Bananaphone - Raffi Rocks - Wacky Wednesday

Bananaphone
By Raffi
(Troubadour Records Ltd., 1994)

Today's feature is a musical Raffi CD for children. If ever you wanted a source of good music for kids, Raffi is one of the best.

My favorite tune on this CD is the title song, "Bananaphone."

We sing it on the way to school, the three of us, belting out the words. Rhyming, fun melodies, great music, and a certain amount of silliness attracted these listeners to enjoy the song. "Nana, there is rhyming!" said a very excited kindergarten boy who is learning of such things.

Bananaphone. And who hasn't used a banana for a phone?

I was somewhat worried as I remembered all of the time spent with play phones. The plastic ones with circle number dials that have to go all-the-way-around-and-back at least 8 times before someone can be called. The long skinny ones with the dial in the headset. The winding, corkscrew cords connecting both pieces. The tin can and string phones we used to make.

The loss of this historical phone type and subsequent play times became apparent when my grandson, Hayden, decided to make a phone. From cardboard. A rectangle with a screen and boxed numbers. On and off button. Battery charger requested.

Cell phones?!

Quick! Save the phones. Not the iPhones or androids, but the old-timey-whimey stick your finger in the dial and spin it around phones. This Nana is hurrying to the nearest thrift store to buy one, just for fun.

Bananas, anyone?

KID KANDY:

Make a Tin Can Phone

1. Use two empty, clean, and dry vegetable or soup cans for phones. Wrap the top open edges with duct tape to keep sharp edges covered.

2. Use a nail and hammer to make a hole in the bottom of each can.

3. Attach a very long piece of kitchen string (your choice of how long) to each can by threading it through the hole and tying knots to keep it in place.

4. Now you have a two-person phone!

5. Stand as far apart as the string allows (your choice, remember?) and chat away to the child on the opposite side. Cheers!

CAUTION: Do not let younger children use the phone unsupervised. Watch that the string does not get tangled around body parts, especially necks.