Bach in the Kindergarten ... The Real Cool Bach Kindergarten Game

 A Bach kindergarten game. Right, that may work. With Bach. In the kindergarten. We know it from a competent source. That is, from Eisenach. From the Bach House ... there they offer it as well. You can get to know me a little better by clicking here, I am Renate Bach.

The Bach Kindergarten Game: two people, one goal. Both of us, that is I, Renate Bach, and my husband, Peter Bach Jr., have one thing close to our hearts: It is the dissemination of the life and work of Johann Sebastian Bach. My husband does this with various websites, the most important of which, by the way, is Bach über Bach and its English sister website Bach on Bach. And he writes books. In addition, Peter "invented" the Johann Sebastian Bach Coloring Book and also ... the Bach Kindergarten Game. I have founded my Publishing House, so that someone will also take care of counter-financing the expenses we need for the many illustrations and journeys, and for the large sums of money that such large print runs cost, so that you can afford the books and the coloring book later on.  However: This is my website, but of course my husband – above – is also allowed on the picture. Learn more about Peter with a click here.

Did You Receive Mail From Us?

No, that is what it doesn't look like today anymore, when the mailman or the mailwoman is showing up. Not in Poughkeepsie, not in Punxsutawney, not in Boston, not in Los Angeles. Plus not in Flein, Germany or St. Petersburg, Florida, which are both home for us. Plus, it doesn't look that way at your home or your kindergarten.

If you work in a kindergarten or preschool, and you received a letter on paper or a mail from me, here is more to read about my suggestion. Plus there are several more websites, related to the theme of Bach, beyond this website Bach in the Kindergarten. These websites offer real excitement, knowledge, pictures, videos and many topics regarding the composer. Plus you get to the "manual" related to my proposal, that is to say, here is the second part of the manual for the "Bach Kindergarten Game". With a click here.

So firstly – as mentioned – here is the page on this website where you can read the complete instructions for the game. But then there's also a special website for our Bach Biography for Children. And – that goes without saying – also the cool Bach Coloring Book has its very own website. But: The Bach Coloring Book and the Bach Kindergarten Game are two completely different offers.

By the way, you get to the "Bach 4 You" shop with many

cool offers around the subject of J.S. Bach here. With a click. 

The website Bach on Bach is worth a visit for parents,

kindergarten teachers, teachers and students.

It is the largest German and international

Bach portal in the world: cool, different, exciting.

The exciting Bach Kindergarten Game for your kindergarten. Here you get to the complete manual. With one click. It's at the bottom of the page you get after the click. Plus, it goes without saying, you also get to the shop with one click below.

10,000+ Music gifts, 1,000+ Bach gifts, five Bach shops ... learn more here.

In a Kindergarten? Has Johann Sebastian Bach Really Been in a Kindergarten in Germany ? Or in Preschool?

This website is about the subject, how to lead kids already during their time in kindergarten closer to classical music. However, on this page of this website just the question is exciting: whether Bach spent time in a kindergarten or a preschool. So it is very likely, that you are - via the navigation - more interested in one of the three following topics: for the Bach Coloring Book, for the Bach Biography for Children, or for the Bach Kindergarten Game.

No, no. Debbie, my cousin in Virginia, USA gave me this following hint in connection with the question in the title of the English website. That is, you could also understand the topic in this way: Whether or where Johann Sebastian Bach went to kindergarten. Aha ... well then. Here is the answer. As already indicated above: Bach was never in a kindergarten. And also not in a preschool. And why not? Because at that time there was no kindergarten anywhere on earth. Not in Germany, not in the USA, not anywhere. Here on this website it's not about the fact that Bach never went to a kindergarten. Here on this website, as mentioned above, we are talking about how to get the youngest children from a "minimum age" interested in classical music for the first time – with or without music – already in kindergarten or even in daycare centers. In kindergarten, a first contact to the great composers of classical music can indeed be established very carefully. And without taking the risk of spoiling a cautious first interest with the selection of a quite unsuitable work by Johann Sebastian Bach immediately and for life, that is sustainably.

He "invented" the first kindergarten in the world: Friedrich Wilhelm Fröbel.

So again, to make it very clear (... with a smile): Johann Sebastian Bach never has been in a kindergarten nor in a preschool in Eisenach, Thuringia in Germany. Because there was no such thing in this very age, when he lived with his parents close to the nowadays Bach House in the so-called Wartburg City.

The kindergarten, the first in the world, was invented by a Mr. Fröbel. Mr. Friedrich Wilhelm Fröbel was born 32 years after Bach's death, namely in 1782. At the age of 18, he founded the first General German Kindergarten. It is located in Bad Blankenburg. And how do you honor such a man? With a stamp, for example. Or with two or even three stamps. That was the case in 1949. And also in 1952. In 2015, another one was issued with a face value of € 2.15. To commemorate this first German kindergarten. And of course there is also a Fröbel Kindergarten in his honor. At that time, these institutions were also called "Kinderbewahranstalten" (... Children Retain Establishments) and "Klein-Kinderschulen" (... Little Children Schools). And then there were also harvest kindergartens. From 1855, kindergartens finally opened their doors in the USA as well. And there, by the way, they are also called "kindergarten" to this day. And what are they called there, if there are several (... so in the plural)? "Kindergartens".

Okay, that is what a kindergarten looked like back in 1885.

That is a real "cute" name for a kindergarten. It's built from 1888 to 1889: a Small Children School.

A kindergarten in the "Land of the Bache", in the mother of all Bach cities (... I prefer "in the Bach city of all Bach cities, which was common to say so for decades in Germany. That changed after the Second Iraq War), in Erfurt in Thuringia, Germany. You realized it, it's of course a photo from the interior.

"Children Retain Institute" ... that is really the uncoolest name for a kindergarten by far. 

What an honor ... invent the kindergarten, and you hop on a postage stamp: Mr. Fröbel. That was back in 1949. That is to say, when the stamp was issued.

And again, that is to say in 1952 Fröbel made it on one of the little sticky piece of paper: If you are famous you remain famous, if you have invented the first kindergarten in the world. He is even permitted on three stamps meanwhile.

In 2015, the first kindergarten is still remembered, but not the kindergarten inventor. Why not?

Change of Subject: So, How Do You Outfox Little Humans With Classical Music?

By the way, the answer is also valid for older kids. And for young adults. And for older adults, moreover, it also applies. Indeed? Very, very carefully. Because much is "ruined" very fast and much too often. In the common Johann Sebastian Bach Mission we both try to be creative according to this motto.  With websites, books, audiobooks and now also with the offers for the very little ones in kindergarten age. Both Bachs from Southern Germany are first and foremost cautious and approach the master composer Johann Sebastian Bach from Thuringia really very, very playfully.

In the UK and in the USA, more and more grown-ups are coloring such pictures. We believe: You can never be too early to start such a thing, also with Bach. For that reason: Long live ... the kindergarten. Important: This is a sheet in the game ( ! ) . Because here, the hint regarding Bach's life is below and there is the year date for orientation. And the painting template is also missing, they are all on an extra sheet to cut out. It's different in the Bach Coloring Book. You get to the Publishing House Shop here.

Many more Bach gifts in five Bach shops. Learn more.

Three Offers, One Wish: Please Invite Mr. Bach to Your Kindergarten or Your Preschool

So, right, we mean you: the parents of a child, you as a kindergarten teacher, and you as a fan of classical music plus a kindergarten "five minutes from home".

What at all brings two people, with the same surname of the famous composer, to create such a broad offer about a musician for kids, for students and for teachers ... especially for music teachers? Several websites, a Bach Biography for Children, a Bach Coloring Book and now also this Bach Kindergarten Game?

It all started in 2012, when I found out that my husband is related to the composer. Far away, but related. And he is not descended of Johann Sebastian Bach, but both have a common great-great-great-great-...grandfather. With the genealogy of the musical family – we are continuing the research of several Bach scientists, and we are currently the only ones on earth to do so – came the interest in the work and especially the life of the Thomas Cantor.

My husband: Not only does he love to write and to write much. He loves to take photos, too. Many photos. And he thinks up new projects. He loves that too much.

We had found a new hobby together: Bach. And once started, it very soon became "our mission" as well. Because we ourselves found it very difficult to access Johann Sebastian Bach – and this was true for his music, especially for the genealogy and for Bach's life – we wanted to offer something completely new and exciting together. In the meantime, this has become the largest German and at the same time the largest international website about Bach. That is Bach über Bach and its sister site Bach on Bach in English. Many topics around the composer are exciting and in a mixture of travel and research everything resulted in really extensive website pages, many of which are not even completely finished today.

If you are completely engaged in a "subject", then you look – like most people with their hobby – for ways to inspire other people as well, to impress them and to convince them that exactly this subject is "exciting without end". And as my husband Peter noted, at some point you almost unavoidably join the ranks of those who believe they "have to" write a book about their hobby, their passion or their mission.

That above is not a book suggestion for your kids in kindergarten. Firstly, they can't read yet. And secondly, the writing would be much, much, much too tiny for them. Nevertheless, it is a real biography about Bach. And you can even still buy it, not new, not always, but now and then. And where? In my Publishing House Store.

A Plan, a Project, a Bach Biography for Children

The Bach Biography for Children: It is by no means intended for children of kindergarten age, but only for somewhat older kids. But with this Bach biography for children, we finally managed to appeal to future Bach fans down to an age group of about 6 years. How good for our Bach mission.  In the meantime, the work is also ready in English: for Americans and British and all Chinese, Vietnamese, French, Dutch and Japanese who speak English sufficiently well as a second language.

For many kids in kindergarten, a biography about the master of composition is certainly still far too complex. But for some?  Click here for more pages, the "look into the book".

Whenever my husband has completed a project – actually even before – his brain cells are "active" and he is already mentally tinkering with the next project at this time. And so, one day – that was also already in 2013 – he wanted to offer a book for even younger children on the subject of Bach. And this gave rise to the idea of a coloring book on the composer from Eisenach. But to get exactly such drawings – and that with a low-budget, better no-budget – was an almost unsolvable task. Not even with the help of the internet. But then he remembered his own family, in which Briana Bach-Hertzog had already painted us the "blue Bach portrait" (... which today is also present in gray in many places). And he asked her to ask among her colleagues in the art academy in the USA who might be willing to help us. Shortly thereafter came her message, which thrilled us: She herself wanted to transform the suggestions that my husband had come up with into drawings. So, of course, there was no longer any question: The most fantastic Bach coloring book for children could be created. Well, according to our research, it was also the only coloring book of its kind on the subject of Bach. So, of course, it is also the best.

But: With the creation of this coloring book it was not yet available for many kids. And so my husband conceived his idea to offer it to kindergartens. Preferably to every kindergarten. In a combination of two booklets. The problem?If you "disassemble" this coloring book, then the coloring suggestions are on the back.  So that one child would have to turn the page over to the other to see which color is best for Johann Sebastian Bach's jacket. Unthinkable. And so it developed very ... really very, very slowly. The Bach kindergarten game: At first, we had considered offering one page each in DIN A4 (... 8.27 x 11.69 in) format with coloring suggestions. But we discarded that ... and in the end, the optimal idea was finally born. That is to print 24 drawings. In addition, two pages with coloring suggestions. Plus a cover sheet. And that was it.

From one idea to the next: This is how the Bach Kindergarten Game developed. In fact, it is the only game about Johann Sebastian Bach developed for a kindergarten on the entire planet. Actually, even ... in the whole universe. And why was it so necessary to develop this Bach kindergarten game? Because in the Bach Coloring Book on the left side of each page is the coloring suggestion. And at the same time, the left page on the back is again a drawing. Take a look at the next picture. Plus, in the coloring book, no year numbers are necessary either. Because they are to help – in the common play – later only the educators in the kindergarten to arrange all the loose sheets once – thus after the coloring – again.

In the coloring book it's obvious: On the back of the left page is a drawing. So it makes no sense at all to turn over your own drawing, because there is – in the coloring book – the coloring suggestion for a whole other drawing. That's exactly why we "invented" the game with the loose sheets. And we added the year numbers and the matching text on the loose sheets.

Not only do you realize at some point that seemingly every fifth person on this planet wants to write a book – is currently busy with it or in many cases has already done so – and in our case you also come to the realization that even 700 biographies about Bach already exist or existed today. Each of them seemed to my husband at least so successful and so sustainably based on work that he quickly came to his conviction that writing another biography about Bach – that is, maybe number 701 – would not be such a good idea. And at that time he did not dare to write a biography for children at all. I always had a different opinion: I always believed he could do it. And when Peter's sister joined me with her opinion, it happened. My husband started his adventure.

Once again a milestone was reached and – you know how he is "knitted" – my husband developed new ideas. This website, on which you are reading right now, is one of them. Of course, it is also in German. And his mind is haunted by other projects: a biography for young people will soon be written. And a card game on the subject. And then he got excited about a Bach kindergarten game package. It will consist of three parts, it makes a so-called "bundle": It is something for educators who like this Bach idea so much that they themselves care about the Bach Mission – then as a companion with us – so to speak.

Three members of the Bach Dream Team with the goal of spreading the work and life of Johann Sebastian Bach even more in the world:Petra-Ines Kaune (... right), she painted the illustrations in the Bach biography for children, and finally I, Renate Bach, I publish the Bach Coloring Book, the Biography for Children and the Bach Kindergarten Game.  And finally, the author Peter Bach Jr. ... he writes and writes and writes.

Playfully engaging kids in kindergarten with a topic that may well be exciting in the future: How smart is that?!

For the Smart Kids in Kindergarten: The Bach Biography for Children 

What age is the biography about Bach for children actually written for? For kids in the kindergarten age? Not at all. At first, it was simply "just written by my husband". Simply written ... and in the beginning we both could not answer this question, for which age. In a small "mini-poll" it finally turned out: For children from 6 years to read by themselves it is perfect. For reading aloud, kids can also be younger. And for 10- to 14-year-olds? It's definitely only good for those who have a tendency to like classical music and, depending on their personal development, a "burner".

Can you inspire four-year-olds with an exciting story about the composer? We ...  just don't, of course. But we could certainly find out. By the way, this test is one of the few experiments on children allowed worldwide. What do you think about reading an extensive sample chapter or listening to an audiobook chapter? Now?!

Almost endless Bach gifts in five Bach shops ... learn more.

That is the way how it works: a combination of help and of "the kid's own creativity". So, this works also with the Bach Coloring Book or with the Bach Kindergarten Game. To the shop.

The Cool Bach Biography for Children Is Just as Cool for Adults Too

A phenomenon we recognized only with one or the other copy of the book as a thank you to our various helpers, to friends, to acquaintances and to our own family. This Bach biography for children also seems to be really exciting for adults. With the indication that many parents read books for kids, it became more and more clear: This biography – written in this style for a very young audience – is at the same time also exciting, light fare for parents and adults. Exactly the reason that prompted my husband not to include any scientific aspects, to reduce names, to lighten up important things, to introduce an arc of suspense ... that was exactly what now therefore makes this biography an attractive reading material with a cultural claim not only for children. But also for adults. And of course, not every child in kindergarten is old enough for this biography. But, it is true: If you have read the biography, then you have got to know a nice change between the highlights and the essential stations in Bach's life, and you know then – quite incidentally and automatically – also much better about the coexistence of two little Baroque angels. Of course, the last sentence is not a serious one.

Another appetizer? Here – and in the picture below – you can clearly see the difference between one sheet in the sheet collection and the pages in the coloring book. On the pages of the game there is a year at the bottom and the tiny text about Bach's life is only found on these loose pages.

And now one last example. But you can already see all ( ! ) the drawings that all the kids could color. Only a little bit you need to "rethink" the pictures there, because we "moved" the texts from the left side under the painting and for the game we added the years. Click here for more fun with it.

99 Music Calendars Are Pipe Organ Calendars, Composers Calendars, Bach Calendars and Music Calendars for Children

The Emoji Calendar. Is this a gift for musicians? Yes, it sure is, a musicians gift for little musicians. However, also for little music lovers. Plus, it's for many music fans, if you approach them "collectively" in a kindergarten. By the way, there is a total of 20 music calendars, 20 Bach calendars, 20 composers calendars. Basically, there are ... 60 music calendars.

A final small hint: Please support our Bach Mission … here, you will find the information for that one more time.

A composers calendar and a composers T-shirt: two music gifts.

Not only music calendars, like the actual Pipe Organ Calendar on the right, are offered by the store "Bach 4 You": On the left it is a "modern" Bach beer stein, which is available with/in many designs. In addition, my Publishing House also offers two historical Bach beer steins. You want to get to the shop? Just click here.

Renate Bach Publishing "Bach 4 You" – Bildstrasse 25, 74223 Flein / Germany – Phone: +49 7131 576761 – info (at) bach4you.de