A Musical Mystery

As mentioned in a previous blog, we are currently in the middle of a very cold winter.  While Mother Nature is teasing the children with snow, the frigid temperatures are keeping us indoors.  The occasional indoor recess is fun, but after one day, two days, three days, four, indoor recess is beginning to lose its appeal.

With the prospect of yet another indoor recess, I decided that we would do something different.  Yesterday, I told the children I was going to bring something in that had to do with rock n' roll. Their little ears perked up and I heard them talking about what it could be.

Today at our indoor recess time, I placed my rock n'roll item on the carpet.

The Mystery Item

  

The room fell silent as the children gazed at the case with puzzled expressions.  Finally, one little girl said "You brought a suitcase?" It did look that way but there was something very interesting inside.

The Open Case

I opened the case.  Once again, the children just stared silently. No one knew what it could be.  One little boy quite proudly stated "I know what it is. It is an old fashion cd player!"  Most everyone agreed.  I asked the children "Does it look like a cd player?"  They thought and thought and decided no, it didn't. What did this funny looking thing have to do with rock n' roll?

I took out some other objects I had brought along to see if that would help - The Beatles' Long Tall Sally Vinyl Album (lp), a Beatles 45 single and a Beatles cd.  All three contain the song "I Want To Hold Your Hand" which was released in North America on Boxing Day 1963.  (If you are doing the math, I was not around at that time.  My aunt gave these to me when I was young.) 

A 1964 Beatles Album (LP)

   

I Want To Hold Your Hand 45 single - Released December 1963

  

The Beatles #1 Hits Featuring I Want To Hold Your Hand

The children only recognized the cd.  I placed the album on the turntable and we heard a little bit of "I Want To Hold Your Hand".  I placed the 45 single on the turntable and we listened to a little bit of the same song.  I then placed the cd in the cd player and we listened to a little bit of the same song again. If you haven't guessed already, my mystery rock n' roll item is a record player!  The look of amazement on the children's faces when they heard the sounds coming from the vinyl was truly something to witness. They were so surprised and had many questions about the records.  Why was it (the lp) so big?  How many songs are on it?  Why is there only one song on the small record?  How many songs are on the cd?"  (There are twelve songs on the lp and twenty seven on the cd.)  

The music made us want to get up and dance and that is exactly what we did.  We shook, we shimmied, we twisted and shouted. We had a good old fashioned dance party! 

The Record Player

Dancing

Dancing

At the end of the day, one little girl said to me "This was the greatest day ever!"  I asked "Why was it so great?"  She replied "Because we danced."  Yes, it was pretty great.