Winter Is Coming
by Teresa Jennings
WINTER IS COMING is an infectiously cute partner song and a prime candidate for movement activities. Any number of simple gestures can be used to complement the lyrics. The best ones are the most obvious (shorter, long, snow falling, etc.). I highly recommend turning the creation of gestures into a class activity. Take it one phrase at a time and ask your students what simple move or gesture they can think of to put with that phrase. You will get wonderful, creative responses!
Movement Idea - Another really neat option to use with this song is a sand dance, which can be done sitting or standing. If standing, sprinkle sand on the floor (you've seen Fred Astaire do it!) and let your kids scuff along in rhythm to the music while singing.
If you'd prefer a more controlled approach, pour sand into a flat container, such as a tray, and your kids can sit down and scuff their feet around in the tray. Consider using only a few sand dancers (or just a pair of sandblocks) while the rest of the kids sing. And don't forget the broom and dustpan.
Text is taken from Music K-8 magazine.