|
Little Folkies, the multi-award-winning, San Francisco-based folk music program for parents, teachers, and kids ages 0-5, is out with the second of four volumes of original folk music for young children, Songs for Winter, today on Smithsonian Folkways. Listen to the album, which features a party of string instruments and the lilting vocals and guitar of musician, educator, and Little Folkies co-founder Irena Eide, HERE
The second album of a four-volume set that orbits around the earth’s seasons, Songs for Winter embraces the shorter days with a cozy collection of 16 original and traditional tunes designed to keep little ones moving and brighten winter days. Little Folkies’ celebration of the coldest season captures Winter’s essence with playful, gentle songs that encourage children to connect with nature and one another. Featuring the old-time sounds of mandolin, banjo, fiddle, tambourine, and baritone ukulele—plus the expertise of Appalachian fiddle master Dirk Powell, 7-time Grammy nominee Peter Rowan, and Eide herself—"Songs for Winter" is both soothing and engaging. Perfect for home, classroom, or outdoor listening, this volume encourages joy and movement and nurtures discovery and an innate love of music.
Developed by Irena Eide (artist name: Rainy Eyes) and co-founded in 2009 with Joshua Smith, the Little Folkies curriculum features a joyful treasury of original and traditional folk songs to inspire singing and movement. Eide has written over 46 original songs for young children and adapted a number of traditional songs for Little Folkies. She sings and plays guitar on every track. The 4-CD physical set anthologizes this music in an interactive songbook that is intended for parents to use at home to sing and play the songs with their children. The book comes with lyrics, chords and instructions to play along with each song, and each song also comes with a special movement or an activity. It also includes artwork designed by old-time, country-folk, and early roots musician Pharis Romero and illustrated by Amelia Heron. The full seasonal collection and accompanying songbook will be available in September 2025.
In a typical Little Folkies classroom, young children dance and sing, learn wooden instruments, and engage with hand movement and rhythmic play. Interacting with music at a young age is deeply generative for young children, who gain self-confidence, develop their coordination as well as fine and gross motor skills, and improve focus and memory in the process. Little Folkies nurtures our deep-down connection to music using fun and gentle songs that teach children about the world around them.
Eide describes this essential connection below:
Music is at the core of our being. No matter our level of experience, all of us enjoy making music and are capable of singing. Because children are naturally musical, we may nurture and strengthen their musical abilities from an early age. These early positive experiences may create not only deep bonds that last a lifetime, but may also help children become confident music-makers as they blossom.
Some of my earliest childhood memories are sitting on the living-room floor in my mother’s lap with our big book of children’s songs. Already at the age of one, I knew the songs in the book based on the illustrations.
I flipped through the book and picked out songs for my mother to sing. She sang with the voice she had; it didn't matter that she wasn't a trained singer. The memories of sitting on her lap, listening to her voice, and feeling her warmth and vibrations forever put a mark on me strongly connecting me to music and singing from an early age.
I wish this same experience on all the little music-makers out there. I hope this book [and album] will help parents give their children the joy of making music in their first years of life.
|
