Do any of you know any wiggle monkeys? Kids with ants in their pants? Kids who just cannot sit still no matter what incentives are offered? I think it’s safe to say, yes! We all know someone who just needs to move!
This month’s website feature addresses the needs of the wiggly ones. GoNoodle is a website that provides action videos for kids to follow along with. I have teacher friends who have used this website in their classroom for years. They use the website during indoor recess, for fun brain breaks throughout the day, or as an educational tool to introduce fun songs about a subject. Younger kids especially like it. And best yet, it’s free to sign up!
When you sign up, you will be asked to choose a funny-looking character as the mascot for your class. For homeschooling parents, you could choose a mascot for your family. Then you get to select a song to move around to. After each song, the mascot will gain a point. After the mascot collects ten points, he goes to the transmorgrifier. This is a short video clip the kids get to watch where the mascot grows a little. Kids love to watch their mascot grow. This provides great incentive for the kids to move and follow along to the actions of the songs.
There are a lot of song options to choose from. Along the top of the screen there is a menu bar. Choose the “Channels” button. This will take you to a whole list of song theme options. For example, under “Zumba Kids”, there are fun zumba songs for kids to do. Under “Koo Koo Kanga Roo!” there are songs that resemble silly camp songs that we would have done at summer camp. Please keep in mind that most of the ‘channels’ are appropriate and the songs are fun. However, there are some channels that focus on calm breathing and mindfulness. Breathing and being mindful is not necessarily bad. However, sometimes this can be mixed with a religious element. I have yet to come across a song on GoNoodle that emphasizes a religious element. However, I have not previewed all songs, so giving the mindfulness/breathing exercise videos a quick preview might be wise.
Many teachers think the best option is the “youtube” channel option. Under this option, you can add in your own song choices from youtube. The process of adding a youtube link is super simple. There is a huge box labeled, “Add YouTube Video”. Click on that box and paste the youtube video URL into the box, select either “calming” or “energizing”, and click “add”. It’s that simple! All the youtube songs you want your kids to learn and dance to will be there for you to easily locate.
I especially enjoy adding Jack Hartmann songs. He has hundreds of youtube action songs to choose from, including counting skills, letter songs, and family words. Importing him into GoNoodle gives the kids a chance to dance to his fun songs and also get points towards making their mascot grow.
I think allowing kids to move is such an important part of their day. Movement provides great teaching movements too, such as teaching about personal space and body awareness. GoNoodle is just one website that helps encourage students to move. Have you found any great websites that I could use in the future?
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