Hens and Roosters

 This is a fun activity that we do to learn musical expression, and appreciation for classical music.  The song is Hens and Roosters from Carnival of the Animals by Saint-Saens.  It's abrupt sounds imitate chickens running, pecking, jumping, and flying.  I encourage the children to make our chickens move on the parachute while they listen to the piece. They love to shake and pop the chickens in the air with the parachute, and often many or all of them fly off, and we put them back on. This is great fun, and they often request to do it two or three times. 

 Sometimes a little someone gets to go for a ride as well!

When we are finished, most of the students have difficulty with being done, so I keep a small container which is the "Chickie's Hen House."  I ask the students to put the chickies in the hen house for me.  I allow one student to hold the "House" while the other students scramble to pick up the pom poms.  We now are ready to move onto our next song in seconds!

Please feel free to try this activity  at home or in your own music class.  If you are at home, use a large scarf or tablecloth instead of a parachute.  The piece of music is embedded below with explanation.