The Laurie Berkner Band Blog

Halloween Costumes

We've had such a large number of people contact us about how to make Laurie Berkner Band-related Halloween costumes, we decided to help come up with some ideas for you here!

There are a few ways you dress up for Halloween with the LBB!

You can be:

• Laurie, Susie, Adam, and/or Bobby
• The Rocketship on the cover of Rocketship Run
• A Googlehead
• Victor Vito or Freddie Vasco (polar bears!)
• A Bumblebee
• A Dinosaur
• Much more!

For those of you who want to put together a Laurie costume, here are some suggestions:

1. Curly hair. You can wear a wig or curl your hair with a curling iron!
2. A guitar. For the smallest Trick-or-Treaters, a ukulele will work great! Laurie's guitars are purple, blue, and sunburst. Lots of toy stores sell great kids guitars at a very affordable price.  A fun, colorful strap is a great extra detail.
3. An Outfit. Laurie has worn so many different types of outfits, but she always loves bright, fun colors!  You can try wearing a pair of colorful tights or leggings with a contrasting dress (such as blue leggings and a yellow dress, or purple leggings and a red dress).  The dress she is wearing on the cover of "Best of the Laurie Berkner Band" is made by a company (Desigual) that also has a kids section: Click Here! Get creative! If all else fails, do an internet search of "Laurie Berkner" and figure out which of her looks is best for you!
4. A Pig For Your Head! You can sew or safety pin a headband on the bottom of a stuffed pig, make a pig hat, draw a pig onto construction paper and cut it out, then pin to your head, or even get a pig visor!
5. A Microphone.  Laurie uses a headset microphone for some shows, and a regular microphone for others - you can cut one out of paper, use one from an old karaoke machine, find one at a toy store, or turn a headband into a headset!

Susie wears lots of fun colors, too - you just need a mini keyboard (how about making one out of cardboard and painting it to look like piano keys?) instead of a guitar and brown, straight hair instead of curly!

Adam and Bobby also dress in bright colors - Adam plays the bass and Bobby plays the drums!

Maybe you can gather 4 friends and go as the whole band!

To make a Rocketship costume, you can check out the video for "Rocketship Run", or see the photo below:

 

Felt or foam can be shaped into these simple designs!

Want a simpler costume? To be a Googlehead, simply find or make a googly headband and shake your noodle head!  You can wear a fun outfit that looks as Google-heady as you think a Googlehead looks!

19 Googleheads 1

Here are some photos of fans who made LBB costumes last year!!

Make sure you send us pictures!  We can't wait to see them!!

Upcoming Giveaways!

We have a few awesome contests going on in the next few weeks on our Facebook Fan Page!

DVD Release Contest:

In order to celebrate the release of Nick Jr's brand new DVD, "Let's Hear it for The Laurie Berkner Band" on Tuesday, September 28th, we will be holding a contest on our page!  The winner will receive an autographed copy of the new DVD. 

How to enter:

On Tuesday (9/28) morning, visit our Facebook page and answer the question posted on our wall by SENDING US AN EMAIL at [email protected] with your answer! We will randomly select a winner from all who have e-mailed us with the correct answer!

20,000th Facebook Fan Contest:

We are VERY close to having our 20,000th fan become a part of our Facebook community!

To celebrate, we're giving everyone on the page a chance to win a LBB gift basket, including a brand new, autographed "Let's Hear it for The Laurie Berkner Band" DVD from Nick Jr.!

To enter, become a fan on our Facebook Page.  Shortly after we reach our 20,000th fan, we will post a question on our Page.  Simply answer the question, and we will randomly select a winner from everyone who responds!

We hope you'll check out the page even if you don't want to participate, because the question (and answers) will have something to do with fun family ideas/tips!  We can't wait to hear what you come up with!!

We're not sure when our 20,000th fan will join us, so keep checking in to be sure you don't miss it!  Right now we have 19,600 fans - tell your friends!!

 

Weekly CD Giveaway

Also, don't forget about our WEEKLY CD Giveaway contest on our Facebook page!  Just click on the "Win a CD!" tab to go to our contest app.  All you need to do is choose the CD you'd like to win and enter your e-mail address (this is only so we can contact you - your information is kept private)

Re-enter each week to win!

GOOD LUCK, EVERYONE!

Finger Play!

We love finger play songs!  (Finger Play Songs = songs that are accompanied by hand or body movements)

It feels really good to be able to act out songs, and it's a fun way to teach music to kids who aren't ready to talk/sing yet, but who want to rock out!

Did you know that the LBB has a lot of finger play songs?  Some of them can be seen with the hand motions in videos, and many others are great for making up your OWN motions!

You can see the moves for "Open Your Heart" on our Valentine's Day webcast

You can also see the finger play for "Moon Moon Moon" by clicking here

Another fun song to do finger play to (instructions are in the song!) is "These Are My Glasses", which is on Whaddaya Think of That?

09 These Are My Glasses

Want to make up your OWN finger play?  Here are some songs that are great for hand and body motions:

Under a Shady Tree:

• “Drive my Car” (find Laurie's movements in the liner notes of this album!)
  
• “Who’s That?”
• “Blow a Kiss”

Victor Vito:

• “The Crabs”

Buzz Buzz:

• "Telephone" 
  
• “Lots of Little Pigs” (try using toes as pigs!)

Whaddaya Think of That?:

• “I’m a Little Snowflake”
• “What Falls in the Fall?”  

One Week Until the New DVD!

In just one week, the Nick Jr. Special that aired last July, "Let's Hear it for the Laurie Berkner Band", will be released as a DVD!

We're really excited about this, especially because so many of you have written to tell us that your DVR accidentally erased the special, and asked where you could find it!

The special includes LBB music videos from both Jack's Big Music Show and the interstitials between shows, such as:

• Victor Vito
• Pig on Her Head
• Rocketship Run
• Fast and Slow (The Rabbit and the Turtle)
• Who's That?
• Five Days Old
• My Energy
• In The Clouds
• The Cat Came Back
• Farm Song (That's What I Did on the Farm)
• I Really Love to Dance
• I'm Me and You're You
• Sneaks
• Magic Box

You can pre-order the DVD on Amazon - just follow this link or do a search for "Let's Hear it for The Laurie Berkner Band"

YAY!

We Won! You Can, Too!

After months and months of daily mouse-clicks, your votes have paid off!

"Rocketship Run" has been awarded with the ParentsConnect.com's Parents Picks Award 2010 for "Best Kids Music CD"!

We are SO honored to have received this great award, and we can't thank all of you who voted for helping to make this happen!

Winning awards feels really good - so why not have your own Family Awards Ceremony at home?

All you need to do is come up with some categories, pick winners, make trophies or awards, and then hold a ceremony in your living room!

Categories can include: Best Hugger, Best Dinner Helper, Biggest Jokester/Best Sense of Humor, Most Creative, Best Room Cleaner, Best Dog Walker, Best Cheerer-Upper, Most Musical, etc - Anything you like! 

You can cut trophies out of yellow construction paper and write the Category and Winner name on each one - or even choose some fun objects to use, like interesting rocks, printed diplomas, or actual trophies!

Pick winners by voting as a family, or choose judges to decide!

When you're all ready to present your awards, gather your cameras, make some popcorn, dress up in your favorite (or most glamorous) outfit, turn on some background music, and enjoy your award show!  Make sure you pick presenters for each category!

You can even film your award ceremony to watch again later. 

Don't forget to plan an after-party!

Tickets Are On Sale for Pittsburgh and Austin!

Are you on our mailing list?  If so, today's the day to get your pre-sale tickets for our Austin show on November 14th and our Pittsburgh show on January 29th!

Tickets go on sale to the general public on Monday, September 20th. 

We're really excited that we're making our way out of the tri-state area - it will be so fun to visit all of you Texans and the awesome people in Northwestern Pennsylvania!

Both of these shows will be Birthday Party Concerts, which means you can come in a party hat (and outfit, if you wish), sing birthday songs with us, make wishes when you help us blow out the candles, color a picture of a birthday cake, and even bring a gift for kids in need, if you want!

For more information on our birthday party shows, click here!

To sign up for our mailing list and receive pre-sale ticket codes for future shows, go to our website at www.laurieberkner.com, and type your e-mail address and state in the mailing list box!

Make a Dance!

Making music is as easy as creating a few dance moves!  We love dancing - it's not only great to get all your wiggles out, but it's also an excellent way to exercise.

So, try it out, in 3 easy steps:

Step 1: Pick 5 moves you like to do.  Here are some examples:

• Jump
• Twist
• Clap
• Spin
• Pat your knees
• Kick your feet
• Side step
• Go bananas (wiggle your whole body)

Step 2: Pick a song you already know, such as:

• I Know a Chicken
• We Are the Dinosaurs
  
• Old MacDonald
• ABC's
• B-I-N-G-O

Step 3: Decide how the song will go!  All you need to do is replace the words with your moves.  You can do this a simply as you'd like, or you can get REALLY creative!

  For example, to the tune of Old MacDonald, you can sing the following and act out the moves every time you sing them:

"Old MacMommy had a house, e-i-e-i-o. 

And on in her house she had a kid, e-i-e-i-o

With a "Jump Jump" here

And a "Jump Jump" there.

Here a "jump", there a "jump",

Everywhere a "jump jump"!

(and pick a new move for each verse)

OR

"Old MacJUMPy had a SPIN, pat-pat-pat-your-knees!

And on that SPIN he had a CLAP, pat-pat-pat-your-knees!

With a "SIDE STEP" here

And a "SIDE STEP" there

Here a "STEP", there a "STEP"

Everywhere a "SIDE STEP"

You can even make up your own tune if you are feeling particularly musical!

Do you ever move around when you are listening to Laurie Berkner Band songs?  If so, what types of moves do you do, and during which songs?  Do you ever change the lyrics so you can do different moves?

We really hope you have fun making up songs and dances!  Share them with your friends and family, and teach them your moves! 

We'd love to see what you come up with - send us your lyrics or a video of you and your family dancing to your songs! 

Life is VERY Good This Weekend!

Ahh, Life sure is Good.

At least, it will be this weekend outside of Boston, MA, where we will be performing in the Blue Hills of Canton, MA for the Life is Good Festival.

This festival, headlining with Jason Mraz and Ben Harper, will also feature a kids stage.  We will play on Sunday (9/12) from 4:00-5:15pm.  Other kids musicians on the stage include Dan Zanes, The Big Apple Circus, They Might Be Giants, and The Sippy Cups.

The best thing about this festival is that it is a fundraiser for children across the world in need of support due to "domestic violence, abuse, natural disasters, extreme poverty, or serious illness" (Go to the Life is Good Website).

The foundation has already raised over $4 Million for kids in need.

Check out this fun video about the event, featuring many of the artists who will appear at the festival!

To purchase tickets and for ticket info, click here!

Didja Know??

11 fun facts about the band you may not have known:

via thelaurieberknerbandblog.typepad.com

Hobbies

Didja know? - HOBBIES!

via thelaurieberknerbandblog.typepad.com