Scarf Movement Evolution

Scarf Movement Song Evolution

Written by Teacher Hannah (non-assisted)

We began with a song about a little seed, introducing scarves in the classroom. Learning rhythm with movement, and establishing a new anchor to our routine.

“A little seed, for me to sow. A little earth, to make it grow. A little Sun, a little shower. A little wait….and then a flower”.

With the children’s growing interest and love for cats, we made “Meow-Meow” Version:

“Meow meow meow meow, meow meow meow meow…”

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“Blowing In The Wind” is another scarf song, purely for the movement of our bodies, the following of the melody, and the enjoyment of Teacher Hannah’s singing🥰(as the children have expressed time and time again)

 Blowing in the wind, blowing in the wind, my scarf is blowing in the wind. 

Falling down, falling down, with a Woosh! Then Plop!

Dancing in the wind, dancing in the wind, my scarf is dancing in the wind.

Falling down, falling down, with a Woosh! Then Plop!

It’s time to sneak, put it in a ball, make it so tiny and small.

It’s time to sneak, put it in a ball, now ready set throw!

(x2)

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In January, the children learned the cardinal directions during our “Harvest Hunt” - learning the “Northern-most” part of the property, “Eastern-most” part of the property, “Southern-most” part of the property, and “Western-most” part of the property. 

One simple scarf movement exercise to maintain the memory of the cardinal direction is where we point North, East, South, West. (In the actual direction) Standing in the same spot, turning 360 degrees.

We begin again by saying mnemonic devices (a memory aid that helps you remember information by turning it into something easier, more vivid, or more structured)

 No, Eating, Slimy, Worms. 

Over time, we have thought of silly ways to remember the cardinal directions, for they disagreed with the well-known mnemonic device : No, Eating, Soggy, Waffles. 

Group consensus said “We WILL eat soggy waffles. They still taste good!” Hahaha

Our newest one was: 

No, Eating, Saphira’s, Worms. 

(I want to fully clarify that she does NOT have worms, but the kids think this is so funny and silly with “ew!”s and “aw!”s that it’s sticking… hahaha)

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Inspired by Pitch, one of our “Littles” children, I have begun a new Scarf Movement lesson this this called “Clock Hands”. Pitch showed so much interest in time that I wanted to transmute his curiosity into a fun way of learning time! All the children have been really engaged in “Clock Hands”.

With a scarf in the right hand, Teacher’s Hannah’s back to the children, we call our scarf hand, the “hour hand”. The following is the dialogue Teacher Hannah guides:

What number is at the top of a clock? 12! That’s right. Let’s begin “Clock Hands”. Your Right hand is your hour hand. 

1 o’clock 2 o’clock 3 o’clock. 

3 o’clock is parallel to the ground, straight out from your right side of your body

4 o’clock 5 o’clock 6 o’clock

(I turned to face the children to show that 6 o’clock is directly in front of my body pointing down) and then…

Quick switch! (This is where we switch the scarf from the right hand to the left hand, putting the right hand straight up in the air and the left hand becoming the our hand now) 

7 o’clock 8 o’clock 9 o’clock

9 o’clock is parallel to the ground straight up out from the left side of your body

10 o’clock 11 o’clock 12 o’clock.

(We finish where we began)

“Clock Hands” teaches: 

• left and right

• numbers 1-12

• the location of the numbers on a clock

• learning the word parallel

• counting by fives (the latest addition)

When the song starts over, instead of counting 1 o’clock, 2 o’clock 3 o’clock, we are counting by fives! 5, 10, 15… and so on. Linking the understanding that every “hour number” is five minutes, that 60 minutes equal one hour.

What’s to come: 

• Counting 1 to 60; 60 seconds = 1 minute

“Littles” who are learning to count, will be learning to count 1-60 by using clock hands, while “Middles” who know how to count, are connecting their number knowledge to the clock. 

• Introducing the concept of fractions

• The degrees of a circle

• time phrases like “a quarter ‘til”, and so on.

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Our newest Scarf Movement addition is learning the solfège scale (Do–Re–Mi–Fa–So–La–Ti–Do) by moving from low (pelvis) to high (head) space in front of the body. This helps children understand pitch direction while also experiencing how breath and voice naturally rise as we sing higher notes. 

We sing:

 “Doe” with the scarf in front of our pelvis

“Ray” with the scarf at our spleen center

“Me” with the scarf in front of our belly button

“Fa” with a scarf over our heart

“So” with the scarf on our throat

“La” with the scarf on our forehead

“Ti” with a scarf on top of our heads

“Doe” extending out our hands above our heads, bringing our hands back in front of our pelvis.

Once children have mastered, the Solfedge notes and locations from bottom to top, we will then begin to master from top to bottom, next I will begin to challenge them asking where random notes are located and what the pitch sounds like. 

Pairing music with movement supports vocal development, coordination, and memory, allowing children to physically experience musical patterns rather than only hearing them. 

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Scarf movement has become a strong anchor in the teaching philosophy at Freedom Schoolhouse and Farm, where we teach lessons through play, instead of worksheets before 3rd grade. Children have learned these songs within just a few weeks through moving their bodies to the rhythm of lessons, the simple joy of singing together, and Teacher Hannah’s observations that transform children’s curiosity into small moments of learning that feel like pure play.

(The pros is that they’re learning! The (joking) cons, is that Teacher Hannah is challenged to come up with more and more movement songs and lessons because they are craving this kind of play! Haha)