MGOL for Senior Citizens – Journeys with Nicole

October Program

  1. Welcoming remarks:
  • Introduce yourself and welcome everyone Welcome to Journeys with Nicole!
  • State Expectations / Each month we will focus on a different Holiday, Place, or Decade
  • Set guidelines / All you need to do is come, and be ready to have some fun! We are all going to do what we can
  • Explain how it works: I am going to say things twice, and you can repeat songs and rhymes back to me. Certain Parts will be the same every month.
    • Welcome to Journeys with Nicole!  Each month we will focus on a different holiday, place, or decade. All you need to do is come, and be ready to have some fun! We are all going to do what we can and are comfortable with.  I am going to say things twice, and you can repeat songs and rhymes back to me. Certain Parts will be the same every month.
  1. Rhymes and reads (I share a book and lead a discussion on Elvis songs. ​I don’t do Elvis songs every month, it varies Elvis was November, October was “They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!”, December will be Jingle Bells and maybe one or two other Christmas songs.   I always recite the Mother Goose rhyme to kick off the program, because it is “Journeys with Nicole” and we always wander somewhere. Following that, I use a rhyme that’s been altered to fit the holiday or month. These can usually be found on Pinterest or on children’s rhymes websites.)

Opening Rhymes:         

  1.       Old Mother Goose,

When she used to wander,

Would ride through the air

On a very fine gander

       

  • Book to Read Aloud: The Illustrated Signs and Symbols Sourcebook by Adele Nozedar
    • I use this symbolism book every month as part of the Rhymes and Reads section in conjunction with a puppet. 
  • Puppet:  Bat
    • Take turns passing the puppet around in a circle and playing with it while discussing what the animal stands for from the symbolism book.  They senior citizens enjoy the hands-on activity of playing with puppets and petting them.
  1. Body Rhymes:  

Head:     Heads shoulders Knees and Toes (stretches arm and  shoulder muscles)

I alternate each month between this rhyme and the Hokey Pokey to keep             it fresh. The seniors do all of these from a seated position, so I model how to do it in the seated position with them.

Fingers:  Itsy Bitsy Spider (works the hands and wrists)

  1. Rum Pum Pum Drum Sequence
  2. Stand Up Activities:
    1. Stretching
    2. fly the bat
  3. Musical Instruments and Props:

Musical instrument:      Bells

  1. They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa! is a 1966 novelty record written and performed by Jerry Samuels (billed as Napoleon XIV), and released on Warner Bros. Records. The song became an instant success in the United States, peaking at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 popular music singles chart on August 13[1] and reaching No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart.
  • Ring them up High, ring them down low  (the seniors enjoy shaking the bells to the beat. They like the fact that the bells are different colors and different animals.)
  •  (Bells)   away

Colored scarves:            

  • Gentle Tug of War/Row row row your Boat:
  • Wave Scarves fast, wave scarves slow
    • Wind, oh wind, oh wind I say

Wind, oh wind, oh wind I say,

What are you blowing away today?

Scarves, oh scarves, oh scarves, I say

I am blowing the scarves away.

Fly scarves from side to side and make them disappear after the last line

  • Scarves away

7. Closing Segment