Zoom, Zoom, Zoom!

Baby sign language advocates explain that babies have a strong desire to communicate their needs and wants. During the early years of a child's life, speech development often lags behind cognitive ability, making communication frustrating at times for him or her. Sign language can be a great form of communication that a baby can easily learn.

Like sign language, action rhymes and songs are another excellent form of communicating with babies. Language progression, introduction to new sounds and noises, counting skills, and development of fine motor and cognitive skills are just some of the many benefits of music and rhymes for babies. In a class setting, there is also the added benefit of socialization.

My 8 month old son goes with me to my music classes and thoroughly enjoys them. Even though he is too young to understand every concept or actively participate with the fingerplays or dances, he observes the class closely and I am confident that he is completely engaged. 

Signs of his engagement might not show up until much later. For example, since he was two months old, I have sung The Itsy, Bitsy Spider during diaper changes to help him stay calm. I always use the well-known accompanying fingerplay when I sing it to him. Recently, he has attempted to imitate my motions and will even "ask" for The Itsy, Bitsy Spider when we are doing other things together throughout the day. 

I decided to take him to a baby story time session at a local library. He absolutely loved it! There were other babies to watch, exciting new rhymes and songs to listen to, and props and stories to explore. While we were there, we learned a new-to-me rhyme that my son really liked. The instructor there used scarves as props to accompany it. Here's how it goes:

Zoom, zoom, zoom!

We're going to the moon.

Zoom, zoom, zoom!

We're going very soon.

(wave scarf back and forth rapidly)

If you want to take a trip,

Climb aboard my rocket ship.

Zoom, zoom, zoom!

We're going to the moon.

(continue to wave scarf back and forth; at the end of the second stanza, put the scarf on the floor in front of you)

5, 4, 3, 2, 1

(hold 5 fingers up and count down)

Blast off!

(toss scarf into the air)

I also found a slightly different version of it here. The "blast off" part at the end was a hit with all the babies in the group. 

I decided to try this rhyme as an activity in my one year old class today. They also enjoyed it as much as my son did, and asked me to repeat it over and over again. Their smiles and "More, more!"s were so adorable! This rhyme is definitely a keeper and made it into my top ten list!