Your little will love movin’ and groovin’ at the weekly Birdie Beats baby and toddler music class.
One of my baby’s favorite pastimes is shaking his toys, utterly delighted by their sounds as he waves and flaps. So when Birdie Beats, a weekly drop-in baby and toddler music class popped up on my Instagram feed, I knew we had to go.
Birdie Beats is part of Earthtones Northwest, an organization that offers music and art therapy. Their music studio is located in Taborspace, and last August they launched Birdie Beats aimed for families with children ages 3 months to 4 years old. (The class is free, but donations are appreciated.)
The weekly music class takes place in the front of the church sanctuary. My husband, son and I arrived just as class was beginning. Toddlers and their parents formed a wide circle cascading down the church steps. Maggie Johnson, the music therapy director of Earthtones, was softly strumming on a guitar as everyone got settled. With her was Ethan, a music intern therapist.
There were about two dozen children, most between the ages of 1 and 2 years old (my son, 7 months, was the youngest). Maggie started us off with a hello song, where everyone introduced themselves and their little. Next, we sang about fruits in a tropical smoothie. (One week later, and my husband and I still catch ourselves singing it.) We moved on to a song about a chicken and an egg, made even more exciting when a bag of rattles and egg shakers was passed around.
My son was enamored. The entire class he was wide-eyed, watching Maggie on the guitar and peering up at the lantern lights hanging from the wood ceiling rafters. Watching him look and smile at the other babies was a sweet added bonus.
I appreciated how informal the class was. The babies were free to crawl and walk around as much as they wanted. One new walker came and said hello to each baby, before darting down a row of pews. And when another took more than one colorful scarf for a song about blooming flowers, that was OK, too.
Similar to how it began, the class ended with a goodbye song. The shakers and scarves were collected, but we didn’t feel rushed to leave. By then, our son was doing the slow blink, signaling he was ready to nap. Almost immediately after being buckled into his car seat, he was fast asleep. Fun, engaging songs in a calm environment — followed by an easy nap — I call that a parenting win.
More Baby-Friendly Outings
Baby Blockbusters at McMenamins Kennedy School happens every Monday and Thursday, during the first show of the day. Parents can catch a movie — with lower volumes and brighter lighting — without having to worry about a potentially fussy baby.
Multnomah County libraries host Book Babies, a free 30-minute storytime and songs just for littles under 1. For older babies, there’s Toddler Storytime. Library systems in Washington, Clackamas and Fort Vancouver counties also have similar programming.
Ready, Set, Grow offers Baby & Me yoga classes and Babywearing Dance in its Concordia studio.
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