Using Music From Pacha's Pajamas to inspire Young Artists

Recently we reviewed the new double kids album Pachas pajamas: A Story Written By Nature. Our 3 year old, Mini Piwi, especially loves to dance to it in the car (not an easy thing to do). Our eight year old, Miss K seems especially inspired by the art that was featured in the book Pacha's Pajamas: A Story Written By Nature by Aaron Ableman.

All Pacha's Pajamas images are sourced from here

One afternoon this week she gathered up a load of art supplies and headed to her room. A little later she presented me with her version of what our Siamese cat, Perry, would look like if he attended the Music festival that Pacha and all of nature put on. Miss K is still working on what Perry would sing at the Festival.

Today we all sat done to work on creating a parrot that symbolized hope for the rainforest. Well that was the original plan. Mini Piwi announced she wanted to make her own.

The kids used  Learn to Draw Pets to sketch a picture of a Macaw.  If teaching art scares you like it does me, I would definitely recommend this as an easy(and cheap) way to introduce sketching to kids. As you can see even Mini Piwi was able to follow the step by step instructions

The pencil lines were traced with dark oil pastel and they set about adding color and patterns.

Image source

We recently learnt about the Koru symbol used in New Zealand Maori carving. It is based on the shape of a fern frond and represents regeneration and hope for the future. Miss K loves the smudging effect of oil pastels so that’s how the background was filled.

Mini Piwi also added Korus and lots of colors. She named her parrot Sparky. Both Pictures have definitely brightened up the kitchen Art Museum (aka the Fridge).

Don't forget to enter our Giveaway to win one of Ten copies of the brand new Double Album.

Pachas Pajamas Double Album Review and Giveaway!

This a Sponsored Post. I received compensation in return for an honest review. All opinions are my own

As parents we want our children to be creative and explore their talents. Technology offers opportunities that past generations couldn't have envisioned. Unfortunately it is also creating a generation of kids who more connected with electronic devices than they are with nature. A team of creative minds have developed a way to use entertainment to educate children about some of the most pressing environmental issues of our time.

Pacha's Pajamas: A Story Written By Nature, is an enchanting story told through lively musical narration tracks and 12 inspiring songs. Pacha falls asleep in her animal print PJs.  In her dreams she is transported to a place where all the plants and animals on her nightwear are alive and she is disguised as a little gorilla. The jungle creatures are sad because their world is being destroyed before their eyes. Pasha and her new friends need to use all their talents and creativity to in order to bring balance to Planet Earth.

This fun and inspiring soundtrack features 70 diverse artists from 4 generations. Some are established performers like Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Cheech Marin. If you have young children you are likely to also recognize Genevieve Goings from 'Choo Choo Soul' on Disney Jr Channel. A good number of artists are up and coming young performers with amazing stories of their own.  Album one has already won both the 2013 Peoples' Choice Fan Favorite award and the 2013 Parents Choice recommended award.

Our favorite track was ‘Horses Don’t See Colors’ (featuring Felecity).  It is a catchy country tune that sends a simple but moving message about racial harmony. You can listen to a sample here.

 

I have caught myself singing this song and humming the theme song on several occasions. The music and narration makes the kids feel like they are part of the show. It is not a difficult task to imagine the vibrant world that Pacha is seeing. The kids loved the Platypus and his song ‘Use What You Got’. I loved the message of embracing what makes us unique instead of trying to change to fit in.

Other themes in the album include the conservation of the Earth's Resources, healthy living, and problem solving. The songs allows kids to comprehend some important topics and gives them a way to express their own concerns about the planet . It has already inspired some great dinner conversations in our home! I would recommend this album to all families and educators.  Adults will love the values it promotes and Kids will have a blast rockin' out with nature.

Be sure to visit the Pachas Pajamas website, while you are there...

• Sample some of the tracks
• Download a free song
• Print off Coloring Pages featuring the characters in the Pasha's Pajamas book
• Play Nature detective and spot the differences in scenes from the book
• Buy a cd or digital copy of the album

Win a copy!!

We are excited to be able to be able to offer 10 readers a chance to own a digital copy of Pacha's Pajamas: A story written by nature. These have been generously provided by Balance Entertainment.
The Giveaway is open to readers any where in the world, it will end at 12am CT Nov. 19. Please use the Rafflecopter form below to enter.


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all images used were from

Halloween Songs/ Poetry

Yesterday we went and picked out Halloween Costumes and now Miss K is on a Halloween party mission. She convinced Piwi Daddy to take her to the dollar store for decorations this afternoon and tonight she was busy making some more. We have learn t not to interrupt the 'party process'. I was supposed to be helping her write a Halloween song but my ideas weren't up to par so I just sat on the couch being supportive (and writing up what we achieved today).
Eventually the song was declared finished, to my surprise the song had morphed into a pretty impressive poem! Again I learn a lesson, sometimes you need to just sit there, be there for spelling help and your awesome kid can work their own writing magic. However, don't make my mistake and call it a poem...it's a Halloween song people!

Miss K's Song:

Get Ready for Halloween

By Miss K. Grade 2

Halloween, Halloween,

Halloween, Halloween,

Let’s celebrate Halloween.

The Monster Mash and other songs,

Notes and spooky sounds,

From Monsters inside your head.

They come to you again and again.

Let’s put our costumes on,

And trick or treat all day long

Pumpkins are glowing

And Skeletons are moving

The black cats are meowing

Let’s get ready for Halloween

Music lessons

This week we purchased three recorders in anticipation of starting Mummy led music lessons. I have not picked up a recorder in 15 years so I hoped it would come back to me. Armed with an instruction book I gave the Piwis their first lesson.
We started by learning the parts of the recorder, how to hold it correctly and how to make a sound. I am proud to say I heard some great 'b' notes from Miss K. Even Mini Piwi gave it a good try. Although the recorder looked nearly bigger than she was. There was no way, as expected, she was going to be left out of music lessons.

We chose to begin with the recorder because of portability and ease of use. The idea is to get the Piwis aware of musical timing and for Miss K to learn to begin sight reading a few notes. As she gets more confident she may want to choose another instrument. Currently she thinks she wants to try the flute and the guitar....at least they are more portable than a piano!