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Hello I'm Cerrie Burnell, one of the Cbeebies' presenters.
Last year, I visited lots of activity centres and was amazed and delighted to find so many young children involved in fundraising for Children in Need.
From making iced cakes to having sponsored toy swaps and Pudsey parties, it made me realise that although pre-schoolers are often too young to understand the significance of raising money for Children in Need, they all fall in love with Pudsey and his super cute accomplice Blush and enjoy the challenge of doing something fun, new and exciting.
I really wanted to find a way for CBeebies to reflect and all the efforts you and your little ones make, so I approached Children in Need and the CBeebies team with an idea. I knew it had to be a song, but rather than selling a single to raise money, I wanted it to be something that the CBeebies' audience could really become involved with - it needed to be a song that everyone could dance to; a song that was upbeat, memorable and above all else fun.
With the help of the CBeebies team we found a talented composer and asked him to create a catchy tune which would make us all want to jump up and dance.
Once we had the tune and the title -JUMP UP AND DANCE - it was the lyrics and choreography next. We spent several nights having practise runs with our own children to make sure we didn't over complicate or over simplify the dance.
The next stage was to get the lyrics recorded. Sid and I did this and we were thrilled when we heard them back. Onwards and upwards, we needed to shoot a fabulous music video for JUMP UP AND DANCE .
On the day of the shoot there was a complete downpour but everyone's spirits were so high it didn't matter. Katy, Alex, Sid, Pudsey and I were filmed dancing outside our new home in Salford Quays and it was a fantastically happy occasion despite the weather!
After all the fun of filming there were several days of editing, where our wonderful director and editor put everything together so it looks as if Katy, Sid, Alex, Pudsey and I are dancing side by side with the Teletubbies, Rastamouse, Driver Dan plus Rosie and Raggles!
I'm so, so happy with the result; it's vibrant, joyful and most of all it makes you literally want to JUMP UP AND DANCE!
You can see the video on Cbeebies this week and you can it from the Cbeebies website. There are dance instructions from Sid, Pudsey and me which are fun and quick to learn. So all you need to do is tell your child's nursery or school about it or why not have your very own Jump up and Dance party?
Your children can get sponsored for ing in with the dance (all the sponsorship details are on the website) and they're bound to have a fantastic time with their friends!
We would love you to share your experiences and pictures of fundraising with Jump up and Dance on our Facebook page and Twitter Feed and hear all about the fun you had.
I would like to thank you for inspiring me and also send a massive thank you to Cbeebies and Children In Need for coming together to create Jump Up and Dance. I really hope you enjoy learning the steps and contributing to the event as much I have.
Watch Jump Up and Dance here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/childreninneed/watch/childreninneed-learntojumpupanddance/
the song and plan your fundraising here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/grownups/activity/childreninneed-songs
