Glimpse of my Green workshop

The other day, I had a lovely time with a group of 3 to 12 year olds, at the West Des Moines Library, where incidentally, I've been doing a lot of my recent blogging. On this day, it was time to represent Metro Arts as a children's seminar leader for their Green initiative. So I did my part to use music to declare the glory of "taking care of our planet, because if you do this, the planet will take care of you."

Imagine your inner child is hanging out with us for this whimsical hour. You would be the enthusiastic singer of the following to the tune of "Row Row Row Your Boat"--which is one of my favorite songs, by the way:

Save, save, save the earth, save the earth with song
Paper--Please recycle every day, paper waste is wrong
Spray--Please cut down your chemicals, too much spray is wrong
Water--Please run water carefully, overuse is wrong

And then, to the tune of "Jingle Bells", and complete with creative movements:

Let us all, let us all, let us all Go Green (Motown "shovel" steps left and right)
We can make the world go round (Sunburst hands and arms)
With our new routine--Hey! (Roll-up arms from hips to sky, with raise-the-roof at the top)

I think everyone should have the privilege of just spending an hour with a group of adorable kids like this, let alone being the one up front to teach them a little while. For me, they are always the ones who do the most teaching, if only I stay open to receive it from them. In the coming year, I'm going to be traveling more with the band and other musical endeavors, but I hope to be able to find some way to keep my learning connection alive with the next generation.