Monday, December 28, 2015

The 12 Notes of Christmas

To celebrate the 400th year of Shakespeare's legacy in 2016, Numbers Alive! will release at noon each day between December 26, 2015 and January 6, 2016 a free-to-view animated video featuring the Numberopolis Players performing a festive mash-up of the 12 Days of Christmas with Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.  Embarking on a journey around the globe -- from Europe, to Australia, Africa, Asia and the Americas -- the Numbers 0 - 9 will explore historic musical instruments and local traditions in the countries they visit.

Each of these videos is under 2 minutes and will culminate with the creation of the ultimate Christmas band to serenade Shakespeare at the opening of Twelfth Night.  Did you know that 2016 has been dubbed "The Year of Shakespeare" to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the playwright's death in 1616 and there will be a connected series of activities, events, and performances to recognize his artistic contributions to the world?  Learn more about the legacy celebration at www.shakespeare400.org.



In addition to the tie-in to Shakespeare, "The 12 Notes of Christmas" will provide children with fun trivia about instruments and cultural traditions tied to how various  countries around the world celebrate this holiday season.  These educational videos also reinforce learning numbers and counting with their use of the Numberopolis Players.  Whether you have a preschooler who is around the house all the time or elementary school aged children at home from school for winter break, take a moment each day until January 6th to start of the new year instilling a bit of art and culture with the kids in your life having some learning-fun courtesy of the folks at Numbers Alive!.


The videos are available to view at NumbersAlive.org or on the Numbers Alive! youtube channel

After more than thirty years or working with and teaching about numbers, Dr. Rebecca Klemm, "The Numbers Lady", founded Numbers Alive! as a way to demystify numbers and math for children.  Her line of award-winning Numbers Alive! educational learning products capture children's attention and help them explore the relevance of mathematical concepts.

10 comments:

  1. I hadn't realized 2016 was the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare's death, but I'm glad organizations like Numbers Alive are commemorating it. And what a fun way to introduce his legacy to today's youth!

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  2. How neat! I am always interested in new ways to introduce numbers in a classroom setting.

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  3. I am definitely not a Shakespeare person but this sounds fun for kids. I recently saw the new Macbeth in the theater and although the acting was very good, the language always goes over my head.

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  4. I like how it introduces the instruments of various countries. I hope some parents get involved with this!

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  5. I had no idea - this sounds awesome! I'll have to check this out with my boys tomorrow. They'll love it.

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  6. Wow, this is neat. I'll have to think of this the next time our granddaughter comes to visit.

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  7. This is so cool! We owe so much of our language to Shakespeare, so many of the things we say on a daily basis come from him! I think it's pretty awesome way to tie in the 400th year and make it kid friendly

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  8. Wow, that's a long time ago. He kind of scares me, but he was fabulous!

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  9. This is really cool. The video definitely held my son's attention.

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  10. Cool! Great for kids indeed. Will show this one to them soon!

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