Bangers & Smash music sessions halted due to Covid-19

With the rapid spread of Covid-19, musicians and music teachers across the globe have found themselves in the unprecedented position of being unable to teach face-to-face.

Here at Bangers & Smash, we continued to provide regular and bespoke music sessions in all our settings until they were asked to close by the government on 20 March.

Like many music providers, we are looking for ways to teach online during this difficult time as a way to provide parents, carers and settings with continuity and support for the children in their care. Please watch this space!

In the meantime, here’s an update on this month’s sessions up to 20 March.

Under the Sea at Bangers & Smash regular nurseries

At regular Bangers & Smash nurseries, Kitty delivered sessions on the theme of Under the Sea.

Children and staff enjoyed:

• using a blue cloth to create small and big waves while singing Little Ripples

• lifting the cloth over their heads and travelling down under the sea

• counting to 10 on their fingers while singing 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Once I Caught A Fish Alive

• looking at a picture of a submarine while singing Yellow Submarine

• thinking about animals that live under the sea and how they might sound and move (e.g. wobbling jellyfish, snapping shark)

• making a soundscape using the above sounds and actions

• looking at a picture of a nautilus and swimming slowly round in a circle to Nautilus by B Bumble & the Stingers

• singing and performing actions to Baby Beluga by Raffi

Africa Project at Under the Willow

Meanwhile, at Under the Willow, we started rehearsing for our Africa Project Celebration, which was due to take place on 25 March but was sadly cancelled.

Children and staff were still able to enjoy:

• singing:

  • Seven Continents

  • Haya Ma, a South African hello song

  • Nzama, Nzama, a Malawian song about cooking beans in a pot

  • three songs about animals, Monkey, Monkey, Up The Tree, Here’s A Great Big Lion and Alice The Camel

  • Bangers & Smash original, Funky Pharoah

  • three traditional songs, Sali Bonani (Zimbabwe), Kye Kye Kule (Ghana) and Ram Sam Sam (Morocco)

• listening, playing and dancing to:

  • Pata Pata by Miriam Makeba (South Africa)

  • Walking With The San by Charlie Simpson & San Bushmen (Namibia)

  • a traditional Kalahari nomad chant (Botswana)

  • Ssematimba Ne Kikwabanga by Albert Ssempeke (Uganda)

  • traditional Sufi music (Egypt)

  • Fanga Alafia by Iya and the Kuumba Kids (Nigeria)

• acting out the story of Handa’s Surprise (Kenya)

Short Breaks at Waterman’s Arts Centre

And finally, Kitty’s multi-arts project for children in the early years with additional needs came to an early close at Waterman’s Arts Centre.

In the last two sessions, parents and children enjoyed singing, playing and dancing to original live music as well as:

• decorating garden trowels

• playing with ducks and frogs in a sensory pond

• doing frog life cycle puzzles

Aislinn helping children to decorate trowels

Kitty was joined by fellow early years music specialist, musician and storyteller, Steve Grocott, and arts psychotherapy student and creative support leader, Aislinn Jeffers, both of whom helped to create this exciting new education pilot as well as playing in the Short Breaks band!

The Land of Ice & Snow, Chinese New Year, Africa and more with Bangers & Smash!

January 2020 has brought a host of exciting new themes and projects for Bangers & Smash!

Regular Bangers & Smash nurseries have spent the month learning about:

• The Land of Ice & Snow

• Chinese New Year

The Land of Ice & Snow

Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash

Children have enjoyed:

• rubbing their hands together and singing finger rhymes before dressing up in coats, hats, scarves, gloves and boots for a journey to the Land of Ice & Snow

• bouncing a silver snowflake on a cloth and listening to Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake

• singing Bangers & Smash original, It’s Snowing Outside

• listening to Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite while Kitty strokes their faces with a feather boa

• meeting some animals that live in snowy places and singing their names – Reindeer, Arctic Fox, Snowy Owl, Penguin and Polar Bear

• taking it in turns to dress up and hide in an igloo while singing Bangers & Smash original, Jack Frost

Chinese New Year

Photo by Valentin Petkov on Unsplash

Children have enjoyed:

• singing a Chinese hello song, Ni Hao Ma, to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle

• passing a Chinese rattle drum around the circle

• singing Chinese New Year Is Here Again while playing bells and chime bars

• waving red and yellow scarves and parading round with a paper dragon while listening to Training The Horses by the Peking Brothers

Africa Project at Under the Willow

Meanwhile, at Under the Willow, we’ve begun our 11-week Africa Project with sessions on:

• Introduction to Africa

• Desert landscapes

• Animals of Africa

Photo by Cole Keister on Unsplash

Children have enjoyed:

• finding Africa on a map and singing the Seven Continents song

• learning a new hello song from South Africa, Haya Ma

• looking at The Skin You Live In, a beautifully illustrated book celebrating skin colour

• dancing to Funga Alafia, a welcome song from Nigeria recorded by Iya and the Kuumba Kids

• looking at pictures of camel traders and listening to African Sanctus by David Fanshawe

• playing claves and chanting to a recording of tribespeople in the Kalahari desert

• singing traditional children’s song, Alice The Camel, and Helen McCookerybook’s Here’s A Great Big Lion

Short Breaks at Waterman’s Arts Centre

And finally, Kitty’s new multi-arts project for children in the early years with additional needs kicked off at Waterman’s Arts Centre on 10 January 2020.

Kitty with fellow presenter, Steve Grocott

In the first four sessions, Short Breaks children and their families have sung and danced to original Bangers & Smash songs and listened to stories about nature and wildlife especially written by Kitty.

They have also:

• made junk shakers

• played with a sensory garden

• made worms in slime

• created a bee in honeycomb collage

Playing with Aislinn’s sensory garden

Kitty is joined by fellow early years music specialist, musician and storyteller, Steve Grocott, and arts psychotherapy student and creative support leader, Aislinn Jeffers, both of whom are helping to create this exciting new education pilot as well as playing in the Short Breaks band!