Rain Dance ("Rain" from Beat Bugz)

The Beatles, Beat Bugz, and dancing in the rain! It's the perfect combination of music and fun!

If you haven't seen the Netflix show Beat Bugz, then go and look it up - it is awesome. It's about a bunch of musical bugs who live in an overgrown garden and who sing Beatles songs, which are cleverly weaved into the storyline.

No kidding, it has turned my 5- and 2-year olds into Beatles fans. We've even had to look up the original Beatles albums so that we can compare arrangements. So even in that regard, the show has opened up some amazing discussions about singing the same song in a different way, the different instruments on tracks (the Beatles broke some pretty new ground with the kinds of instruments they included in their rock tracks), and expressing opinions about what you like or don't like about the music.

Dancing - Rain

OK, so that's where today's song, Rain, comes from. It's performed by Aloe Blacc, and in the show, a big bull frog shows one of the bugs that she can haave great fun outside, even though it's raining.

Here are the lyrics of the song, with some ideas for actions for the dance.

When the rain comes [make rain with fingers]
They run and hide their heads [run on the spot and then crouch down and cover head with hands]
They might as well be dead [hold crouching position, but sway from side to side]
When the rain comes [make rain with fingers]

When the sun shines [reach arms overhead and then make a semi-circle]
They slip into the shade [step to the side and drag the other foot into a slide move]
They've been forever made [continue slide move]
When the rain comes [make rain with fingers]

Rain, rain, rain [hold out hands to catch the rain]
I don't mind [jump in puddles]
Shine, shine, shine [reach arms overhead and then make a semi-circle]
The water's fine [do a breaststroke swim]

Discussion to build vocabulary

Talk about the weather today. Is it raining? What happens when it rains? Do you like rain? Or do you prefer it when it's sunny? Where does the rain come from?

Sometimes there is lightening and thunder when it rains. Are you scared when there's thunder? Remember, you must stay indoors when there's lightening. 

Instruments

The song rain starts with a croacking frog sound. There's an instrument called a guiro that can make that sound. Demonstrate how to play a guiro and then let the kids try it out.