Shark Week! Charlie Over the Ocean

There are a few different versions of this folk song, and true to my nature I've tweaked it a little and made it mine. :) Here are the words I use:

Charlie Over the Ocean (have kids echo "Charlie over the ocean")
Charlie over the sea (echo)
Charlie caught a big fish/dolphin/shark/octopus...etc. (echo)
Can't catch me! (echo)

I have the kids take turns naming all the different ocean animals they can think of, and they enjoy changing the lyrics slightly. I do hand signs as well to keep them involved. On the first line I make a wave with my right hand. On the second line I make a wave with my left hand. On "Charlie caught a big fish" we pretend to cast a fishing line, and on the last line we shake our heads left to right. There are lots of things you can do with this song. You could bring finger puppets of sea animals. You could show them pictures of sea animals and have them guess what they are. You could even have mini-lessons between each verse to teach them about the animals they are naming. If the kids are slightly older you can have them take the lead on the song and have everyone, including you, echo their lead. This is fantastic practice for helping them learn to sing confidently on their own!

Here's an audio file of my daughter and I singing this song:

Animal Week (Again!): I Went to Visit a Farm One Day

The number of verses to this song is limited only to the number of farm animals the kids can think of! I love two things about this song: Kids are eager to suggest animals and to tell you what the animals say, which gets them creating their own verses, and the kids sing the animal noises back to you, which gets them started on solo singing. I usually have them sing the proper pitches for the animal sounds (they're MUSICAL animals!), and the kids then begin to learn pitch memory. Here are the lyrics for the first verse:

I went to visit a farm one day,
I saw a cow along the way.
And what do you think that cow did say?
MOO, MOO, MOO. MOO, MOO, MOO!

There are many YouTube videos where you can hear the melody of this song, and see verses that others have come up with. This is the one I see most referenced: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeO3WxV35GE.

Often I will bring in pictures of farm animals, and if the kids get stumped but really want to be involved, I have them pick a picture. You could also bring in animal puppets and have them pick one out of a bag to sing along. There are a lot of fun things you can do with this song!

If I Were a Bird

Ann Moyle was the music and movement teacher at our local library before and after I did my 2 year stint there. She is AMAZING and created many of her own songs. This is one of her songs and I got permission from her to share it. I love the different take she has on this animal song. Instead of singing about the noises each animal makes, this song focuses on the movements they make. Here are the lyrics:

If I were a bird, if I were a bird,
I'd fly and fly and fly all day if I were a bird.

If I were a fish, if I were a fish,
I'd swim and swim and swim all day if I were a fish.

Here's the vocal audio file:


The kids love coming up with all sorts of animals and deciding what their movement should be. And of course, this is the kind of song we act out as we sing it! (Please respect her copyright on this. She would love for you to use it for your non-monetary experiences).

Animal Week!

We just celebrated two birthdays in our family. Both kids wanted a Wild Kratts party. We are so fortunate to live near a Wild Animal Rescue and Education center and they came and entertained our kids and their friends with fun animals like a Chinchilla, a fox, and Macaw, and many more. We had so much fun and I thought I'd continue the fun with songs about animals this week. One of the absolute favorites for ANY class I teach is Row, Row, Row Your Boat.

What in the world does Row Your Boat have to do with animals, you may ask! Well, I have taken ideas I've found on preschool websites, added a couple of verses of my own, and transformed this song into one of the funnest ever! Here are the verses (sung to the traditional tune):

Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream.

Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream.
If you see a dinosaur, don't forget to scream! (Have them scream)

Row, row, row your boat gently to the shore,
If you see a lion (tiger), don't forget to roar!

Row, row, row your boat gently to the bay.
If you see a turtle, let's all shout hooray!

Rock, rock, rock your boat, gently to and fro.
Wibbly, wobbly, wibbly, wobbly, OVER the side you go!!


Before the first verse, have the kids grab a partner and sit on the ground facing their partner. Have them match their feet up (soles against soles), grab hands, and move front and back in a rowing motion as they sing this song. On the second verse (still rowing), have them think of animals that might make them frightened; on the third verse, animals that roar; on the forth verse, animals that they would be happy to see. On the fifth verse, change from rowing to rocking from side to side. When you say the word "OVER" have them tip all the way to one side and spill onto the floor, just as though they tipped out of their boat. This song is useful in many ways. It gets them feeling the rhythm of the song as they row, they get to create lyrics by suggesting animals to sing about, and they improve social ties as they work with a partner. Admittedly, this song takes awhile because so many of them want to suggest lyrics and the last verse almost always has to be done two or three times! I hope you all enjoy this favorite as much as I do!

Return from an extended Holiday...

Hey everyone! I am finally back and ready to go again. We got uber sick over the holidays and I am just barely recovering from a bout with pneumonia. The second round of antibiotics finally did the trick. I am so happy to be feeling well again! I thought I'd do some Winter songs for a couple of weeks in January. One of my favorite Winter songs is What Shall We Do When We All Go Out. There's a book by the same title that is out of print, but you can probably find it at your local library, eBay or Amazon. It features all summer things, and I took it and had the kids help me change the words. Here are the lyrics:

What shall we do when we all go out, all go out, all go out?
What shall we do when we all go out, when we all go out to play?

We will build a snowman, a snowman, a snowman.
We will build a snowman when we all go out to play
(We will sled downhill, We will build an igloo, we will all throw snowballs, etc.)

I have the kids act out the words they are saying and it's a great song not only for creating their own music, but getting some movement going. Here's a vocal audio file for the song:

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

I love Christmas! And I love all the fun songs we get to sing during this month. I thought I'd kick off the season with a song that is a favorite of all the kids I've taught. In normal life, I find this song fairly boring, but see how a tweak in lyrics can make a song come alive! This song incorporates movements as well as creating music by changing lyrics.

We wish you a Merry Christmas
We wish you a Merry Christmas
We wish you a Merry Christmas
And a Happy New Year

Let's all do a little clapping
Let's all do a little clapping
Let's all do a little clapping
And spread Christmas cheer!
(Do this verse MANY times and change clapping to dancing, twirling, marching, walking, or whatever the kids can come up with!)

End with this:
Let's all do a little boogie
Let's all do a little boogie
Let's all do a little boogie
And spread Christmas cheer!

Here We Come On Our Ponies

This is a fun one for getting up and getting the wiggles out, and connecting song with movement. Here are the lyrics:

Here we come on our ponies,
Our ponies, our ponies.
Here we come on our ponies.
Now, whoa, whoa, whoa!

And of course, you move around the room like you're riding a horse while singing the song. After singing it a few times and letting them get used to it, have them change the lyrics and consequently the actions of the song. Sing something like "Here we come in our cars, our cars, our cars. Here we come in our cars, now vroom, vroom, vroom!" and have them pretend like they are driving cars. Other ideas: here we come in an airplane, here we come on a train, here we come on a bus.  The possibilities are many, and the kids love to dance around the room while varying the actions. In light of Thanksgiving we talk about the many ways we can get to our family's homes or how they can get to ours. This can lead to talk about families or Thanksgiving and is a good lead-in to other Thanksgiving songs.

Here's the piano audio file of the song. Very easy to pick up!

Great Big House in New Orleans

This song is another that I use for Thanksgiving. I sing it as written and then have the kids come up with all sorts of different pies. If you are adventurous you could make this a sensory experience by letting them try a few different kinds of pie.

Great big house in New Orleans
Forty stories high.
Every room that I've been in
Filled with pumpkin pie (key lime pie, apple pie, etc.)

Here is a vocal audio file:

Going Up to Grandma's

One of the important parts of teaching kids music is helping them invent their own. In Music and Movement we do a lot of songs that allow kids to alter the words so they can feel more involved in the song and begin to explore the fun of creating their own music. "Going Up to Grandma's" is an easy song to start with! We use it every year around Thanksgiving Time and encourage kids to think of all the food they normally have at Thanksgiving. Here are the lyrics:

Going up to Grandma's, Grandma's, Grandma's
Going up to Grandma's, Grandma's house.
Gonna eat some turkey, turkey, turkey,
Gonna eat some turkey at Grandma's house!

And of course, the kids can take turns substituting the word "Turkey" for whatever food they can think of: "Gonna eat potatoes", "Gonna eat some pie", "Gonna eat some beans", etc.  Here's the audio file so you can hear what the song sounds like: