Warm Up Motor Skills
Heckity Peckity Bumble Bee
Movement Song
Pass Out Instruments
A Capella Instrument Rhyme
Movement Songs with Instruments
Collect instruments
Mellow Movement Song
Goodbye
Bubbles
Hello
"Hello, Hello"
Since LGRF is so high energy, I like to start the programs with a more mellow good morning song than other storytimes. I like this one because it has built-in movements and stretches.
Warming Up Motor Skills
A Capella Rhythm Stick Rhymes
"Little Clapping Mouse"
(each * is a time to clap or hit rhythm sticks together)
Behind the tree * *
And under the house * *
There lives a teeny * *
Tiny mouse * *
She loves to sing * *
She loves to tap * *
But most of all * *
She loves to clap * *
She claps all night * *
She claps all day * *
She claps to frighten * *
The cat away! * * * * * * * *
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"If You're Happy and You Know It"
If you're happy and you know it, tap your sticks *tap tap*
Rain on the rooftop
"Lummi Stick Tap" by The Tumble Tots
"Point Your Lummi Sticks" by The Tumble Tots
Bubbles!
The last thing I do at every storytime is blow bubbles. The kids go crazy over them! I play the same songs every time so they get to know that after we say goodbye, we have bubbles for the duration of two songs, and then storytime is over until next time. Our regulars know this is the way it always goes, which is a great introduction to establishing routines in other aspects of life as they grow.
One Little, Two Little, Three Little Bubbles
Yo Gabba Gabba Bubbles Song
"Hello, Hello"
Since LGRF is so high energy, I like to start the programs with a more mellow good morning song than other storytimes. I like this one because it has built-in movements and stretches.
Warming Up Motor Skills
"Open, Shut Them"
On this song we do the movements described in the lyrics: open our hands, close our hands, clap three times, put our hands in our lap, creep our fingers up to our chin, and don't let them in our mouths.
On this song we do the movements described in the lyrics: open our hands, close our hands, clap three times, put our hands in our lap, creep our fingers up to our chin, and don't let them in our mouths.
Heckity Peckity Bumble Bee
The "Heckity Peckity" chant is a great way to practice call-and-response, get to know our new friends by name, and practice counting the syllables of words. |
| Me and my bumblebee finger puppet |
Heckity peckity bumblebee,
Won't you say your name for me?
Bzzzzz (Bee buzzes up to a child and asks their name. Let's say it's Harold.)
Everyone say Harold. (Group says name)
Can we whisper it? (whisper the name)
Can we do it on our legs? (Repeat name and pat thighs with each syllable)
Can we clap it? (Repeat name and clap with each syllable)
Now let's turn off our voice (Do a clicking motion with hand on throat and make clicking sound)
And let's just clap it (Group claps the syllables without speaking)
How many claps was that? (Group answers)
Harold's name is two claps! Who is next?
Bzzzzz (Bee buzzes up to a child and asks their name. Let's say it's Harold.)
Everyone say Harold. (Group says name)
Can we whisper it? (whisper the name)
Can we do it on our legs? (Repeat name and pat thighs with each syllable)
Can we clap it? (Repeat name and clap with each syllable)
Now let's turn off our voice (Do a clicking motion with hand on throat and make clicking sound)
And let's just clap it (Group claps the syllables without speaking)
How many claps was that? (Group answers)
Harold's name is two claps! Who is next?
Movement Song
You could pretty much use any movement songs in this program, but there are several that I've noticed go over extra well when the kids are excited about puppets and instruments, and just need to shake their wiggles out. I usually go with one of these ten...
"Bob 'Til You Drop" by Greg and Steve
"It's Time to Stand Up" by Susan Salidor
"The Goldfish" by Laurie Berkner
"Can't Sit Still" by Greg and Steve
"Tooty Ta" by The Kiboomers
"The Freeze" by Greg and Steve
(weird video, but you can hear the song pretty well)
"Jumping and Counting" by Jim Gill
Pass Out Rhythm Sticks
When it's time to pass out the instruments, I tell the kids they must be sitting down calmly in order to get one. If they're extra wiggly, I might do a calming song like "Everybody Do This Just Like Me" or "Eyes are Watching, Ears are Listening," but this is only necessary about half the time. Once they see kids who are sitting down getting handed rhythm sticks or egg shakers, they get the idea and assume the position themselves. Also, since it's impossible to be handed a musical instrument and not make noise with it right away, I don't make them keep it quiet until everyone has theirs.
"Little Clapping Mouse"
(each * is a time to clap or hit rhythm sticks together)
Behind the tree * *
And under the house * *
There lives a teeny * *
Tiny mouse * *
She loves to sing * *
She loves to tap * *
But most of all * *
She loves to clap * *
She claps all night * *
She claps all day * *
She claps to frighten * *
The cat away! * * * * * * * *
Jbrary does it with clapping, but this rhyme is also excellent with instruments.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"If You're Happy and You Know It"
If you're happy and you know it, tap your sticks *tap tap*
If you're happy and you know it, tap your sticks *tap tap*
If you're happy and you know it, and you really wanna show it,
If you're happy and you know it, tap your sticks *tap tap*
Repeat with...
If you're happy and you know it, rub your sticks *rub together*
If you're happy and you know it, hit the floor *hit hit*
If you're happy and you know it, do all three *tap tap, rub together, hit hit*
Try to get the whole room singing with you!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Rain on the Rooftop"
Rain on the rooftop
Rain on the tree
Rain on the green grass
But none on me!
Use rhythm sticks to make the beat. Hit the floor twice, then hit them together once. The rhythm is in 4/4 time. Using the first line as an example, if each beat has a number...
1-hit the floor (on "rain")
2-hit the floor (on "on")
3-hit sticks together (on "roof")
4-rest
This video will show you how the song goes, although it's not exactly the words I learned. It works as a song or a chant, depending on your level of comfort singing in front of people.
Movement Songs with Instruments
I can only keep the attention of a room full of preschoolers with musical instruments for so long, so this is the point in the program where I let recorded music do the majority of the work. I encourage the kids and grownups to dance and sing along, as well as follow the directed movements suggested in the lyrics. These songs are all fantastic for working with rhythm sticks, because they acknowledge the instruments and show the kids several different ways to use them.
"Tapping on My Sticks" by Kathy Reid-Naiman
"Lummi Stick Tap" by The Tumble Tots
"Point Your Lummi Sticks" by The Tumble Tots
Collect Rhythm Sticks
I don't try the "only those sitting down can put their instruments away" method for collecting... It does not work. By the end of the second song, they're either over using the instruments or so attached that they will sob if I try to take them away. For this reason, I simply encourage everyone to be good helpers and clean up all the instruments until they're all back in their bin. The prospect of helping me clean up is usually enough to get the clingers to relinquish their toys, especially when it's coupled with the promise that they'll get to play with them again next time.
Mellow Movement Song
The last thing I like to do before singing the goodbye song and having bubbles is one more movement song to help the littles re-compose themselves after the trauma of having to say goodbye to the toys. The best one I've found is Ella Jenkin's "Follow the Leader."
Goodbye
"Until We Meet Again" from Out of the Box
Before singing this song, we learn a vocabulary word: clave. Clave is a type of rhythm used mostly in Afro-Cuban music, characterized by it's three-two beat. When I teach the word to preschool-age kids, I have them count to three, pause, and count to two, then do it again with clapping. The Out of the Box goodbye song uses a clave pattern, so after we learn what the word means, we practice clapping the clave pattern as we say goodbye to our friends.
Before singing this song, we learn a vocabulary word: clave. Clave is a type of rhythm used mostly in Afro-Cuban music, characterized by it's three-two beat. When I teach the word to preschool-age kids, I have them count to three, pause, and count to two, then do it again with clapping. The Out of the Box goodbye song uses a clave pattern, so after we learn what the word means, we practice clapping the clave pattern as we say goodbye to our friends.
Bubbles!
The last thing I do at every storytime is blow bubbles. The kids go crazy over them! I play the same songs every time so they get to know that after we say goodbye, we have bubbles for the duration of two songs, and then storytime is over until next time. Our regulars know this is the way it always goes, which is a great introduction to establishing routines in other aspects of life as they grow.
One Little, Two Little, Three Little Bubbles
Yo Gabba Gabba Bubbles Song
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