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mokenamessenger.com Life & Arts
the Mokena Messenger | September 15, 2016 | 23
Moving to the beat
Music in the Box
teaches toddlers
motor skills, creativity
Mums the
Word!
F. Amanda Tugade
Assistant Editor
Instructor Gretel Hansen (center) reads a story to her Music
in the Box class Sept. 7 at the Mokena Community Public
Library District.
Photos by F. Amanda Tugade/22nd Century Media
Instructor Gretel Hansen blows bubbles, which is just
another activity to get the children up and going.
Music in the Box
When: Wednesdays,
9:30 a.m., 10 a.m.,
10:30 a.m.
Where: Mokena
Community Public
Library District,
11327 West 195th
Street
For more information, visit
www.mokenalibrary.org.
“Good morning, fingers!
Good morning, feet! Good
morning, heads and faces
sweet! Good morning music,
hear the sounds singing
all around!”
That was just a glimpse into
Gretel Hansen’s enthusiasm,
as she greeted a room full of
families at the Mokena Community
Public Library District.
Grandparents, guardians,
parents and children gathered
on the morning of Sept. 7 to
attend Music in the Box.
After she explained a few
ground rules – participation
is a must – Hansen and her
class dove into 25 minutes
of singing, wiggling, clapping,
jumping and dancing.
She even left a little time to
read a short story to close
out the Wednesday morning
session.
Music in the Box is an
interactive music class presented
by The Music Connection,
a music program
with locations in Orland
Park and Frankfort. Hansen
explained that the class itself
is a fusion of different teaching
methods, which looks to
help newborns and children
up to age 5 practice listening,
speaking and moving.
“It also incorporates the
Suzuki method of teaching
music, the mother-tongue
approach, which is basically
if the child hears the music,
they’ll be able to play it
whether it’ll be on the violin
or the piano,” she said.
She noted that most of the
songs the children sing in
class “are songs that they’ll
eventually learn on the violin
or the piano if they decided
to continue in music
studies.”
Music in the Box’s curriculum
is also geared to
Please see Music, 26
Listening to Gretel Hansen’s
directions, 2-year-old
Madison Kwilose follows
her lead and pretends to
fall asleep during a sing-alongs
for the Music in the
Box class, which took place
at the Mokena library.
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Connect with us on social media:
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20th Annual
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Sat, September 24th!
10:00am-3:00pm