Shark Week! Somewhere in the Ocean

This sing-a-long book includes fantastic illustrations of 10 different kinds of sea creatures. You can count them as you go and there is even a hidden number on each page the kids can find! The musical score in included in the book, so you can figure out the tune if you don't already know it. Worth the time to learn this song!

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:

SHARK WEEK! 5 Little Fishies

This is by far one of the funnest songs for the little ones! The fear, but LOVE this shark. 5 Little Fishies is just like 5 Little Monkeys. We chant it like this:

5 little fishies swimming in the sea
Teasing Mr. Shark, "You can't catch me, no you can't catch me!"
Along came Mr. Shark, quiet as can be and SNATCHED a fishie right out of out of that sea!

Of course, from there you sing it again singing about 4 little fishies and so on until there are no little fishies swimming in the sea. I have the kids put their fingers up and pretend that their fingers are the little fishies. I walk around with the shark and stealthily swerve between the kids and usually snatch their fingers several kids per verse. A lot of giggling ensues and a lot of smiles are made. :)