They start with exercises by standing up and singing "Mi, mi, mi" in unison. Next comes the parachute, where voices are raised the higher the fabric goes.
For the next 90 minutes, in between frequent water and bathroom breaks, the young ones practice new songs and rhythms, and go for a few founds of freeze dance, animal crawls, and hide and seek.
It's all part of a free, new program started last month at Coquitlam's Place Maillardville community centre, aimed at building musical and performance skills for children aged three to six.
Danielle Payette, manager of community programs and volunteers at the Laval Square facility, said Singing In Steps: From Practice to Performance coincides with recent studies showing young people in the Tri-Cities are at greater risk than the provincial average - despite the region being relatively affluent.
The reports by the UBC-based Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP) and the Middle Childhood Matters Committee, which is funded by the United Way, indicate young people here are struggling socially and developmentally, and many don't have strong connections with people outside of their families.
As a result, Payette said, there's a strong need for community-based programs for young children - especially from Maillardville, an aging Coquitlam neighbourhood where many low-income and single-parent families live.
Funded by the United Way and B.C.'s Ministry of Children and Family Development, Singing In Steps runs two afternoons a week until March 30 and has 28 registrants, many of whom are already signed up in courses at the Cartier Avenue centre or in schools like Alderson and Rochester elementaries, where Place Maillardville has outreach programs.
Besides the musical component, Singing In Steps also provides the preschoolers and Kindergarten kids with positive messaging, self-expression and creativity in a safe environment, Payette said. "We're hoping, by the end of the session, we'll see a talent show out of them," she said.
