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By Amelia Tarallo
Hometown Weekly Staff
The world is in no short supply of children’s music. From nursery rhymes to Disney showtunes, parents have myriad different titles to choose from when it comes to kids’ ditties.
But a children’s performer who can provide some good song and encourage kids to let out their energy? Now that’s an impressive find.
On Monday, May 20, toddlers and their parents came ready to get up and groove to the songs of Stacey Peasley, a children’s performer. Dressed in a purple dress and armed with a guitar and a bucket filled to the brim with rubber duckies, Stacey was ready to take on the challenge.
Stacey begin with a classic: the “Hello Song.”
“Hello to the infants, hello to the preschoolers,” she sang. Kids got up from their parents’ laps and began to dance around the room. “Hello to the mommies, hello to the daddies, hello to to the grandparents,” Peasley continued, with all the kids now up and dancing.
Stacey then moved into a rendition of the classic song, “If You’re Happy and You Know It.”
“If you’re happy and you know it stomp your feet,” said Peasley. Everyone, even the youngest people in room who could barely stand themselves, stomped their tiny feet. One little girl tried to boost the excitement level even further by waving her arms up, making parents laugh at the sight. “I don’t think anyone in the United States is as excited as we are!” exclaimed Peasley.
As a transition from her last song about different animal sounds, Stacey asked her audience what sound a duck makes. Most responded with the appropriate quacking sound. Stacey was about to begin a tune revolving around ducks. Before she started, though, she put down her guitar, picked up a bucket and poured out the contents: hundred of rubber duckies, all decorated for different occasions. All of the kids ran to pick up a duck, some collecting more than one in the excitement. “If you see someone without a duckling, share with them,” said Peasley, “I know we’re all good sharers here.”
Peasley then launched into her duck-centric song, “Five Little Ducks that I Once Knew.” The kids followed along with the song, moving their ducks to the motions of the songs. “All the little ducks are upside down, upside down, upside down / All the little ducks are upside down, upside down,” prompted all of the toddlers to tip their ducks upside down and carry them around the room. “Everyone hold up and show what kind of duck you have,” Peasley said. Kids still collecting ducks carried some of their new acquisitions to their parents before returning to singing along with the songs.
For the final song, Peasley asked the kids to look at some foam letters. “What can we do with our hands that begin with the letter C.
“Clap!” the kids shouted. The kids clapped together, some even clapping each others’ hands, as they danced around to the music.
Then, Peasley held up a foam letter S. “What can we do with our feet that begins with S?”
“Stomp!” they shouted, before stomping together.
“What about J?”
One child shouted “Jump!”
“Oh, I heard it! JUMP!” exclaimed Peasley. The kids all jumped together. Two girls even grabbed hands and jumped together, smiling and giggling the entire time.
When they got to D, all of the kids started dancing, even forming circles to dance together. One girl wanted to join a circle, and was too shy to ask to join. That is, until another girl pulled her in.
At the end of some duck-themed music, Peasley asked all of the kids to help clean up. Quickly, each of the children helped, collected their ducks, and placed them back in the basket. “See, grown-ups, they can clean up at home,” Stacey noted. “They just don’t want to.”
The tuckered-out kids left Peasley’s program having learned how to share, how make new friends, and how to appreciate the joys of a simple rubber ducky.
