Download their music (or buy a CD) from CDBaby.com.
For National Get Outdoors Day I recommend the album "Get Outdoors!" Here's what you can expect:
A fun, science-based journey into nature! The songs & story combine to create a delightful nature musical for kids!
Their exciting fun-filled concerts and CDs are filled with love of the outdoors and ecology, bringing concepts like insect anatomy, energy conservation and plate tectonics to the whole family. If this sounds lofty for the kiddie set, then think again. Each song is instructive, but never preachy. And the messages are delivered in a playful manner with memorable musical hooks that captivate children and adults alike.
It must be a marvelous thing to learn as a preschooler. It certainly is a marvelous thing to watch a preschooler learn. Lately we've been talking a lot about germs...'tis the season. And the idea of creatures that are so small that you cannot see them provides for endless questions.
What do they look like? What do they do? Should I be scared?
Answers
Sometimes I'm able to recall my high school biology lessons...enough to satisfy my children and their inquiring minds. But sometimes we like to learn more, dive deeper. And thanks to the advent of the genre of creative nonfiction, we are able to find lots and lots of satisfying answers.
First We Research
We find those answers in books, videos, and music.
Books
We have two favorite books that teach us about microscopic marvels:
All around the world—in the sea, in the soil, in the air, and in your body—there are living things so tiny that millions could fit on an ant’s antenna. They’re busy doing all sorts of things, from giving you a cold and making yogurt to eroding mountains and helping to make the air we breathe.
Thanks to Netflix, we can stream Magic School Bus.
Scholastic's "The Magic School Bus" follows Ms. Frizzle and her class as they set off on field trips. Based on the best-selling book series of the same name, "The Magic School Bus" takes kids on a virtual bus ride. Magically transforming into a plane, submarine, spaceship or surfboard, this bus carries Ms. Frizzle and her students on super adventures and teaches them about science.
There are at least half a dozen shows about microscopic things. I'll list the ones that coordinate with the books and other resources we use:
Season 1 Episode Six - "Meet the Rot Squad"
Season 2 Episode Seven - "In a Pickle"
Season 4 Episodes One, Six - "Meet Molly Cule" and "Goes Cellular"
Music
The Opera of Giardi takes an upclose look at one microbe, Giardia, where it lives, what will happen if you ingest it, and how to stay safe when you're playing and learning outdoors.
Then We Elaborate through Play
My children love to impersonate TV/book personalities and animals. Sometimes they pretend to be Ms. Frizzle and members of her gang to go on an adventure. Other times the impersonate Jeff and Paige impersonating scientists. Sometimes microbes, and their study, are imaginary. Other times a simple toy enhances their play and their learning.
In learning about microscopic marvels, two toys have proven invaluable for making it real - a microscope and a stuffed microbe. Microscope
My son is very discriminating and wants his tools to perform like "real" tools. So this microscope didn't appeal to him. HOWEVER< my daughter is more flexible when it comes to this sort of thing and is satisfied with its child-appropriate function.
Stuffed Giardia
Yes. There are stuffed microbes. In fact, Giant Microbes is a whole business dedicated to creating such silly and wonderful toys. Our stuffed giardia are beloved creatures. (My daughter is making hers a wardrobe.) And, if I would let them, my children would own every single toy from anthrax to varicella-zoster virus.
A year ago Mikey and his sister performed a Jeff and Paige skit for his kindergarten class. Get ready to jump out of your seats and dance along to "The Triple Rainbow!"
Want to see the inspiration for this skit? To watch the original video by Jeff and Paige go to their official YouTube channel and watch the pros: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcPnuKLNRP0.
Celebrate Earth Day with music about nature, environmental science, and sustainability by Jeff and Paige.
Download their music (or buy a CD) from CDBaby.com.
For Earth Day I recommend "21st Century Superheroes." Here's what you can expect:
Embark on an adventure with Jeff & Paige as they explore and inquire into the natural world. Educational, upbeat & kid-friendly songs, stories, science and solutions for a changing climate!
Tired of eco-doom and gloom? "21st Century Energy Superheroes" is an educational & solutions focused journey into climate change and energy conservation. The songs, woven together by a story, will keep the whole family captivated from start to finish!
We are well into the school year and have found a decent, albeit busy, rhythm. Three days a week we pile into the car and drive directly from school to karate. On the way we listen to books on tape, music, or just talk with each other. Usually, the kids just want to listen to a book.
As good as the books are and as many as we’ve listened to (good and not-so-good), I sometimes find my mind wandering. This autumn I have found myself wondering about bats.
Spooky Swarms
Bats are practically synonymous with creepy. Whether it is the seemingly unpredictable way they fly around on their own, the heart-stopping way they fly en masse, or their less-than-adorable visage, bats seem to evoke the feeling of otherworldliness that comes with the month leading up to Halloween.
Why are bats a feature of October? I think there are two reasons: 1) dusk comes earlier so we are more likely to see them heading out for their meal; and 2) they swarm where they hibernate so we are more likely to see a bunch of bats when we do see them.
Bodacious Bats
How do I know all this? Well, these creatures are pretty interesting and there are some groups who advocate for and educate about bats. Defenders of Wildlife include bats as one of their featured creatures, which is how I learned this amazing tidbit: “bats make up a quarter of all mammal species on earth!” Bat Conservation Internationalalso has some interesting bullet points like, “Baby bats can weigh up to one-third of their mother’s body weight. To put that into perspective, just imagine birthing a 40-pound human infant!”
By poking around on the Defenders of Wildlife page or the Bat Conservation International page, you can learn about the unpredictable way they fly (echolocation), the way they fly together (swarming), or about their unique anatomy (they’re mammals that fly!). You can even adopt a bat!
Get Started with a MicroLesson about Bats
OK, OK. I know that not everyone ruminates during their roadtrips, nor do they have the time or energy to read an entire website worth of information, process it, and then teach it to their children. So, how about a microlesson?
You just need one toe-tapping song, one great book, and a set of wings.
1. THE SONG
“Bats! Oh, Baby!” is a song written by children’s musicians Jeff and Paige for children ages three to eight. It features original toe-tapping melodies and educational lyrics and was produced as part of their album, which is a musical, called “Get Outdoors!”
2. THE BOOK
“Nightsong” by Ari Berk is an amazing picture book about a young bat who is encouraged to find his song and use his good sense to navigate the world. Readers will enjoy the illustrations by Loren Long as much as they will connect with the literal and metaphorical aspects of how to use one’s sense.
3. THE WINGS
No. Your child does not have to sprout wings to fly. You can just order a set of Dreamy Dress-up Bat Wings delivered to your home. Then they can take what they have learned from Jeff and Paige and Ari and Loren, and take to the skies.
Really? They will take to the skies?
Really. When your children are learning this way, the sky is the limit.
UPDATE October 26, 2017
Check out this amazing Science Short Film by the Montana Natural History Center!
What excitement is generated when we hear songs that feature science, technology, engineering, and math topics! Since I wrote our Top 5 Songs for Preschool Engineers, we have discovered two new musical groups who sing about STEM topics. Check out Jeff & Paige and the Laurie Berkner Band! Plus, Rob Gardner has two new albums of Truck Tunes!
21st Century Energy Superheroes by Jeff & Paige Tired of eco-doom and gloom? "21st Century Energy Superheroes" is an educational & solutions focused journey into climate change and energy conservation. The songs, woven together by a story, will keep the whole family captivated from start to finish!
Rocketship Run by The Laurie Berkner Band
The story woven through the CD isn't as good as Jeff & Paige musical stories but the first couple songs on this album are loved by both of my young children: Rocketship Run and Mouse in my Toolbox.
The Marvelous Toy performed by Peter, Paul and Mary "It only made sense when Peter, Paul & Mary released this "kiddies" LP in 1969, beginning a trend they've returned to throughout their career. Mary Travers had indeed recently become a "mommy," and the trio celebrate here not only with a new version of their classic tune and the traditional "Mockingbird," but clever children's songs from the likes of Tom Paxton, Gilbert & Sullivan, and Shel Silverstein." The Marvelous Toy is a perfect and compelling description of a mechanically interesting toy.
Truck Tunes by Rob Gardner Sing along with ten cool original songs as you follow these tough construction and timber trucks at work. Dig a deep hole with an Excavator. Scoop dirt with a Front End Loader. Smash up asphalt and concrete with an Impact Hammer. Written and performed by award-winning artist Rob Gardner, these irresistible songs will have you laughing and singing along. Songs include, That's What an Excavator Does, Dozer for Short, The Forklift Boogie, D is for Delimber and many more. There is something for kids of all ages here. We dare you to try and find a better way to spend 34.5 minutes than Truck Tunes. Your truck education continues with Truck Tunes 2 and Truck Tunes 3!
"That's Not the Way" was produced as part of the Mighty Wolf album by Jeff and Paige and has spurred some important conversations in our household. In short, it is Jeff and Paige's take on the same story Dr. Seuss told in the story "The Lorax." A king in search of making the world a better place for his people begins to invent ways to "beat biology" and eventually sees how his processes begin to wreak havoc on the natural environment. But the most compelling question is about ownership and humankind's role of coexisting on earth with other creatures:
Today is National Get Outdoors Day. All over the country there are events that invite families to Get Outside and enjoy being in the sun, the wind, or the rain of early summer.
We'll be celebrating with the music by Jeff & Paige. They're goofy, they're smart, and they are ready to lead children by the hundreds into#TheGreatOutdoors with music about environmental science and nature. You can watch the music video for the title track "Get Outdoors" below or just swing over to CDBaby and pick up the whole darn album. I promise - you won't regret it.
