About
Jim Gill Music Play for All Young Children features active sing-along, clap-along, dance-along, and jump-along music play led by Jim Gill. The program includes family concerts, weekly music play programs, family play times, play groups, circle time activities, library storytimes, and story times. Jim Gill’s work with children and families also includes video book projects and author visits.
• Ages: 0–8 years old
Jim Gill is a musician, author, and child development specialist who completed his graduate studies in child development at the Erikson Institute of Chicago with a special emphasis on the study of play. He has been playing banjo and leading weekly play groups for families with young children with special needs for 40 years, and he has 20 years of experience creating and leading play groups for families with children with special needs. Jim Gill has released ten award-winning CDs of music play for young children and is the author of two children’s books, including A Soup Opera, which received an American Library Association award in 2010. He has received five separate awards from the American Library Association for his recordings and books over the years.
Each Jim Gill family concert is an active sing-along, clap-along, and dance-along event, and his recordings and books are created as opportunities for playful interactions between a child and a caring adult. His songs use a unique writing style that combines word play and movement opportunities, and his strategies to promote family involvement in concerts were developed through weekly sessions with families with children with special needs. Jim Gill also leads professional training workshops, play-based learning workshops, conference keynotes, staff training sessions, and training events for librarians, early childhood educators, and other professionals. His video book projects involve community-created pages by children, and he signs each book ordered through his store.
Jim Gill has worked with schools, libraries, and other community organizations across the country to create video books filled with pages created by children. He has shared his expertise with organizations such as Head Start, the National Association for the Education of Young Children, the National Association for Family Child Care, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Parents, librarians, and educators have described Jim Gill’s concerts as filled with play, music, and fun, and have noted that families sing and dance together during his concerts. Testimonials from librarians and early childhood professionals describe his family concerts as inclusive and his professional workshops as interactive and energizing, with specific mention of play-based learning workshops, early literacy and child development tips, fingerplays, and activities that can be used in library storytimes. Workshop participants have also noted his musical activities, his focus on increasing parent participation, and his use of his knowledge of child development in the pacing of his performances.
Last updated July 8, 2026.
• Ages: 0–8 years old
Jim Gill is a musician, author, and child development specialist who completed his graduate studies in child development at the Erikson Institute of Chicago with a special emphasis on the study of play. He has been playing banjo and leading weekly play groups for families with young children with special needs for 40 years, and he has 20 years of experience creating and leading play groups for families with children with special needs. Jim Gill has released ten award-winning CDs of music play for young children and is the author of two children’s books, including A Soup Opera, which received an American Library Association award in 2010. He has received five separate awards from the American Library Association for his recordings and books over the years.
Each Jim Gill family concert is an active sing-along, clap-along, and dance-along event, and his recordings and books are created as opportunities for playful interactions between a child and a caring adult. His songs use a unique writing style that combines word play and movement opportunities, and his strategies to promote family involvement in concerts were developed through weekly sessions with families with children with special needs. Jim Gill also leads professional training workshops, play-based learning workshops, conference keynotes, staff training sessions, and training events for librarians, early childhood educators, and other professionals. His video book projects involve community-created pages by children, and he signs each book ordered through his store.
Jim Gill has worked with schools, libraries, and other community organizations across the country to create video books filled with pages created by children. He has shared his expertise with organizations such as Head Start, the National Association for the Education of Young Children, the National Association for Family Child Care, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Parents, librarians, and educators have described Jim Gill’s concerts as filled with play, music, and fun, and have noted that families sing and dance together during his concerts. Testimonials from librarians and early childhood professionals describe his family concerts as inclusive and his professional workshops as interactive and energizing, with specific mention of play-based learning workshops, early literacy and child development tips, fingerplays, and activities that can be used in library storytimes. Workshop participants have also noted his musical activities, his focus on increasing parent participation, and his use of his knowledge of child development in the pacing of his performances.
Last updated July 8, 2026.
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