{"id":6017,"date":"2013-02-18T12:01:44","date_gmt":"2013-02-18T17:01:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/?p=6017"},"modified":"2013-02-18T12:01:48","modified_gmt":"2013-02-18T17:01:48","slug":"jim-gill-on-music-play-with-purpose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/2013\/02\/jim-gill-on-music-play-with-purpose\/","title":{"rendered":"Jim Gill on Music Play with Purpose"},"content":{"rendered":"

I recently attended the California Kindergarten Association’s PK1 Conference, where Jim Gill<\/a> was the keynote speaker\/singer and presented a workshop on Music Play with Purpose.\u00a0 I attended because I think Jim’s work is remarkable.\u00a0 I love sharing his recorded music in preschool and school age storytimes at my library<\/a> and recommend it wholeheartedly to parents and anyone working with young children.\u00a0 Jim’s songs are full of inventive word play, fresh and unexpected rhymes and playful prompts for children to join in the active fun.\u00a0 Both children and adults (including a legion of children’s librarians!) delight in Jim’s exuberantly silly songs.<\/p>\n

Jim is an early childhood specialist, with a graduate degree in child development with an emphasis on play.\u00a0 He has created 6 albums, many of which are ALA Notable Children’s Recordings, including his newest, Jim Gill Presents Music Play for Folks of All Stripes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Soup
Soup Opera<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He’s also written 2 delightful pictures books — the latest is A Soup Opera<\/a>, a zany sing-along with CD, also an ALA Notable Children’s Recording (and fantastic material for a skit or puppet show!)<\/p>\n

Like Jim’s music, which features a host of musical styles and accomplished musicianship, his workshop was interactive and lively.\u00a0 What a treat to sing and dance with him to many of my favorite Jim Gill songs: Stick to the Glue<\/a>,\u00a0 Knuckles Knees<\/a>, Beethoven’s Five Finger Play<\/a>, and of course, The Silly Dance Contest<\/a>!\u00a0 We also saw, via video, children and adults playing together to two of his newest songs, the ingenious Truck Stop<\/a> and Foot Notes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Besides the exhilaration of doing “the curl,” “the twirl,” “the hide” and “the slide” with Jim and a ballroom full of (really nice!) teachers (when we cut a rug to the List of Dances<\/a>), here are my key takeaways from Jim’s workshop:<\/p>\n