June 2025 – Music Moments
This might be a silly connection, but when thinking of a theme for the month of June, my brain has always gone JUNe = JUNgle animals. (See what I did there? It’s a stretch, I know.) Perhaps it has something to do with summer’s imminent arrival – warmer weather combined with the kids starting to act a little more like monkeys and other wild animals – but it just works! And trust me, the kiddos don’t complain when we’re singing about all of our fun jungle animal songs!
June Music Activities
I’m a Little Monkey is an active, full movement song to monkey-move some June wiggles out! The Lion Version of Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes – Mane, Whiskers, Claws, and Paws is a great one for reviewing our Fancy Pants Music Word – Tempo (and the various, different tempo names). Five Little Monkeys is an opportunity to discuss Fancy Pants Music Words – Pianissimo and Crescendo. And Do You Know the Jungle Animals and Jungle Animals – Wheels on the Bus are just some of the highlights this month!
FOR EARS OF ALL AGES:
It’s SUMMER! (Or almost.) Did you hear my high-pitched squeal? I’d be remiss if I didn’t suggest you listen to Summer from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons – we listened to all the other seasons this year!
Fun fact, the song Summertime, was one of my recital pieces back in high school. This version by two of my faves, Louis and Emma (you must know that by now) is so jazzy-juicy. The opening trumpet is just – UGH – I cannot. SO good. (And makes my dog’s head tilt which adds to its excellence in my book!)
How about a little soul for your summertime? Lovely Day by Bill Withers is a classic feel-good, sunny day song. Yes, it gets a little repetitive, and you’ll certainly never forget the name of this laidback tune, but it seems like it would be perfectly placed in a backyard summer bbq or day-at-the-beach playlist!
This might be my favorite piece to share this month because, for me, it immediately brings up childhood nostalgia, beautiful family memories and the incomparable, breathtaking scenery of Yellowstone National Park. My parents had a cassette tape of classical music that we would listen to in the car on camping trips (many, LONG road trips). Pines of Rome – was one of the pieces that I vividly remember providing the soundtrack to some of my memories of that trip.
Well, fast forward about, mmm, maybe 29 years or so, and we took our 3 kids to Yellowstone. I made sure to have this piece cued up for our drive into the park one misty dawn morning. We’d set alarms and, along with our best friends, left the campground with sleepy kids in-tow, freakishly early, with the hopes of catching better views of wildlife. This song came on (not on a cassette tape, but on my iPod, just to further date myself) just as we crested a hill, the sun broke through the early morning mist as a goofy ‘ol bison slumped down the road beside us. UNFORGETTABLE.
EXTENSION ACTIVITIES:
With summer here (or nearly!), flowers are blooming all around. Some have even come and gone, already. This fun flower dissection experience helps kiddos understand the different parts of a flower. Interesting and do-able for most little kiddos (with supervision, of course).
Keep the flower fun going by making a flower petal suncatcher. How cute are these? I sure want one!
Since the weather is (ideally!) warming up, it’s a great time to get outside! Outdoor Families Online offers some great suggestions for making a hike a STEM learning experience. What a great activity! Plus, it has the added benefit of (maybe) distracting from the, “I’m tired!” and “How much longer?” and “My feet hurt! Will you carry me?”
