SongWorks for Children: A Video Library of Children Making Music

Peggy D. Bennett, Professor of Music Education at the Conservatory of Music at Oberlin College is the Director of the early childhood MusicPlay program (grades PK-5). The MusicPlay program is based on her distinguished pedagogical research that has been published under the title SongWorks.  This video library is of video clips taken from eleven years of the MusicPlay program.  You will see teachers and parents being playful, interacting with children and music in ways that capture imaginations, focus attentions, stimulate senses, and elicit responsiveness.  You will see three-, four-, and five-year-old children “being themselves” as they make music in Oberlin’s MusicPlay classes. 

Each clip is categorized by music genre (Classics, Foreign
Language Songs, Nursery Rhymes, Pops, or Singing Games) and activity (fingerplay, reading, playlet, movement, and so on). Videos are further searchable by a feature (Behavior, Feedback, Imagination, Literacy, Music Skills, Questions, and Social Skills).  The site includes some 700 clips in the video library that will be a valuable resource for music teachers, early childhood caregivers, classroom teachers, teacher educators, and parents. Print sources for activities are cited with nearly every video description.

First-time visitors should start by clicking on the About MusicPlay and SongWorks as well as the Voices from MusicPlay as they will find delightful comments from teachers and parents.  This project was funded by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to the Five Colleges of Ohio.  Check it out SongWorks for Children:  A Video Library of Children Making Music