Head, Shoulders, Knees, and all that

On the Second Day of Christmas...

...I had a great Christmas Dinner, opened a few presents, crashed out for about 8 hours, awoke in the middle of the night, ate half a pumpkin pie, and slept another 8 hours...not bad.  I flew out of Tokyo at 6PM on Christmas Day, crossed the dateline, and arrived in the States at 10AM on Christmas Day.  My first time actually celebrating more than one day of Christmas.  Alas, nary a turtle dove to be found, though I did get some new socks.

Enjoy this final Christmas video for 2006...the Muppets and John Denver:

Merry Christmas!

Santa Claus: Lost in Japan

If you're looking to spice up your children's Christmas party this year (maybe cutting it close) or want to start planning ahead for next year, here's a suggestion...make a video of Santa on his way to the party.  It builds a lot of anticipation for Santa's arrival and the kids really love to see Santa out and about in their own neighborhood.

We captured some video of Santa getting lost on his way to our Christmas parties in Tokyo and Yokohama this year, making sure to catch him around some areas our students know well...our classroom, the park, on the train, KFC, etc.  We edited it together into seven segments separated by static and checked in at various points throughout the party, as if checking a live satellite feed, to see where Santa was.  Here's  a video of all the segments edited together...11 minutes long so grab a cup of coffee! 

For those who have never been to Japan, you might want to check out how nice and clean the convenience stores are, the style of the houses in the neighborhood, a Mom riding her bike with her son in the child seat on back (something you see a lot of...often with one child in front and one in back...it's really nice...cars are just much less a part of daily life for most folks in Japan as compared with the States), what a typical neighborhood park looks like, how the kids respond to KFC by yelling out "Ken-tu-cky" (chicken is the popular choice for Christmas here and KFC does HUGE business around the 25th...notice Colonel Sanders in his Santa suit), what a typical residential train station looks like, and how immaculate the taxi is (complete with the standard automatic door).

Simple Children's Christmas Song

Phew!!!!  Our 2006 Christmas parties wrapped up on Sunday.  Great, great fun.  It's an odd feeling when the parties are done.  They really are a ton of fun, the kind of events that make everything worth it, but they wipe us out as well.  We'll all be enjoying a nice winter vacation starting the end of the week.    

Here's a video of one of the Tokyo parties singing What Do You Want for Christmas? off of Super Simple Songs.   

Santa was indeed on his way, but he got a little lost...more on that tomorrow.

What Do You Want For Christmas was one of the first songs we made for our students several years back and it's really exemplary of what the Super Simple Songs concept is all about; a simple, non-intimidating tune, basic lyrics which emerging speakers (whether they be young native English speakers or ESL/EFL students) can learn quickly and confidently through gesture,  and lots of space for movement and dance.

If you are looking for a last minute, simple children's Christmas song, What Do You Want for Christmas is available for download at iTunes, Rhapsody, MSN Music, MyKidsMusic.com, etc., etc., etc.

So, what do you want for Christmas?  Better yet, what do your kids want for Christmas (and is Santa going to bring it?)  Fran over at About: Kids Music asks an interesting question.  Her six year old wants an iPod for Christmas.  Pop over there and tell her...would you buy an iPod for a six year old?

Children's Santa Song

Monty Harper has made his youTube debut with this video for Santa's Laugh.  Here's to hopefully many more videos from Monty in 2007. 

Too many presents?

Uncle Rock's Plays Well With Others was chosen as one of the top children's music CDs of the year in the Fids and Kamily poll.  Here's a track:

Holiday Time in Brooklyn

Today's video is Holiday Time in Brooklyn from the great Dan Zanes.  (hat tip to zooglobble)

Christmas Lesson Plan

For teachers of young ones, Shannon-sensei has a fun, simple Christmas lesson plan up over at teach-esl-to-kids.com

They May or May Not Be Giants

Had a GREAT Christmas Party with 50 kids in Yokohama yesterday...a couple more parties coming up next weekend in Tokyo.  Light posting through the end of the year, but I'll be putting up some fun video clips. 

Today, good fun from They Might Be Giants...Alphabet of Nations.

Kids Music Holiday Shopping Guide

The Washington Post has a nice run-down (with samples) of some good kids music.  My recommendation...check it out and if anything catches your ear, head over to Zooglobble for a more complete review. 

Speaking of Zooglobble, Stefan is back on NPR today spreading the good word.  Hip hip!