Singing and dancing, giggling and wiggling, playing and laughing. MelodyKids’ Musikgarten allows children, ages newborn to 9, to experiment with their musical creativity and still keep playing.
Centreville resident LiPing Hudson, 42, director of MelodyKids, hosted two Musikgarten programs last December at the Centreville and Chantilly libraries. The one-hour programs were attended by more than 150 people from the area.
MelodyKids organizes different events applying Musikgarten education in different ways. For example, it mixes musical games and the making of music and musical instruments with music history, dancing and singing.
There's Family Music for ages birth to 3, Cycle of Seasons for ages 3-5 and Music Makers for ages 4-7.
Part of Musikgarten’s goal is to provide music education for children — to show “how children from birth to age 9 learn music,” according to the Web site.
Hudson is trained and licensed by Musikgarten and KinderMusik, specializing in their early childhood music and movement education. She leads private classes in her home studio as well as summer camp at the Greenbriar Community Center.
A Summer Camp Open House will be held on Sunday, March 9, from 2-4 p.m. at the Greenbriar Community Center, located at 4614 Stringfellow Road, Chantilly.
The 1/2-day camp is for children ages 3-5, and the full-day camp is for children ages 6-12.
“She [LiPing Hudson] is a really great singer, and does great things with the kids,” says Sabine Hudenburg, who has visited Musikgarten several times with her two children, Emily, 4 and Kaitlyn, 7.
Hudenburg says an advantage of Musikgarten is that the children can play and learn simultaneously. And since parents accompany their kids to class, they get a chance to learn themselves.
“The parents can play together with their kids and then take the experience with them and continue at home,” says Hudson.
“Sometimes [Hudson] does something that the children enjoy, and they end up doing the same thing for half an hour,” said parent Bruce Dalrymple.
“Some parents don’t feel comfortable dancing among other adults. But if you are willing to go for it, the children will have a good time,” he added.
Musikgarten was founded in 1994 by Lorna Lutz Heyge and Audrey Sillick. They produce CDs and booklets, and educate and certify teachers for children's’ education using their program.
LiPing Hudson's private studio is located at 13626 Weinstein Court, Centreville. She can be reached at 703-222-2375.
For more information, visit the Web site at http://www.musikgarten.org.