Gilad Perry, a member of Dror Israel from Kibbutz Eshbal, sent both his kids to Dror kindergarten – a social-dialogical kindergarten in Carmiel established by Dror Israel and operated by a team from the Educators’ Kibbutzim. It has 30 children ages 3-5.
Perry, a talented guitarist, has always used music to reach out to his students, but started composing songs for kids when his daughter Omer was born: "Ever since I became a father, I started to write songs for young children. I really enjoy it. Music connects us to our experiences and memories. It moves me to think that all the children of the Dror kindergarten, even after they grow up, will remember their kindergarten and their wonderful experience there every time they hear this song. The Dror Kindergarten teacher asked me to record a special version of the kindergarten’s clean-up song. They sent it to all the kids at home and gave them the task of helping their parents clean their homes."
"Both of my kids, Omer and Yotam, went to Dror and I still help the kindergarten teachers with music. Music has always been for me a way to connect between people. I see it as means of communication and play, not a profession. I also think that it’s important to educate children from a young age that they can create and play with music even if they don’t know a single note."
The song was written a few years ago at the request of the teachers who needed a song to encourage the kids to clean up, and gives them a rhythm and framework for clean-up time. The song is played twice each day – once before breakfast, and once before going out into the yard. The children love the song. The song became popular in other preschools too, after teachers saw it on youtube. “I understand that dozens of preschools throughout Israel use it every day,” adds Perry.