“Skidamarink” is our favorite Valentine’s Day song, it’s a little bit silly and very sweet. The actual word “skidamarink” doesn’t ‘mean’ anything, but it’s sure fun to say!!
Besides singing it to tell people you love them at Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, or Father’s Day, Skidamarink can also be used to talk about times of day like morning, afternoon, evening and night time (symbolized by the moon).
When do you…?
Demonstrate the times of day gestures from Skidamarink, (download the gesture guide here) for morning, afternoon, evening and the moon. Use a cardboard clock to talk about the different times of day and what types of activities you do at those times. Ask kids about their daily and weekly activities. When do you eat breakfast? Go to school? Eat lunch? Have soccer practice? Go to English lesson? Eat dinner? Take a bath? Go to sleep?
Put the students in pairs and have a dialogue practicing with each other.
When do you….eat dinner? I eat dinner in the evening.
When do you…eat breakfast? I eat breakfast in the morning.
Afterwards, watch the video and sing Skidamarink together.
Let us know what you’ll be doing for Valentine’s Day this year!
No matter how old your students are, from very young to elementary age, counting and numbers are always a topic worth reviewing. You can easily add a quick counting activity as part of any lesson. Use a song (“Count and Move” from Super Simple Songs 2 is the perfect active song to review numbers and get some wiggles out!), or count objects in a storytime book.
Or spend a week incorporating more focused counting activities by combining a song, worksheet and game. Here are a few ideas using materials from the Super Simple Songs – Christmas enhanced CD.
10 Little Elves
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Need a fun way to incorporate numbers with an active song and a familiar tune? Try “10 Little Elves.” It has some challenging new vocabulary, making it great for older students. Talk about active verbs such as sewing, painting, sawing, hammering, wrapping, and sleeping. You can discuss toys and practice demonstrating how to make them. Do activity sheet 9-6 to review the actions and practice counting.
Finish by singing the song as you perform the gestures. During the chorus, have students hold up their fingers and count together.
Jingle Bells
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“Jingle Bells” is a classic holiday song that is often heard at this time of year. The call and response format of this version makes the song fun and easy for young learners. Bring bells to class so the students can jingle along!
Two, four, six, eight...how many horses?
Several of the worksheets on the enhanced CD focus on counting. How many bells? How many horses? Students can work just on counting, writing the numbers, or spelling.
For a fun new challenge for older students, try activity sheet 2-7 and practice counting by 2s! Students love the new way to count and quickly catch on. The worksheet provides a great visual for this concept.
Clapping Game
Sit in a circle with one hand palm up and one hand palm facing down. Alternate so that you can ‘clap’ the hand of the person next to you. Start by lightly clapping the hand of the child next to you as you say the number “1.” The child says “2” as he claps the hand of the student next to him. Continue around the circle, counting up as you go. How high can you count? Once students catch on, you can make it more challenging by counting by twos, threes, fives or tens.
You can also use this game to practice other sequential topics like the alphabet, days of the week or months of the year.
Countdown to Christmas!
How many days to Christmas? Print out the calendar activity sheets 1-6 or 1-7 and fill in the blanks. Then count the number of days together. This is a great activity to do throughout the weeks leading to the big day!
Ah…winter. As the seasons change, it’s a great time to discuss the weather. In some places, like here in Tokyo for example, the weather during the winter can vary dramatically from week to week and even day to day. When your students come to class, asking them “How’s the weather?” will help them become familiar with words for what’s going on outside.
Our favorite way to introduce new vocabulary is with a song. “How’s The Weather?” from Super Simple Songs 2 teaches four basic types of weather: sunny, rainy, cloudy and snowy. With easy to learn gestures and free downloadable picture cards, this song is the perfect way to start a lesson on weather. Check out this great video from some students in Korea:
Snowmen and snowflakes are also great ways to discuss the weather. There are many crafts and games that you can do with them! Here are just a couple of ideas.
Snowflake and Snowman Craft Ideas
Make Paper Snowflakes
Pass out small square pieces of paper. Show the students how to fold the paper into a triangle. Fold the triangle once more into a smaller triangle. Next, draw some small triangles along each edge of the folded paper. Cut out the triangles, and then unfold the paper. You have a snowflake! (Tip: experiment a little with making snowflakes before class. For younger students, you’ll want to keep the patterns very simple. For older students, encourage them to cut a variety of shapes.) Have the students hold their snowflakes up high and let them go. It’s snowing! Sing “Little Snowflake” from Super Simple Songs – Christmas with your snowflakes falling, falling, falling to the ground.
*As with any activity involving scissors, supervise closely.
Easy Snow
Make lots of snow very easily by tearing up sheets of white scratch paper. Put all of the pieces in a cup or bowl and hold it up high. Make it snow by turning the cup over and letting the “snowflakes” fall to the ground. Put all of the snowflakes back into the cup and make it snow again.
Finger Painting
Use white paint and colored paper to paint a winter scene. No need for paintbrushes, just use your fingers! Make snowflakes, snowmen, or whatever you want! For easy clean up, cover tables with plastic (garbage bags or plastic sheeting work well) and have kids wear aprons. Be sure to review rules before starting: no touching each other, be careful with the paint, etc. When you let them know what is expected, kids are generally very respectful when doing such a special activity.
Cotton Ball Snow
Use cotton, like in this video from MILK English in South Korea. You can practice body parts as well by having students put the cotton balls on their nose, head, arm, leg, nose, etc.
Follow your craft up with worksheet 5-8 from the Super Simple Songs – Christmas CD. Color, cut and paste the little snowman into four different scenes. Ask students about the weather and the seasons as you figure out which pictures match each other. Uh-oh, what happens to the snowman when the sun comes out?
What makes Christmas such a special time of year? There is magic in the air! It is a time filled with possibility, wonder and excitement. No matter where you look, there is something special. Decorations, twinkling lights, falling snow…and music is everywhere.
Using music in the classroom is a powerful teaching tool. Songs stay with us. Sometimes for years, or even an entire lifetime. Some of the most classic songs are those associated with the holiday season. Young children and emerging speakers may struggle with some of the more complicated lyrics and concepts in these traditional tunes and hymns. We wanted to make something special, just for them. Songs that they can understand and sing along to. Songs that are fun, playful and active. Songs that make them laugh and smile.
Christmas is also a great time to introduce a variety of other topics. In addition to traditional holiday themes, it’s easy to practice and review other basic language like counting, action verbs, clothing, weather, parts of the body, prepositions of place, and more.
We have a big collection of classroom and at-home activities to share. See our Christmas Pages for holiday songs, videos, games, lesson plans, party ideas, worksheets, and picture cards, all made super simple for emerging speakers. Watch the blog for more teaching tips. And check out the Super Simple Songs – Christmas enhanced CD for even more resources like printable lyric sheets and additional worksheets.
Be sure to send us your ideas and videos this holiday season! And have yourself a Super Simple Christmas!
“Row, Row, Row Your Boat” is a much loved nursery rhyme and kids song. We wanted to make a video that would introduce the song at an appropriate pace for young learners, feature very clear singing, foster deeper thinking/discussion, and be compelling to all ages.
It’s a lot of fun to sing in a round. However, the idea of starting and stopping singing at different times from everyone else can be a confusing concept to young learners. In this video, the use of separate boxes that turn off when the different singing voices have finished make it simple to demonstrate and for children to follow the idea. This is just one of the fun extras that kids can learn with our Row Row YouTube video.
We were lucky enough to team up with artist Alberto Cerriteño (his young son gave the video his stamp of approval ). His beautiful illustrations breathe new life into this classic tune. Kids love watching as the squirrel and rabbit float gently down the stream, together, through the seasons.
There’s plenty of vocabulary to watch out for. Look for various insects, changing seasons, beautiful colors, and signs of aging. We hope you’ll find a lot of ways to use this video as a teaching tool at home or in the classroom with kids of all ages. There’s a lot to talk about, or you can simply enjoy singing the song ^_^.
Halloween is one of our favorite holidays here at Super Simple Learning. It’s an excellent opportunity to take the natural enthusiasm that kids feel at this time of year and channel it into some engaging and memorable English learning. Even if you don’t traditionally celebrate Halloween in your country, you can still use it to introduce new vocabulary and characters that will bring a whole lot of fun into your classroom.
With Halloween just around the corner, it’s definitely time to start making your Halloween lesson and party plans. Halloween is one of our favorite times of year here at Super Simple Learning. In fact, we love it so much, that we made a whole CD dedicated to it ^_^.
Why do we love it so much? Kids are naturally excited about the holiday and the opportunity to play games, sing songs, wear costumes, carve pumpkins, and learn about Halloween. The enthusiasm they bring to lessons at this time of the year allows for the easy introduction of useful language that can be used all year long!
It’s a great time to review or learn a whole bunch of vocabulary in a fun and engaging way with your students. Manners, emotions, parts of the body, counting… all of these themes work great around Halloween. And it’s never been easier to have great lessons at this time of the year than with our enhanced CD of our Halloween songs. With this CD, you get everything you need to have a great Halloween season. Twelve songs that teach a variety of themes and 12 sing-along versions that you can customize to your needs, plus all kinds of additional teaching materials.
Pick your song and the vocabulary concept you want to work on and you can quickly and easily build an entire 30 or 45 minute lesson around it. There are picture cards in three sizes that can be used to learn and review the vocabulary, play games and can even be used in performances.
Activity sheets accompany each song. They are designed for learners from 2 to 8 years old. Insert the enhanced CD into your computer and print out just the worksheets and picture cards that you need for your lessons or home use. Altogether there are over 200 pages of printable resources. Visit our Halloween ideas pages for more suggestions.
Come back to the blog often, we’re going to be posting about Halloween from now until the big day! Look for lesson plans, craft ideas, games, activities and even parent performance and party plans.
We would love to hear your ideas and see your videos, please send them in! How do you celebrate Halloween at your school or in your country?
One of our favorite projects this year has been taking our Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star Youtube video and turning it into an interactive iPhone/iPad app with our friends at See Here Studios. Now, in addition to watching the video with amazing images by Fuzz Animation, you and your child can get to know the characters like never before.
Here’s what people are saying about it:
“Parents of toddlers, meet your new best bedtime friend: a well-paced sleepytime story with just enough interaction to keep curious toddlers quiet and still.” – Kirkus Reviews
“Twinkle Twinkle is the perfect bedtime story. It’s soothing and relaxing, with lovable characters, gorgeous graphics, and a classic storyline.” – Padgadget.com
“The music, simple story and sound effects are seamlessly integrated with the cute animations to make this book app a sure winner for pajama storytime.” – Digital-storytime.com
“My son has a lot of fun tapping the characters within this story and then the video has a nice calming influence on him, perfect before bed. I love this app as well, and I am glad that these images of friends having tender fun together are the last images seen before he is asleep.” – GiggleApps.com
“Definite must-have for parents with little kids!” – iHeartThisApp.com
“Whenever your child feels lonely Twinkle Twinkle will be here to help.” – Kids-apps.mobi
Trusted Friends
The restless little owl and the twinkling star have a new story to tell. You and your child can read the book together, or listen to the narrator read it to you. Almost every page has an animated element for you to play with. Make the owl’s wings flap or hear him hoot. Help the little owl and the star fly across the sky. You’ll have a great time discovering these fun touches.
Watch It On the Go
Now you can take the music video with you for viewing anywhere. There’s a new enhanced HD version with some extra special animation. Or watch the original. You can even change the singing voice! Choose from the child vocals or have it sung by the adult narrator of the story book.
I Can Count!
Practice counting with the little star. Watch as he twirls and spins with each touch. Get all the way to 20 for a special surprise.
It’s Super Simple Fun
With so much to see and do, this app is sure to be a hit with your little one. Go to the iTunes store to download the Twinkle, Twinkle app for only $2.99 US (or equivalent in local currency) and put it on your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch today!
So, who’s your favorite character, the owl or the star ^_^?
We’re really excited to unveil our latest animated video. We’ve been working hard to get it wrapped up in time to round out our 5 Year YouTube Anniversary Week.
Our number one goal is to create educational content that is easy-to-teach, easy-to-learn, and super fun. We sometimes take classic songs and simplify the language or slow them down to make them easier for young learners. But occasionally, we like to add language to make songs a little more fun and interactive, and to teach some additional vocabulary.
B-I-N-G-O is a popular children’s song that repeats a familiar pattern. After each verse, you remove one letter and replace it with a hand clap. By the end of the song, you are clapping in place of every letter. We thought the repetition in the song provided a great opportunity to teach some additional body parts and action words.
With our “BINGO”, (available with the original vocals on Super Simple Songs 3), you clap, pat your legs, pat your tummy, pat your head and jump! There is also a gentle Learn It version for introducing the song to younger learners. Check out the B-I-N-G-O song page for more teaching ideas and for free downloadable activity cards.
To make the video extra special, we went back and added a few special touches and new vocals to the audio recording. We hope you’ll enjoy it!
Thanks for celebrating our YouTube Anniversary with us! When we first posted The Bath Song five years ago, we had no idea that it would lead to this! Thank YOU for your views, comments and support. We look forward to many more years of singing and learning together.
Welcome to Day Four of our Super Simple YouTube 5 Year Anniversary Celebration! Today’s video is already available on our Super Simple ABCs page, but today it is making its YouTube premier.
As requested by many of you, here is the third in our video series, Super Simple ABCs Phonics Fun: R – Z.
These videos accompany our Super Simple ABCs text books. We offer both an Upper Case and a Lower Case book. These are great for teaching letter recognition and learning to write the alphabet. The series features the two text books, music CD and teacher support pack. You can purchase exactly the pieces you need for your students.
Some people have asked about our choice of vocabulary for the Phonics Fun videos and text books. During the creation process, we tried to come up with words that offer a clear association with the target letter and are easily recognizable to young learners. We also wanted words that are easy to gesture, so we avoided words like igloo and narwhal. Each letter has two vocabulary words in the Upper Case book and an additional two, slightly more difficult words in the Lower Case book. We hope you find the words useful and fun. The songs in these Phonics Fun videos are review songs on the Super Simple ABCs Phonics Fun CD, and introduce vocabulary from the Lower Case book.
After you watch the videos, you can practice your skills with our online phonics game. Students can actively work on recognizing and listening to the sound each letter makes.
We’re happy to offer all three Super Simple ABCs Phonics Fun review videos on YouTube! Let us know what you think. E-e-enjoy!
). His beautiful illustrations breathe new life into this classic tune. Kids love watching as the squirrel and rabbit float gently down the stream, together, through the seasons.
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