Welcome to our “Music at Home” series! On the 15th day of each month, from now until June 2013, we will introduce you to a favorite children’s artist, compilation or album that we think would be a great addition to your family musical collection. The tunes are catchy, the rhythms snappy and the lullabies are dreamy. For access to all of the posts in this series, click here!
This month I would like to highlight an artist who is not only a fantastic musician, but someone who believes so much in the Power of Play! Jim Gill is an extremely talented individual, musician and artist and also a Child Development Specialist (just like me!). He even has a blog on PLAY, which I highly recommend taking a look at today!
There are some children’s musicians out there who just get it. The understand children, their development and their needs. That is Jim Gill. He just get’s it!
Here is a bit from his website bio: “…having completed his graduate studies in child development at the Erikson Institute of Chicago with a special emphasis on the study of play. For this reason, each of Jim’s recordings and books is created as an opportunity for playful interactions between a child and a caring adult.”
It’s like a man after my own clinical heart 😉
Needless to say, his songs are silly, fun and completely developmentally appropriate!
One of my favorite albums (as I have seen him do a training using many many of these songs as examples) is Jim Gill Sings Do, Re, Mi and Toe, Leg Knee.
It inlcudes songs like “Tempo Marches On” (Movement, Gait, Speed) and “Toe Leg Knee” (Body Part Identification), which may be adapted very easy to each child’s knowledge body parts.
More recently, in 2011, Jim has released a new title Jim Gill Presents Music Play for folks of all stripes. In addition to 15 new songs, fingerplays and clap-along songs, this release also includes a DVD, which has videos of many of the songs included on the DVD.
This particular video below describes WHY we do what we do and the importance of parent modeling and involvement 🙂 Thank you, Jim!
You can view several more of Jim’s videos here.
You can go to some awesome family concerts as well! Go here for a list of those dates.
What’s your favorite Jim Gill tune? Leave your answer in the comments below!
Oh hey oh hi hello!! We love Jim’s music!
I haven’t used this one in a session yet, but I will certainly add it to my list ASAP! 🙂
Honestly, we LOVE Jim Gill’s music….all of it!! I think our first “favorite” was “Alabama, Mississippi.” “Silly Dance Contest” is always a blast! And we absolutely adore his “Noisy in Boise, Idaho” album…..the title track, “Stick to the Glue” and “Oh Hey, Oh Hi, Hello” make us laugh! We keep most of his albums in the car, as they are long-time favorites of our 5 year-old daughter!!
My first fav was ALSO “Alabama Mississippi”, so groovy!
My daughter absolutely loves “Hands are for Clapping”. We sing it all the time.
This is a great song!
Silly Dance Contest!
Oh my goodness, YES!
Jim Gill has been a favorite of ours ever since my 3rd born attended nature preschool several years ago. The teachers implemented Jim’s songs in some way almost every day, and have gone through Jim’s workshops for using music in play and learning. My daughter’s class was lucky enough to have a dad who performed List of Dances in class — on in costume, on walking stilts, with a huge multi-colored banner listing all the moves. The kids *loved* participating.
What a fun way to incorporate music and movement into the classroom! I would have loved to see the stilts!
I’m a Children’s Librarian, and I use Jim’s stuff all the time in my storytimes. Toe Leg Knee is a personal favorite.
Toe Knee Leg get all of our Itty Bitties just giggling constantly!
How can you pick just one? Jim’s version of “May There Always Be Sunshine” always calms my class and brings us to caring conversations afterwards, while “The Silly Dance Contest” makes us giggle and smile while learning about self control.
I love the way you are using his songs! Learning self-control is so much more FUN when you use stop/go music! 🙂
ohhhhhhh… Its time to face the fact! I love it because its playful, and asks kids to imitate and remember actions with their body. This is one my kids and i do on our own at home 🙂
Great choice!
It’s hard for us to pick a favorite … we have three cd’s in the van, and lots of the songs get us dancing in our seats. Like the eashing machine song, silly dance contest, onomatopoeia pizzeria, bananas….
I love that you bring CD’s in the car! Just be careful when you dance and drive 😉
We LOVE Alabama, Mississippi and I Took A Bath In A Washing Machine! Old Sock Stew gets us excited too!
Old Sock Stew, YES!
I love “Drumming the House.” In my preschool class, we use our hands, sticks, paper towel rolls, etc.and drum all over the building. We are always laughing by the end of this song, and then discuss the different sounds that drumming on different objects make. I also love “Jump Up, Turn Around” for a quick, fun action song.
I think its great that you are using found objects to make music. It is so kid friendly!
*I Took a Bath in the Washing Machine * is my favorite.
Excellent Choice!
I would be hard pressed to come up with a favorite Jim Gill tune. I used his music for years in my Head Start classroom, then later when I was a K-6 intervention teacher, and, of course, with my ‘grands’ and their friends. My favorite story related to his music is this: I gave a presentation on introducing the concept author and illustrator at an Early Childhood presentation at the University of Moscow. In my classroom, I used Gill’s book, May There Always Be Sunshine and would invite the illustrator to come in, as she lived locally. I was so excited to use his book because it’s based on a Russian folksong. I decided to sing the song to these Russian educators. Who did I think I was!!! The interpreter told me that I was singing off key. Blushing, I said pre-schoolers don’t care how you sing. Turns out, it was not my singing ability but my tune was incorrect. Nine Russian educators then stood and sang the song to us, in Russian! What a treat! Thanks, Jim Gill!!!
What an amazing story! It’s so great when two cultures can come together and communicate through music!
Jim Gill has so many wonderful songs! Thanks for the reminder that I need to get his newest album. My kids can’t get enough of Sliding, Rolling, Jumping and Family Goodbyes. But the favorite regularly change.
Yay for variety! Change keeps everyone on their toes!
I recently saw Jim in a concert. It was the third time and I will never miss him when he is in my area!!!! As an early childhood education instrutor at a community college, I use Jim’s music for my “Music and the Young Child” class!! I have to say one of my favorite’s of his is “Silly Dance Contest” It gives the children the opportunity to move in so many different ways and parents think it’s fun, too. But my all time fave is his book, “The Soup Opera”. It is a great way to teach what opera is and I have used it through the 5th grade….they love playing the parts! Thanks for your blog by the way, I will be using it for my classes.
Thanks for sharing your uses, Becky! I love that you teach “Music and the Young Child”, it is so important! And thank you for reading the blog!
I can’t pick one! We love O-H-I-O, Alabama, Mississippi, & Hands are for Clapping.
We love so many!
Variety is good. 🙂
Stick to the glue is classic!
It really is, most def. in my top 10.
Favorite Jim Gill song? There are too many to list here. My students love I Took a Bath in a Washing Machine while I’m partial to If You’re Going to San Francisco (my son is about to move there.) Whatever tune you pick, the children are sure to respond. I love that Jim blends music with language development, motor skills, listening skills and social skills. He also has the art of winding down at the end of each song.
I wish more people would realize the pure genius of Jim Gill! His knowledge and use of child development within his music makes me like him even more!
I LOVE Jim Gill’s music and the talent he has to captivate young audiences and their parents! I use his music in my classroom on a daily basis. If I had to pick 1 fave song- I think it would have to be the “Silly Dance Contest.” Thanks for sharing his great work!
I wonder if he has every done a record for number of people participating in the “Silly Dance Contest” at one time… What do you teach?
I LOVE the Soup Opera in particular and the List of Dances is my next favorite followed by Stick to the Glue. 🙂
Great Choices!
Just one favorite???? Very hard to pick; my kids and I love them all. We would have trouble picking a favorite album too. Washing Machine is great to dance to, O Hey O Hi Hello is great to sing in funny voices, Jumping and Counting taught all 3 of them to count to 10. One of my favorite memories is a 2 year old who sang all the words to Walking In Place at the top of his voice while tearing around the room at top speed (the “in place” part needed work). He’s 10 now. As great as the CDs are, you really need to see his show in person to really appreciate his work. Lots of fun!
Agreed. Seeing him perform is so much fun (and I have only witnessed a workshop). I can’t wait until he comes closer so that I can bring my daughter to a show.
I love using Jim’s music in family storytimes – I don’t know if I can pick one favorite song! The goodbye song on Moving Rhymes for Modern Times is a favorite of kids & parents. The Sneezing Song is fun and who doesn’t love May There Always be Sunshine 🙂
Family storytimes are a great way to introduce parents to great music. The sneezing song makes parents giggle too!
I absolutely love all of Jim Gill’s songs!! We use them almost every day in our preschool classroom. They are great for transition or as an activity to tuck into those impromptu extra few minutes (that always arise!) as we are waiting for something. I’m not sure I can pick a favorite song, but I will share a story. Last year around Thanksgiving time we were making various dishes to share with the other class and the families that we invite to our feast. We had a few little ladies last year that were constantly requesting Jim Gill songs that we had introduced earlier in the year. On the day we were making butter for our feast (which requires shaking a jar of cream) these girls were up for their usual music and dancing. The children took turns shaking the jars of cream to churn the butter. Our little dancers asked me if I would turn on “Alabama, Mississippi.” Not thinking much about it, I went to the CD player and found the song. Then the girls ran up to me and asked if they could have a turn with the butter making. I then began to see the connection. The girls picked up the jars of cream and hurried over to the movement area. They giggled and danced and shook the cream into butter as the part of the song came up “Shake shake shake, shake it baby….” It was such a fantastic moment! Such clever little ones we have. I am always on my toes trying to see what they will come up with next. I would love to hear other people’s stories and favorite songs as well!
What a great story. You must be incorporating lots of pretend play in your class. I love watching the things these little kids come up with!
It is hard to pick a favorite. Our whole family loves his music! “Hands Are For Clapping” always makes crabby kids happy and helps withlearnj g body parts. He is so popular that our local library had to ask people to register because the first time so many people showed up. We were so disappointed to have missed him this year.
He should do more concerts in one area (although the novelty of having a “one night only” draws a great crowd). We would like to see him and wished he came closer to our neck of the woods.
So many to choose from, but probably “The Night We Made It Noisy In Boise, Idaho”. The best thing about Jim Gill’s music is that Mom and Dad love the songs as much as the kids. 🙂
That’s one of our favorite parts too. We actually enjoy listening and singing his songs (even though we are a music teacher and music therapist). They are songs that we don’t tire of easily.
It’s hard to pick a favorite, with each new CD release I have one or two that I really LOVE. As a childcare worker who in the last 3 years spends less time in the classroom than I used to, this is what I miss the most. Every time I get a chance to get out of my office and into a classroom (2-5 yr olds) I will do about 20 mins of music play, mostly it’s the Jim Gill tunes the little ones ask for!! Any one who lives or works with young children should invest in Jim Gill CD’s and go see a concert or workshop whenever possible.
I guess if I have to pick a favorite it would have to be “Can’t Wait To Celebrate”, the music is addicting and when we play it I just can’t wait when the music asks me to!!! .
Lately, however, my little friends are really loving “Truck Stop”.
It’s great that you use your little bit of classroom time for music/play!
I have 2 favorites, although it was very hard to choose.
The hi de oh man
Rhythm in my fingers
I like these songs for their echo aspects. Very useful in Special Ed.
Yes, Tracy! Songs with call and response themes are great for use in the Special Education classroom (and several others too!)
My Kinders LOVE so many of Jim’s songs. I have 4 of his CDs, and their favorites are Silly Dance Contest, Step Back Sally and Stick to the Glue.
The Silly Dance Song is a favorite among so many people! I’m still thinking about the largest silly dance contest in the world… right?! How fun would that be!
We love Jim Gill! We have his books, May There Always Be Sunshine & Soup Opera…and of course, we love his music! Some favorites are: Silly Dance Contest, Doughnuts, Line of Dances, If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out, Jump Up, Turn Around.
Jump Up Turn Around is a favorite among some of my Itty Bitties as well!
Silly Dance Contest! All of my classes request it every day! It’s an all time favorite!
Excellent! They have good taste!
Hands are for clapping
Seems to be a popular one among this list. Nice choice!
I use his music weekly in library storytimes. Some of my favorites are “Silly Dance Contest” and “Ups and downs” for toddlers and “Irrational Anthem” and “Toe leg knee: for older preschoolers.
We use “Toe Knee Leg” as well, but with our infants in our music class. We invite the parents to sing along, tickling each body part as we go. Nice use of music at the library!
we love ‘alabama mississippi” a lot, but really, all his songs are great, fun for the kids and unlike many children’s songs, not annoying for the grownups to listen to.
IT’s true. They are all great tunes 🙂
Favorite Jim Gill song? So many! Washing Machine; Silly Dance-Off; the Sneezing Song; Alabama, Mississippi; Boise, Idaho; I could go on and on! Even my teens love his songs!
Thank you for sharing your favs!
We love the Hi De Ho Man!
Excellent! Thanks for Sharing!
My favorite Jim Gill song is Silly Dance Contest. The children (and the teacher) can dance any way they want. You get to dance slow and fast. You freeze with silly faces. It such a great song for your children to get the wiggle out and release some energy. A good time is always had by everyone when you play The Silly Dance Contest!
Absolutely! A perfect way to end or even begin a class to get out those wiggles!
We have SO many favorites! My 4 year old son Aiden loves the Silly Dance Contest & I took a bath in a Washing Machine! We also like Alabama, Mississippi- that one is always stuck in our heads!!
These are three songs that I will be bringing into our Tiny Melodies music experiences. They are so popular here!
Gosh, so many favs! Jumping &Counting,16 dance song, Toe, Leg, Knee. We sing May there Always Be Sunshine at our annual Mother’s Day tea.
How sweet! What a perfect way to add to an already wonderful idea!
Jim Gill is one of our family’s favorites!! His songs are all great! One of our absolute favorites is “Jumping and Counting.”
Nice! Thanks for sharing!
Tough question. Personally, I’m partial to Stick to the Glue but the kids in library programs LOVE The Silly Dance Contest. You can’t go wrong with Jim Gill!
Exactly. You can’t go wrong with anything Gill. Thanks for sharing!
I love all of them! But especially List of Dances, Stick to the Glue, Tickle Toe, Jumping and Counting, Spin Again (anything where you get to spin a bunch, and then fall down), Driving Here, Driving There, The Sneezing Song, I Took a Bath in a Washing Machine (see? spinning!), and especially, especially, The Silly Dance Contest.
I once used The Silly Dance Contest in an Early Childhood Class for teachers, and only about half of them danced. It was really easy to pick who I’d want for my teacher if I were four. Which I am. Give or take.
I’m conducting a presentation for Early Childhood Educators and Childcare Workers and will no doubt make a big deal about those not dancing 🙂 Thanks for sharing, Sarah!
ALL of them! I teach preschool, so we listen to a lot of Jim! Toy Boat, The Tempo Marches On, Alabama-Mississippi, Poison Ivy…..
Great choices! Yay for bringing music into the classroom!
There is nothing that compares to his original cd. His music is playful and entertaining and spans the spectrem with engaging children and parents in the discipline of music. What a wonderful treasure of memories my family has created over the last 12 years that are incorporated with his music. A must for every kid!
Great music to pass down through generations! Thanks!
My favorite song although it’s hard to choose would have to be Washing Machine. The kids in our room loved all the motions that went with the song. What fun it was!
Excellent suggestion! Thank you!
We have so many favorite songs! Silly Dance Contest, I took a bath in a Washing Machine are two of our all time favorites. He is so fun to see live and in person. Our library is packed when he comes and kids of all ages (adults too) join in the fun!
I want to bring him to our library (but I would have to build a relationship WITH my library first). In time, we will get there. Glad you got to see him live!
This is a hard question because I love all of Jim’s songs but I think my absolute favorite is “May There Always be Sunshine”. Thank you for highlighting Jim’s work because more people need to know about his music and the messages he brings to families and professionals who work with children and families.
Thank you for reading! I’m happy to have put Jim into our “Music at Home” series, he is worth a listen and more!
It is hard to pick just one favorite song of Jim’s but my preschool students absolutely loved the Washing Machine song and I, as the teacher, loved the May there always be sunshine. We made our own song with each child contributing their own “may there always be….”. Each child illustrated their own page and we made a book for each family to have. It was a great send off at their graduation too!!!!!
That is an excellent idea! I might have to steal that for my pre-schoolers next year at graduation time! Thank you!
I love Jim Gill’s music and use his songs in the classroom all the time.
Great! Thanks for sharing!
We use Jim Gill’s music all the time in our early literacy storytimes at the library. I don’t think our baby/toddler teacher has had a storytime without Jim Gill since I first introduced them several years ago! In my own preschool storytimes, we are expert List Dancers, and love a good Silly Dance contest, but my personal favorite remains the washing machine song.
Aside from Silly Dance Contest, I think Washing Machine comes as a super close second in favorites among this list. It’s great that you incorporate so much music into your storytimes!
This is a tough request to name my favorite Jim Gill song. I could easily give you my Top 10, but narrowing it down to one is a challenge, but here’s a gem.
“Oh Hey, Oh Hi, Hello” from “Jim Gill makes it noisy in Boise, Idaho.” First and second graders always want to hear it and sing it over and over again…
I’ll have to remember that. I’m always looking for even more to do with my first/second graders!
I LOVE “May There Always be Sunshine” and “San Francisco” (Flowers in your Hair), but my favorite is “Oh Hey, Oh Hi, Hello” probably because I live in Ohio and because my granddaughter and I sang it all the way home from Jim’s concert in Westlake a few years ago. My goal in the next year and a half is to get Jim to come to Medina, OH to do a workshop for our library staff. I sure hope we can make that happen.
Having Jim come do a workshop would be AWESOME! I wish we could bring him here, too.
I Took a Bath In a Washing Machine
Hands are For Clapping
A Soup Opera
the Dance Along Gong Song……
The list goes on… and on… and on…….
Hehehe, the list does go on. Thanks for sharing!
Our kids love all Jim Gill’s songs. They always love The Washing Machine, but the new favorite is Truck Stop. Truck Stop is requested constantly. They also have a lot of fun with Beethoven’s Five Finger Play. They sing, dance and play. It’s fantastic. Thank you, Mr. Gill for all the great music.
Yes, Thank You, Jim for all of your wonderful and useful tunes!
Silly Dance Contest!
Yes! A favorite among this list.
Love him! My favorite tune…… Oh hey oh hi hello!
Excellent, this is among the favs in the comment list!
Silly Dance Contest!
yay!
It is so hard to choose! I think MY favorite album is “The Sneezing Song and Other Contagious Tunes” because of it’s great music and also because my the “ahh choo” was the first thing my (now 3 year old) daughter sang along with. “Hands are for Clapping” was the first Jim Gill song I ever heard, and my 5 year old has always liked “Alabama, Mississippi” Jim Gill’s music is a constant request in the car on my mp3 player, and it is even more fun when we play it at home and can get up and move the way we should! We have been Jim Gill fans for as long as my girls can remember, and now that we have a 6 month old as well, we will be fans for years to come!
Side note: isn’t it just adorable when little ones learn how to fake sneeze? It’s one of my favorite things and often one of the first imitations that my itty bitties “perform”.
Jim has been to Fort Wayne, In. many times! We love May There Always be Sunshine, Alabama, Mississippi and The Washing Machine! Jim really does understand young children. He makes us smile, too!
I’m jealous that you can see him so often.
My kids love “I took a Bath in a Washing Machine.” They think it is hilarious when he says “I hope mom doesn’t put me in the dryer.” He puts on a great show…we try to not miss when he comes to town!
I really want to see his family show. I’ve been to workshops, but havent made it out with my daughter yet 🙁
As an educator and a parent, I love Jim Gill’s work! The children in my Head Start program are of varying ages and backgrounds, but music speaks to all of them. ‘The Sneezing Song’ is always a favorite and the ‘Silly Dance Contest’ allows for some very creative expression! I really enjoy the newer albums, but I will always love ‘I took a Bath in the Washing Machine’! I hope that Jim Gill continues to make music and inspire adults and children for many more years!
Yes, music is a great universal language that is fun for all! So glad to hear that you use his music in your program.
“The Parrot Song” is my favorite: Hello. (Hello.)
I can fly. (I can fly.)
I’ll be right back. (I’ll be right back.)
Goodbye. (Goodbye.)
Chickens are friends. (Chickens are friends.)
Holy Toledo. (Holy Toledo.)
Birdies Unite! (Birdies Unite!)
Thanks a lot. (Thanks a lot.)
With Gilligan. (With Gilligan.)
The Skipper too. (The Skipper too.)
What a good bird! (What a good bird!)
I love you. (I love you.)
Thanks for sharing, Martha!
We loved interacting with Mr. Jim Gill when our wonderful librarian booked him for a concert and teaching session. When Jim asked if anyone had any ideas on what they would “wish there always be…” my son said, “May there always be cous cous!” It made his day when Jim was impressed.
I bought the CD for our car ride entertainment and also a copy for my niece and nephews too. My niece concerned her preschool teacher when she came in singing, “The washing machine is washing me clean…” She had to explain it was only a song, not her mother’s way of cleaning her ::chuckle:: even a 3 year old knows that’s funny!
My personal favorite is “Simone’s Song” I love the reference to Gilligan’s Island and the kids have a blast “parroting” Jim at the top of their lungs.
Our librarian frequently uses the “Silly Dance Contest” to get the kids movin’ and groovin’ between stories and craft time. We even used that song at our 6 year old’s birthday party — all the girls wanted to do it again and again. I appreciated Jim’s confirming message that there is no wrong way to play along with his inspiring music. We adore Jim Gill!
These are such great stories and memories (still giggling about your machine washed three-year-old). And cous cous, what a great answer. My daughter would probably say “pesto”. Go figure!
Definitely,,,,TRUCK STOP
The children love to pretend they are driving big trucks like their Dad or Grandpa…So much fun with this one!!!!!!!!!!
Yes! Thanks for sharing Christy!
Our Storytime kids and Headstart classes particularly enjoy the Silly Dance Contest.
Thanks for the music,
Maggie
A great piece of work for that age group! I love watching the little ones dance and freeze in fun positions 🙂
Definitely the song TRUCK STOP is a favorite. Children love to pretend to drive the “big trucks” like their dad or Grandpa….START YOUR TRUCKS! :):)
Fun! Truck driving is a fav of my little girl (an ideal would be a pink truck for her!). We are def. adding this to our playtime music.
We are currently ADDICTED to the Soup Opera! My 2 1/2 year old even acts and sings it out, microphone and all!
We are also pretty attached to “Going Nowhere”, “Toy Boat”, “Spin Again”, and “Color Game”. …just to name a few!
You’ve named several songs that haven’t been mentioned yet! Thanks for adding variety, this is turning into a great list as an “Intro to Jim Gill”!
We were introduced to Jim Gill at when my oldest and I went to BabyTalk times in Decatur. We always did egg shakers to Alabama Mississippi. And Hands are for Clapping was a biggie too. Love Jim Gill!!
What is BabyTalk? We live near Decatur (well, semi-close) and am interested to learn about all of the childhood offerings in the area.
Thanks for sharing your favs!
http://www.babytalk.org/
Awesome awesome organization. Their goal (as I understand) is to foster bonding between parents and 0 to 3s. They have teacher-led playgroups, they visit every new mom in the hospital, work with at-risk populations(but not only), etc etc etc. They probably saved me from PPD when I was a first-time mom. Claudia Quigg is outstanding!
Thanks for the info! What a great organization! I will look into it.
P.S. I’m Meredith’s mom from Tiny Melodies. You know me. 🙂
Hi Kira! Ha, didn’t recognize the email address when I first saw it. I’m so glad you are here!
I think Jim is so under-rated! We commuted a lot when my daughters were young and always had Jim’s music playing for them. I would have to pick “Oh hey Oh hi Hello” and “Silly Dance Contest”
Thank you Jim for your music!
I agree! He is pretty great and needs more recognition!
Oh, so many favorites! Though we use his music in our public library programs year round, once a year I use all Jim Gill music for one of our music and movement programs and it will occur tomorrow! I’ll be including old favorites like Alabama, Mississippi and Silly Dance Contest as well as our new favorite Beethoven’s Five Finger Play. We’ve been lucky enough to have Jim visit a few times and we would welcome him back in a heartbeat for both his workshops and his family concerts. We are always promoting the early literacy benefits of adults playing with kids to his music.
I would love to learn more about your music and movement programs! I have always wanted to start something at our local library but haven’t come up with the perfect ideas yet. Thanks for sharing your Jim Gill uses 🙂
Washing Machine is number one at my house. We’ve done it with my daughter since she was a baby. She loved being rocked back and forth as we sang… always got giggles. And now that shes four and she can spin on her own two feet she loves it even more. That’s the best thing about Jim Gill, his songs are good for young and old and can grow with you!
These are songs that can be passed down through generations, it’s like Peter, Paul and Mary!
I love using Jim Gill’s music in my primary music classes! Sometimes I plan lessons around the songs, such as “Toe Leg Knee,” and sometimes we have a few minutes left in class, so we use songs like “Alabama, Mississippi,” “Took a Bath in a Washing Machine,” “Silly Dance Contest,” or “The Dance Along Gong Song” to get up and dance. One of my new favorites is “Living Inside of a Jar,” and I can’t wait to play it for my students!
What a great use of transition and extra time!
I absolutely love Jim Gill, and one of my personal favorites is Poison Ivy, it’s hilarious and kids have so much fun with this song!
Not gonna lie, don’t know this one as well. But I will give it a listen and add it to my “songs to learn” pile. Thanks for sharing!
We love singing Noisy in Boise, probably because that’s where we live! My kids think it is great that their favorite singer has a song about our home. Jim Gill travels with us wherever we go–like you told another commenter, it is important to be careful while dancing and driving!
Ha! Thanks for sharing your song of choice Sara. I wish more songs were written about our town (you’d think with a name like Normal, more people would pick up on it).
I have many favorite Jim Gill songs. My two absolute favorites are “The Sneezing Song” and “Hands Are for Clapping” because my daughter loved them so much as a toddler. I think we listened (and interacted with them) every day for at least a year!
How fun! These are some of the soon to be additions in our Tiny Melodies classes. Fun times!
I love Jim Gill and his music. I am a K-5 music specialist and I use Jim’s music in my classroom every day! So many social, musical, aural skills are taught by Jim and all I have to do is push the “play” button! Invaluable to me in my work.
I love learning some tunes to play live with my music therapy clients. His tunes are easy to pick up and work into a music therapy session. Kudos to you, and keep up the great work!
My favorite Jim Gill song is Soup Opera because it is a great piece to help support early literacy, social studies, drama, and music. I am a special education teacher for early childhood and my students LOVE this and they love acting it out. However, the list of what Jim Gill songs we love to listen to would be too long for this 🙂
I love that you are using music in your classroom and your reasons behind it! Keep up the good work.
It is hard to choose my fav Jim Gill song but my kids at school have always loved “Spin Again”.
They have good taste 🙂
MY favorite song is Drumming the House. But my 3 year old just informed me that her favorite song is “Show me your thumbs,” Also know as Beethoven’s Five Finger Play. 🙂
Awesome! 3-year olds rock! (FYI: We have one too!)
My kids & I have had the pleasure of seeing Jim’s Family Room show a couple times as well as his Soup Opera. It is a blast & you are right, he gets it! I first heard his music when I began working in early childhood (I am a school social worker). I was so excited to introduce him to my kids! We love Alabama, Mississippi and many more. His CDs are a great gift, too!
Ive been compiling a list of “Gifts for New Moms” and this would be a great addition for an older sibling to share with the younger. Don’t you think?
Jim Gill comes to our library every summer and the room is packed every time! We listen to his CDs a lot when we’re driving. We have a lot of favorites – one of them is “Mashed Potatoes”, then there is the Onomatopoeia Pizzeria, and “I Have a Leaky Umbrella”… “Spin Again”… “The Washing Machine”… I could go on and on!
Yes, Leaky Umbrella! That’s one that hasnt been mentioned yet. It has been added to the list!
Doughnuts (I haven’t actually tried to make them, but it’s been tempting. I have made PB&J, though), Oh Hi Hello, Spin Again, My Bonnie.
It’s now impossible to sing “My Bonnie” without the hand motions.
Ah, my Bonnie! A favorite among many!
Jim Gill has so many great songs to choose from! Some of my favorites are “can’t wait to celebrate,” “the silly dance contest,” and “sliding, rolling, and jumping.” I use his music all the time at my library storytimes and the kids always love them, and of course, learn from them!
We like the Silly Dance Too!
I love so many of Jim Gill’s songs that it is hard to pick! As an SLP who works with many kids, I have loved many songs for years because they lend themselves so nicely to body movement and participation in groups! As a parent, the one that sticks our the most is “I Took a Bath in the Washing Machine!” It saved me from utter insanity while trying to get my kids (ages 3,3, and 4) to take showers last year (we were going on a 2-week camping trip, so we transitioned from bath time to shower time). I don’t know how it would have been possible to maintain my sanity without Jim Gill’s song! It went from a time I dreaded into a very fun time with my kids 🙂
Great use of music to help with transitions! A 2-week camping trip? I’m so jealous! I don’t think my little girl is ready yet.
I’m surprised no one mention the “One time I was so angry that I growled…” song. It’s a great one for talking about emotions.
And, one more story, if you please. After our grand Emma listened to A Soup Opera, she decided to make up her own opera (she was 5). She cupped her hands together as she sang in her best soprano voice, “My boyfriend has eyes that are……..eyes. And my boyfriend has ears that are……ears.” She didn’t finish her opera because, I’m afraid we were laughing so hard that she put on her 5 year old ‘don’t laugh at me’ face and left the room. We just couldn’t help it! She was adorable!!! So, in about twenty years perhaps you can look for the “My Boyfriend” opera by Emma .
Awesome story, Laurie! I bet it was just the cutest thing! I love this 3-5 year age where they start making up the silliest of songs using inspiration from their fav artists!
PS: GREAT SITE!!!
PS. Thank You!
Jim Gill is one of our favorites. He has performed at my son’s preschool. We love all his songs. He is a very gifted man.
Thanks for sharing with us! And thanks for stopping by!
It is hard to choose just one….I love them ALL!!! However I have a story… I am currently a center director but spent the first 15 years of my career in the classroom with preschool age children. I was also the chIldrens choIr dIrector at our church for the 3_6 year olds. I decided “May there always be sunshine” would be a great song for the kids in the kIds choir to perform. So we ut our own twIst on It. Each child Drew a picture of their own “may there always be ______” and we scanned those pictures on a dvd and the kids sang their own versIon of the song whIle the dvd played. It was amazIng! JIm’s music has always been a staple in my classrooms! I can’t wait for this upcomIng Saturday as myself and 10 of my teachers will be attending one JIms sessIons!!
What a neat idea, Lara! I might have to use that at a GrandParents concert!
I have worked as a youth librarian for several years and have use Jim Gill’s “play” music in almost all of my storytimes. Picking a favorite is hard, but I have to share an event that just took place with my 2 1/2 year old grand daughter who was just introduced to Jim Gill in her own storytime at her library. What was the impact……well, I was getting ready to play bubbles with her on the back poarch and she was shaking her bubble bottle and singing to herself “..baby shake, shake, shake, baby.” After listening to her for a few rounds, I started to sing with her the whole “Alabama, Mississippi” version, wherein she sang with me and on her own would sing her verson of “bama,Missi shake baby shake.” Her eyes just beamed with delight that I knew “her song.” I love the carry over that Jim’s song created, so I have to say “Alabama, Mississippi” has to be my favorite until I hear my granddaughter choose another one we can sing along to.
Great story Mz Ginger. I love watching kids “get it” 🙂 Thank you for sharing!