Singing Through Transitions

"Children love knowing what is coming next and are confident in rhythms and routines. When familiar rhythms are thrown off, children struggle: we see tears and tantrums." Tara Katz made this observation in her article, "Helping Young Children Through Daily Transitions," which serves as the basis for an Exchange Out of the Box Training Kit by the same name. One suggestion to Katz offered for easing transitions is singing:

"The first thing, and possibly the most delightful, is singing. How many of us have heard, or sung, "Clean up, clean up, everybody, everywhere . . ."? Well, it works! After almost 30 years of teaching, I have found that a little song puts everyone at ease and lets the children know what to expect without a lot of words. All too often adults talk at children, overwhelming them with information. A song that is used to signal a transition is like magic; in fact it is so magical that one has to merely hum the well-known tune and children will immediately go into the transition. Taking well-known tunes and writing your own words is the easiest way to get a message across. I write songs all the time using the words I need, including songs in Spanish. Repetitive words help children quickly learn and remember the words, even in new languages, like this one about handwashing:

Lava, lava tus manitas.
Lava, lava tus deditos.
Lava, lava tus manitas.
Todos las mananas.

"These are little moments that could gather momentum creating a loud classroom, which is never comforting to little ones. Instead, when you carry the moment through on a song, the children float through the transition with ease and joy."

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