Quick, guess what this is! Raise your hand if you said “melted snowman!” (Or “snowperson” as I refer to them…) Here in NJ we haven’t had a lot of snow yet. I can’t complain about the mild weather, but I have so many snow-related songs and games, and I want to get them in before […]
Author Archives: Abby Connors
Learning About Bats With a Song Kids LOVE! Bats are so cute!! Yes, you read that right. C’mon, how cute is this little guy? Bats are also the most populous mammals on Earth, next to rats (which aren’t cute). (Sorry, rat lovers!) So it’s good for children to learn about these furry flyers. This week, […]
A wonderful thing about teaching toddlers through pre-K at one school is that I get to watch a speeded-up version of child development, like time-lapse photography, whenever I teach. The toddlers sit and stare at me, my picture book, my keyboard, and my puppets with wide eyes. Very few can clap on the beat or […]
April showers bring May flowers, as the saying goes. But here in New Jersey, the rain, in blatant disregard of both the calendar and corny old sayings, is still falling. No one’s a big fan of bad weather, but I’d argue that it’s particularly annoying for preschool teachers. Young children need to get outside every […]
All Aboard! Trains in Story and Song Trains are one of those things, like farm animals and dinosaurs, that young children don’t really have a lot of experience with, but they’re still fascinated by them. I guess most children are more likely to come into contact with trains. If you count subway trains. (But I […]
This article appears in the current issue of Creativity Portal (creativity-portal.com). If you’re not familiar with Creativity Portal, check it out- it has wonderful ideas and articles for artists, writers, teachers, and other creative people! The Creative Magic of Naming How to use the Naming Game to empower children and foster creativity. By Abby Connors […]
I had an awesome time presenting at the “Kenyon at Kean” Annual Conference at Kean University in Union, NJ last Saturday. Kenyon is the chapter affiliate of NJAEYC for Central New Jersey, and if you you want to see some dedicated teachers – well, after a week of working with young children, to wake up […]
This post doesn’t have a picture to illustrate it. That’s because when I looked up “preschoolers fighting” or “preschoolers angry” or “preschoolers not listening to you” all I found were photos of attractive child models who were looking cute-angry. Actual preschoolers don’t look that cute when they’re hitting somebody or lying on the floor, very […]
At NAEYC (I can’t believe it was almost a month ago!) I met Sara, the community manager for Super Simple Learning. I was so excited! I’ve used songs from Super Simple Learning for years, especially with children age three and younger, though not always. I first discovered them while browsing through YouTube, where I came upon their […]
At the NAEYC Annual Conference I was lucky enough to meet Patty Shukla, who presented a poster session there. If you teach young children and you don’t know Patty Shukla’s music, you should! I discovered her a couple of years ago on YouTube, where she posts many outstanding video (You can find her channel here). Patty […]
Music (and Science) For Young Children 