Encouraging music with young children in a group is such fun! “Black and White Cow” is a song, book and 2 videos about a happy and contented cow on a farm by a lake. Here are ideas for using the books and videos in the group......Start by reading the book to the children so they have an idea of the story, at a slower pace than the video, then talk about what they saw in the book and what the characters did. Pace this at the children’s development level.

This song and story are valuable for developing and using memory skills because of the fun cumulative nature of the words – itchy, munchy, dirty etc. Encourage children to develop the skill of memorising the order of the words.

The cow in this video has lots of personality and has lots of little challenges in her life – and despite them all she is still a happy and contented cow! There is a subtle message in there! This can also open a discussion with your child that explores their emotions.

Involving Children in the Book - Questions You can Ask

You could ask “What shapes do you see on this page?”, or “Where is the butterfly?” (hint….. Betty the Butterfly is hidden on every page!) After reading “Black and White Cow”….. “What other animals did you see in the book, what sort of things happened to the cow, what came after the mosquito, or what came after the part where it said she had a big voice.”

Because it’s a cumulative word story it’s fun for the children to guess what comes next, before you turn the page!

The book is colourful and has 24 beautiful, thick pages (it is not a board book). You can talk about the shapes, colours, animals and adventures on each page, explore the concepts such as why she was itchy, and actively involve the children in the experience. Some adults like to read through the whole story first then they go back and do these interactive activities on each page straight after.

The song which comes with the book can be played while you turn the pages - it's even better if you all sing along! There are sequential learning opportunities with our products that are designed to combine hands on 'play and learn' experiences with the expectations and realities of today's children...videos. And so there are 2 animation videos which bring the book to life!

Involving Children in the Experience of the Videos

After the book, play the video for the children to watch and they can be encouraged to do actions – either they make up their own, or they follow your actions, or follow the cow’s actions! It’s especially fun if you have a cape (or a few!) with a black and white pattern so the little ones pretend to be “Moooo”, the cow in the song. Cow puppets or cow toys for the children to use while they are watching the video or reading the book also encourages their creativity.

You can also use the song by itself in the same way, just as audio. This really lends itself to developing creativity in children as they start to invent their own way of putting actions to the songs.

These videos encourage skills of following cues, music, language and speech, imagination, creativity and story-telling through interactive involvement, and the senses of sight, hearing, movement, and kinaesthetic development – learning through following cues and instructions, and doing. Our soft plush cow is much loved by kids (and many adults!) and can be combined into the reading, singing, or video experiences using kids' imagination and creativity. For example, kids can re-create the story using the toy.

The singalong version of the animated video with the song soundtrack has the lyrics on-screen and is great for children who can read, are learning to read or who are deaf or hard of hearing.

The complete sensory experience as a 6 Product “Black and White Cow” Signature Set is also available for "Black and White Cow" - check it out HERE.

And click here HERE for a preview of the book (with the matching song included)!