Episodes
There's never a bad time to sing about Autumn and learn some Spanish but there are particularly good times, and one of those is now. ✪ We begin with a Clap It Back song in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month. We use the power of rhythm and song to teach you the common Spanish phrase for "I want to eat a snack in a fort with you." You will never be hungry and lonely in a fort in a Spanish speaking country again. De nada. ✪ Next up, we get in the Fall spirit with an Echo Song titled Sleepy Trees...
Published 09/28/23
We are celebrating the release of Dan's new book We Share This School by getting together to sing and rhyme and clap along with a new episode of Noodle Loaf! Our Clap It Back this week unusually unusual, even by our standards here at Noodle Loaf. Practice your rhythmic awareness while learning such important non-facts such as "Turnip is short for Turtle Nipple" and "Rutabaga is short for Ruth Bader's Bagel." This rhythm game also explores 4/4 and 3/4 time somehow. ✪ A special Tiny Song...
Published 06/21/23
THIS IS OUR 100TH EPISODE! If it is your first time listening I suggest starting with a different episode.  If it is your 100th time listening then hooray for us! To celebrate this milestone, we turn the mic around to our listeners and listen to them singing their favorite songs from the show as well as songs that they have written.  We got kids from all over, like The Bronx, Scotland and New Zealand, singing songs they wrote.  Anywhere you go in this world kids are making up songs and...
Published 06/22/22
Anyone cane name a problem, but can you name a solution?  Anyone can make a doodle, but can you make up a song about yours?  Press play and find out! Our Echo Song this week is We Can Fix It, a song that makes the case for problem solving.  It's a fabulous life skill with a catchy hook.  Have fun singing along to this groovy song! ✪ Take out your pencils because we've got a Guided Doodle! You won't know what it is you are drawing.  You may never know.  But I do and more importantly, fun...
Published 06/08/22
It's new album week! And it is also AAPI month! So much to celebrate, such a good time.   Our Echo Song this week is I Got a Bicycle, an ode to two wheels and our planet.  This is a Noodlino favorite song that made it on to Echo Songs, Vol. 2 now available in all the music places! Get on your bike and ride! ✪ Next up, we've got a round of Trivia in honor of AAPI Month.  It's called Bird or Traditional Asian Instrument and it is a great way to learn about some musical instruments from China,...
Published 05/25/22
Dinosaur songs, truck stories and even an ode to napkins.  Something for everyone! (Especially people that like music and games) This Clap It Back manages to squeeze in tributes to a few of the many celebrations happening this month like International Drum Month, Jewish American Heritage Month, National Bike Month and American Cheese Month.  What a great way to gain a strong sense of rhythm! ✪ We're also celebrating the release of Echo Songs, Vol. 2, a new collection of echo songs from the...
Published 05/11/22
We won't let all these April Fools hoaxes keep us from having some interactive educational music based fun! A delightful Clap It Back about rainbows and love (dedicated to the governments of Texas and Florida.) Develop rhythmic awareness while committing to a more compassionate world. ✪ A Tiny Song called Mozzarella Sticks that is a round for kids AKA a canon for kids.  Try it out and share what you got by tagging @noodleloafshow! ✪ Our Echo Song this episode is called Outside and it is...
Published 04/01/22
Come for the eyeball dance, stay for the tongue twister song.  It's about a very well built boat built by billions of babies.  Babies can't build boats you say?  Can so, you just need one billion of them.  This show is actually a music education multi-vitamin.  True facts.  You'll see. We begin with Dance Dance Noodleution, a movement isolation game that puts your limbs in direct competition with each other.  The Great American Extremity Dance Off.  ✪ This Echo Song is a real tongue...
Published 03/16/22
In today's episode we question our pants, celebrate the enormous gifts of James Baldwin and work together to make up a story about a creature who lives in a tree.  Clearly a certain streaming service should have put their production dollars into Noodle Loaf instead of that other podcaster guy.   We kick things off like we kick off our pants after a long day spent jogging in a rain storm, by questioning the need for pants in the first place.  This Call and Response game was inspired by some...
Published 02/09/22
Music people! You have arrived just in time to make rhymes, sing songs and do some creative movement games all with your host in chief, Dan Saks.  Today's episode raises a glass to celebrating Autism Awareness month way ahead of schedule.  We'll also be toasting old school flows and the art of snowman building.  If none of that makes sense it's because you haven't listened to the show yet. So do that pls.  This Rhyme Time is a little different than our usual version.  In this one, your job...
Published 01/26/22
Lots to sing and dance about today like salty soups, sticky sneaks and bananas.  Flying bananas that is.  So warm up your larynxes and press play on another episode of play based music education for humans. The kids wrote most of this Clap It Back rhythm game.  That means the lyrics are especially odd but the rhythms are just as dynamite as ever.  Rosin up your clapping hands and play along. ✪ The people have spoken and they have said that they want more Tiny Songs from Loafy Noodles.  So...
Published 01/12/22
The best thing about chores is identifying the sound they make using your ears.  It's downhill from there BUT with some groovy tunes on, any chore becomes a dance party.  Amiright?  Except duvet related chores, those are just a chore. We begin with an Echo Song about being the insatiable desire to take a thing apart to see how it works and then feelings that arise when you realize that putting it back together may not be in the cards.  This happens in my life more often than I'd care to...
Published 11/24/21
Things are really starting to happen round here.  Things are getting cooking.  Rubber is meeting road.  Flubber is eating toad.  Let's goooooo music fun and games for kids and grown growns!!!  (now hiring people who know what to write in this space - no experience necessary - payment is in guitar picks) We begin with a Feel The Rhythm designed to make humans look silly while learning music fundamentals.  We put the FUN, the DUH and the MENTAL in fundamentals. Is this thing on?  Anyhow, I...
Published 11/10/21
Kids will dig this play based rhyme infused educational music filled podcast as much as you enjoyed this keyword laden introductory sentence.  This episode begins with a Rhyme Time game about kindness. Can you figure out what action each kindness verb could lead to?  i.e. Make, Send, Offer? I love when phonological exercises extend into making the world a nicer place. ✪ This week's Echo Song is the 4th installment of our annual homage to the art of the homemade costume, "I Made a Costume...
Published 10/27/21
Go on, open up the packet.  What's inside? 10 minutes of interactive music education  games for children?? Fantastic! Here are the games on today's show: First up a Clap It Back game called "What's On The Menu"  I say things that are on the menu.  You clap back the rhythm of the words. It's fun, easy and helps develop a sense of rhythm.  If the foods were actually available then it would be a very promising new restaurant concept. ✪ Before today's echo songs you'll hear a brief description...
Published 10/13/21
Great Bowls of Groovy Gemelli Noodlinos! It's a new Noodle Loaf noodlesode!  Too much?  Ok, I'll tone it down.  Press play for fun music and games for kids.  Thank you.   First up a special edition of our Trivia game called Instrument or Italian Cheese.  This music appreciation game tests you knowledge of both Italian cheeses and orchestral instruments to make sure you never attempt to grate a piccolo over your pappardelle.  ✪ This episode's echo song, called Before I Get Up, is a gentle...
Published 09/29/21
You won't learn to spell in today's episode, but you may learn to mispronounce the word "barber."  You will also learn how to plan for special occasions.  In other words you will learn MOST of the most important things.  And if you enjoy singing songs then that's even better. Birthdays, graduations, growing your first eyebrow...what do these things all have in common?  They are all very special occasions. This echo song is an all purpose special occasion celebration song.  It helps children...
Published 09/15/21
I am introducing a new episode titling concept that is akin to how certain race horses are named.  See, this episode contains pieces of previous episodes as well as new material.  Thus, the episode title pays homage to that lineage to form the poetic phrase: "Hello Donkey Potato."  Race horse names are often nods to their parents i.e. a horse named Waffle Toes may have been sired by Brekky Pie and Foot Fingers.  I expect this innovation to spread rapidly throughout the world of podcasting....
Published 08/18/21
Sorry kids, the song about the history of Kraftwerk didn't make the final edit but don't fret, there is a clapping game about robots.  There is also a Western folk song and opportunities to make use of your ears and hands so make sure to have those nearby before hitting play.   We begin with a song game called Clap It Back about robots.  But is it a song about robots?  Or an homage to Phil Collins?  Can it be both? This is a great way to develop Rhythmic Awareness and 80s pop icon awareness....
Published 08/04/21
It's getting hot in here, so plant some carrot seeds.  I am getting so hot, I'm gonna plant some carrot seeeeds.  There's a song about planting carrot seeds in this episode and those are not the lyrics.  We don't do parodies.  We do music for kids and that grown ups dig too.  We do music empowerment through play.  We jam out, you jam along. The Echo Song in today's show, A Carrot Seed was inspired by my cousins' farm Soul Fire Farm in Upstate NY.  Their farm sows veg and justice in equal...
Published 06/30/21
Warm up your vocals with a round of singing slide.  Sing a party plan with our echo song.  Name some sounds.  And then take some time for yourself, because you deserve it. Singing Slide is based on a vocal warm up game that music teachers like to play with their students.  Kids mimic a slide whistle which gets them singing in their head voices and exploring their vocal range.  It gives me the opportunity to record myself playing slide whistle which always comes as a surprise to my neighbors....
Published 06/02/21
If you like smoothies then you'll love this new episode of Noodle Loaf.  It's got mangoes (rhythm games), bananas (singing) and freshly squeezed orange juice (mad-lib style story games).  Press play and take a gulp! Our Clap It Back game gives you and your family a chance to learn rhythmic phrases.  Syllables, cadence, rhythm, tempo, beat...so many skills to glean from this game.  It also incorporates a technique used in music classrooms and pedagogies like the Suzuki method.  Things get...
Published 05/20/21
Songs about robots, subways and feeling grateful for scientists!  This episode has the very special guest, Tracy Bonham & Melodeon Music House, plus lots of learning about music through play. ✪ First Up, Time To Move - Dance Robot Dance.  Pretend you are a robot that has two settings.  Setting 1: when you hear music you do your best robot dance.  Setting 2: When the music stops you shape your body like the thing that I say. i.e. grapes.  This is a fun creative movement game that promotes...
Published 05/07/21
Music and learning, singing and goofing.  Enter here for children's songs about dinosaurs and dumplings.  But fair warning, you may be asked to rhyme something with "Cilantro."  If you're comfortable with that possibility then press play on this educational podcast for kids and enjoy. ✪ We begin with a rhyming game.  Freshen up phonological awareness, fine tune your flow and polish your poetry with this edition of Rhyme Time.  Our categories this go round are fancy colors, types of...
Published 04/14/21