick knacks and a pile of other junk.  You could have easily opened a small toy store with our inventory.  The quantity was almost embarrassing.  We kept out a few play things that could fit easily into her empty closet and a drawer.

The stripping of her room has caused no complaints.  She has been content and her level of creative play has increased.  Yesterday she and her brother made hand sewn vests, sleeping bags and pillows for their stuffed animals from scraps of fabric and my button collection.  I sense she feels less overwhelmed by stuff too.

Like many of us, I have been trying to get rid of stuff for years.  But it seems to take the pressure of a move to get it to the top of the priority list and to force the decision making necessary to cull out unnecessary and sentimental keepsakes.  I knew that I wanted more physical and emotional space in my living environment. Now I know how worthy a goal that was.  And I don’t plan to put all that stuff back in our new home either!

If you’ve been longing for more peace and order in your home, pretend you are moving this summer and strip down your stuff.  Kids actually think this is lots of fun. The changed look of a cleaner room or house invigorates everyone, and summer is a great time to make a few bucks from your stuff by having a garage sale!

-posted by Donna Detweiler, whose sister recently reminded her that S.T.U.F.F. equals Something That Undermines Family Fun.

The book reminded me of my childhood trip through the Redwoods, and motivated me to give that same awe-inspiring experience with my own children. So the planning and mapping began.

Whenever I told other kids or teens that we were going to California to the Redwoods, without fail, they all said the same thing, “Disneyland? What are the Redwoods?” At the mention of “road trip, California and Redwoods” to other adults, I got responses like, “I remember when we went to the Redwoods when I was little. How fun!”

To me, the purpose of a road trip is the journey, not THE Destination. Now, I’m all for trips to places. San Diego has been a repeated vacation for us, and we’re planning a tour of the east coast in a couple of years. And my very favorite place in the world is Turkey. But on those kinds of trips, the focus is on getting there, and what you’ll do after you arrive.

So, in an effort to inspire your family to get on the road together this summer, here’s a few photos of the places we went:

Here's the headwaters of the Sacramento River. Yes, coming straight out of the mountain in about 5 spots. How often do you get to see that? Nathan filled up his water bottle. The water was so fresh and sweet.

Apparently, there must have been something in the chips and salsa they had just eaten at the restaurant next to the Sasquatch museum. Maybe they've got gold fever after coming out of that mine.

We took a long hike on some railroad tracks to this hidden waterfall. The cold water felt so good on our feet and faces. We also hiked to the cave behind another waterfall, where Black Bart had hid before a stagecoach robbery.

We spent two days in the Coastal Redwoods, hiking and tramping around. My kids all commented that all the ferns and giant trees reminded them of the planet Endor from Star Wars, and they kept trying to find what they thought was the actual filming location.

Banana slug hunting was a huge hit. We couldn't find any until just before we left the forest.

The Sea Lion Caves in Florence, Oregon are home to hundreds of sea lions, and is the biggest sea cave in the world. But, boy, was it stinky!

Where would you love to take your children on a road trip? What are your favorite road trips from your childhood? Leave a comment and let us all know. Maybe your memories will inspire a family to get in the car together this summer, even for a day or two.

-posted by Miss Analiisa, who says that yes, Legoland is fun. But the meadow full elk, or the group of redwoods growing into a cathedral spire, and the close-up view of Mt. Shasta are things that bring wonder and appreciation for the world, and that blows Legoland away.

When I was pregnant with my first I received the advice, “NEVER play your kid’s music in the car. If you start, you will never be able to listen to your music again’. As wonderful as that sounded, my little one wised up at about one and a half and we had to find some compromises. The greatest compromise we came up with…Justin Roberts.

Imagine that the musical messages from Sesame Street or Yo Gabba Gabba had a baby with Fountains of Wayne and Big Star. That’s the music of Justin Roberts. He mixes both educational concepts and social messages with an amazing pop sensability to create hooks that you can’t help but sing along to.

I first met Justin in 1997, after he had left his job as a Montesorri teacher in order to attend graduate school at The University of Chicago. We became instant friends and he played me some of the songs he had written for his students.  From these songs came his debut Great Big Sun which was named  “Best Music Gift of the Year” in 1998 by Sesame Street Parents Magazine. He followed up with Yellow Bus (I am an “underwater singer” on “Willy The Whale”…It’s my claim to fame), Not Naptime,Way Out, Meltdown, Popfly , and his latest Jungle Gym, scheduled for release this June. He has received rave reviews by both critics and parents alike, but the true test is how kids react to his music. Go to a Justin show and witness the power of songs like “Imaginary Rhino,” “Student Crossing Guard,” “Stay at Home Dad”…the list goes on. Kids LOVE it! Justin has an amazing band called The Not For Naptime Players and their enegry brings the crowd to their feet, and better yet singing and dancing along.

Justin has a song for almost every parental need. I have sung “Meltdown” to my daughter on too many occasions, “Giant Size Butterflies” is perfect for the first day of school jitters, or “Kickboard” for your tentitive swimmers. His songs are great parenting tools, but most importantly, they won’t make you want to rip every hair in your head out. Hurray for compromise!

-posted by Miss Steph, who wants to you to know that Justin Roberts will be performing at The Vera Project in Seattle Center on August 13. Give yourself a treat and bring your kids along.

For more information on Justin Roberts go to http://www.justinroberts.org/

Jennifer, Ella and Liam

One of our long time families is moving to Austin. It is a bitter goodbye, because we will miss them so. It is a sweet goodbye, because we will connect them to a Kindermusik studio in Austin, so they will be able to continue there. Jennifer wrote us a short note that we asked her permission to post.

We’ve enjoyed Kindermusik for years and Studio3 has been such a great resource and playtime for me and the kiddos.  Miss Stacey and Miss Allison have been terrific with the kids, always attentive to their individual strengths and needs.  My daughter is a Kindermusik pro and knows all the hello and goodbye songs by heart.  So when Miss Allison encouraged her to be a part of her little brother’s Our Time she was elated to be a big sister/helper in class.  My son Liam is new to the program and a bit shy but having Ella in class relaxed him and he was also encouraged with kindness and sweet kisses from his teachers.   Kindermusik is one of the few curriculums around that teach moms how to interact creatively and musically with their kids and carry it over into our time at home with them.  Learning doesn’t stop at the classroom but naturally seems to flow into the daily routine.  Our whole family will miss Studio3Music! 

The feeling is mutual, Jennifer!

For instance, once in an Imagine That class a student shouted out that his favorite movie was “Hell Boy”.   I’m not even sure now what we were talking about that triggered this bit of sharing, but his mother was horrified- after we all got done laughing, that is.  (By the way, the only bad thing about the movie is the title.)

But that door swings both ways and occasionally something marvelous walks through.  Today was one of those days.

So we’ve been playing the word game with “There’s a Little Wheel a’ Turning In My Heart”.  (I just wrote a blog about this game, so you can do a search and find out how we play it….) We’d played it twice already in this class and had some pretty fabulous things inside our hearts. 

The typical things are dinosaurs roaring, and balls bouncing, but this class was on an unusual roll.  We had a lovey blanket hiding and a horse making that snorting/blowing sound (Now that was funny – 15 grown-ups singing and then vibrating their lips like a horse…) I asked for one more thing so we could finish up and move on to bouncing.

Imi and Allie

But it was taking a long time so I asked one of my older students, she’s three or so, and comes to class with her little sister. “Allie,” I said, “What’s in your heart? What do you love best?” And she answered in a clear strong voice, (such a sweet little voice), “My sister, Imi, is in my heart”.

There was silence for about 3 seconds, which is a long time, really.  Then every grown up in the room spontaneously said “OHHHHHHHH!” I looked up and several moms had tears glistening in their eyes.  I did. I was suddenly reminded of how much I love my own sister, how much I miss her.  Denver is so far away. 

However, we had a task at hand, and I couldn’t leave Ali hanging, waiting to finish her song, even though every heartstring in the room was stretched taut.  So I asked “Allie, what’s she doing in your heart?” She answered quickly without hestitation.  She already knew what she was going to say.  “Imi is playing with me in my heart.”  Their Mom was crying, and everyone else was sniffling, including me, but we all bravely swung our mallets, rang our bars and sang Ali’s beautiful verse….

Imi’s playing with Allie in her heart, in her heart,
Imi’s playing with Allie in her heart.
In her heart, in her heart,
Imi’s playing with Allie in her heart. 

I’ve been thinking about my sister all day- and what a gift she is in my life.  I’ve choked back tears several times just thinking of how blessed I am to have a sister that is also my dear friend.  Thanks Allie, for reminding me that I should tell her more often how wonderful she is.  I sent her an email earlier today.

-posted by Miss Allison, who says that this is one of those days I’ll never forget. It’s one of the days that makes teaching the very best job that could possibly exist.   Thanks again, Allie. 

I love that a bunch of different words mean the same thing and yet are all slightly different at the same time. Think of all the words for that wet stuff that falls from the sky so regularly around here: rain, precipitation, drizzle, mist, showers, sleet, sprinkle, torrent, cloudburst, deluge.

I love that our language gives us so many ways to communicate our thoughts, dreams, ideas and heart’s desires.

So I was really excited when I sat down to plan my lessons and discovered that it was time to do “There’s a Little Wheel Turning in My Heart” or (in my own words) “There’s an itty bitty teeny weenie circumvolution oscillating in my cardiac organ”.  I love this song because it gives children a chance to play with words.

Did you know that a four year old knows approximately 10,000 words?  A toddler is in the business of accumulating all those words.  They learn one word per hour they are awake.

In order for them to know what to do with all those words they need to hear them work – in books and in conversation, in songs and prayers, rhymes, chants and poems – and they need to practice with them in all the same ways.   “There’s a Diminutive Castor Rotating in my Ticker” encourages playing with the building blocks of language. Nouns and verbs.

First, sing the song a couple of times as written using the original words. But, the real learning in this song occurs in what you do with it.

Next, ask your child what’s in their heart. This is not a rational question, of course, but children are not rational people so it works.  You can also ask what they love, or what their favorite things or people are.  (Be sure you have the video camera ready- they may just say “grandma”)

Then, ask what the item or person is doing. Again, it does not have to be rational.  Grandma could very well be skipping rope in your child’s wacky little heart.  Now you sing the song with their words-

Grandma’s jumping rope in my heart, in my heart
Grandma’s jumping rope in my heart!
In my heart, in my heart,
Grandma’s jumping rope in my heart!

There are other variations for types of words, of course.  A little girl in one of my classes today wanted finger nail polish in her heart. So rather than asking what it was doing in there- (we all know it was sparkling) we asked where it was.  It was on her toes. Naturally.  So now the song goes like this-

There is polish on my toes in my heart in my heart
There is polish on my toes in my heart.
In my heart, in my heart!
There is polish on my toes in my heart!

With an older child you can add some adjectives-

A blue car is racing in my heart, or
A big shark is flying in my heart

Remember, it doesn’t have to make sense; a child’s sense of humor is very primitive, and the incongruous is totally hysterical to them. Flying sharks are the stuff of laugh attacks that last for hours.

I play this game with all my students from Our Time through Young Child and beyond, so get the whole family involved.  And the car is a great place to play this one…

-posted by Miss Allison, who tells you to go for it. Play with your words.

Owners, Meredith & Jana (ironically, Studio3Music mothers) understand the demand of our family’s busy lives; ‘As parents of young children we know how busy life can get. Whether attending a dentist appointment, running errands, working, or getting a pedicure… bringing kids along can be difficult, if not impossible. With experience rescheduling a doctor appointment, missing a haircut, and turning down dinner with friends simply because we had no one to care for our kids, we started wondering if there were other parents who shared our same frustrations.

Were there others like us who didn’t need full-time childcare but desired occasional, flexible childcare in order to attend an appointment or just get a few things done? We realized the options were limited, and it was from here that the idea of “The Nest” emerged… a Play and Learning Center that not only offers a clean, safe, and fun learning environment for kids, but also dependable, flexible hourly childcare for parents’ peace of mind.’ 

The Nest is a drop-off play center in Woodinville where you can check in your kids for a few hours or a Saturday evening. It’s a super-clean, super-fun place for kids aged 2-6.  They charge $8 for the first hour and $5  for each additional kid. Kids stay busy with crafts, pretend play and an indoor playground.

Today I took my daughter (2) to The Nest for the first time. We both loved it! I was immediately greeted by a woman at the front desk. She explained the procedures of putting my daughter’s backpack, shoes and jacket in a bin and then after sanitizing our hands we were led into the play area. My daughter immediately ran off to play with a little boy. I was able to see the facility which was very clean and appropriately childproofed. All the kids seemed quite happy to be there and there were lots of different rooms for the kids to play in, each with a different theme. The staff seemed very attentive too.

Originally I was only going to leave my daughter there for 2 hours but I felt so comfortable that I let her stay for three. When I returned, I know The Nest had a new fan because once my daughter saw me she started to cry and said she didn’t want to leave. We both were happy with our experience and will definitely be back.
-Stacey S.

I brought my 5 and 7 year olds to the Nest for a few hours of kid-free errands. It was an easy registration and the people were friendly.  I felt comfortable leaving, and my kids felt comfortable staying.  I got my stuff done, and they were sweaty and carrying crafts when I returned.  The final verdict: “We love the Nest! When can we go back?” 
-Becky P.

- Our Verdict: The Nest is Best! And more good news – we’ll be holding our Spring Mini Session classes at The Nest. Jana and Meredith have offered Studio3 families the sibling rate of just $5 per hour for “stay and play” for siblings during class time.