Grumpy Dumpling
Ili's kindergarten blog
A Super-Duper List of Songs :)
I have been teaching kindergarten for 5 years now, and my favourite thing to teach has always been music. Sure, I love doing crafts too, but when we learn songs everybody is singing, playing instruments, and dancing happily – while also learning. It’s the moment of the day when I can be silly and loud, and the kids can express themselves freely. Our worries are left behind and we enjoy being there with our friends.
I’ve made a list of my favourie songs EVER. Some might say that I chose too many songs from Super Simple Learning, but I couldn’t help myself. Everything they do is GREAT! So..here’s the list. I hope you’ll find it useful (click on the songs for the videos). I’m sure I forgot a lot of songs I like, but it’s too difficult to remember all of them.
Circle time songs:
Songs about colours:
Songs about numbers:
Songs about weather:
What’s the Weather Like Today? (to the tune of Clementine):
What’s the weather? What’s the weather? What’s the weather like today?
Tell me _(insert kids name)__ what’s the weather, What’s the weather like today?
Is it sunny? Is it rainy? Is it cloudy out today?
Is it snowy? Is it windy? What’s the weather like today?
— No Time for Flashcards.
Songs about body parts:
Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes
Songs about animals:
Movement songs:
If You are Happy And You Know It
Songs for transitions:
Line up song (sung to the same tune as Make a circle):
Everybody make a line,
make a line, make a line,
Everybody make a line,
For now it’s … time (lunch/snack/circle/dancing)
Put on Your Shoes
This is an awesome song from Super Simple Learning that helps teach basic vocabulary: jacket, shoes, scarf, hat. We have been singing it every day while getting ready to go outside: it's part of our daily routine.
PUT ON YOUR SHOES (FROM SUPER SIMPLE SONGS)
Put on your shoes, your shoes, your shoes.
Put on your shoes, your shoes, your shoes.
Put on your shoes.
Let's go outside.
Hurry up. Hurry up. Hurry hurry up!
Put on your jacket, your jacket, your jacket.
Put on your jacket, your jacket, your jacket.
Put on your jacket.
Let's go outside.
Hurry up. Hurry up. Hurry hurry up!
Put on your scarf, your scarf, your scarf.
Put on your scarf, your scarf, your scarf.
Put on your scarf.
Let's go outside.
Hurry up. Hurry up. Hurry hurry up!
Put on your hat, your hat, your hat.
Put on your hat, your hat, your hat.
Put on your hat.
Let's go outside.
Hurry up. Hurry up. Hurry hurry up!
Put on your shoes.
Your jacket.
Your scarf.
And your hat.
Hurry up. Hurry up. Hurry hurry up!
Counting Bananas
This week we focused on counting, so we learned a new song from Super Simple Learning. It’s called Counting Bananas. It’s a very easy song that teaches kids to count to 20 (we practiced the first part with our younger kids – counting to 10 - because they have been learning English for only a couple of months).
These are the lyrics to the song:
One banana, two bananas,
one, two, three.
Three bananas for me!
Four bananas, five bananas,
four, five, six.
Six bananas for me!
Seven, eight, nine, ten!
Ten bananas for me!
Eleven, twelve, thirteen.
Thirteen bananas for me!
Fourteen, fifteen, sixteen.
Sixteen bananas for me.
Seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty!
Twenty bananas for me.
Bananas to the left.
Bananas to the right.
Bananas turn around.
Bananas sit down. Now peel your bananas and take a bite!
We made banana crafts, then we used them as props for the song. If you go to the Super Simple Learning website, you can download some flashcards for the song and also watch the fun video.
My Teddy Bear - Teaching Body Parts
This month we are learning about body parts. I’ve found a very nice song that I would like to share with you. My kids like it a lot. :) After just one day they know how to sing it. It’s from Super Simple Learning, of course.
I also took Wazy, my teddy, to teach the song. He got a lot of hugs from the kids.
Lyrics:
My teddy bear has 2 eyes, 2 eyes, 2 eyes
My teddy bear has 2 eyes,
I love my teddy bear.
My teddy bear has one nose, one nose, one nose,
My teddy bear has one nose,
I love my teddy bear.
My teddy bear has two ears, two ears, two ears,
My teddy bear has two ears,
I love my teddy bear.
My teddy bear has two arms/ two legs/ four paws.
My teddy bear has two arms/ two legs/ four paws.
I love my teddy bear.
You can find a very cute video for the song here.
10 Little Aeroplanes
Music is a great way of teaching basic math skills - kids learn numbers and other mathematic concepts effortlessly, while also developing a positive attitude toward math. In addition, music will help kids improve their memory and attention.
10 Little Aeroplanes is a song that I found on British Council Kids a couple of years ago. I almost forgot about it. Since we were learning about vehicles, I came across it.
After the kids have learned the song, you can use props to make it more fun. We have 2 chairs and a string tied to them. On the string we placed 10 little straw aeroplanes. You can also use them to learn how to decompose number 10 and how to count backwards.
Lyrics:
1 little, 2 little, 3 little aeroplanes,
4 little, 5 little, 6 little aeroplanes,
7 little, 8 little, 9 little aeroplanes,
10 little aeroplanes flying high!
10 little, 9 little, 8 little aeroplanes,
7 little, 6 little, 5 little aeroplanes,
4 little, 3 little, 2 little aeroplanes,
1 little aeroplane flying high!
You can find the song here.
Do You Like Broccoli Ice Cream?
This is a very funny song that my kids love…especially when it comes to singing about what they don’t like. They enjoy shouting out loud “No, it’s yucky!”. Even though they are a bit too loud, I just can not spoil their fun :)
Target vocabulary: Do you like...?, Yes, I do./No, I don't. Yucky!, foods (broccoli, ice cream, donuts, juice, popcorn, pizza, bananas, soup).
You can find this awesome song on the Super Simple Learning website and on YouTube.
Five Little Ducks Stick Puppets
Kindergarteners love this traditional nursery rhyme: it’s easy to learn and they can understand the lyrics, even if their mother tongue is not English. I’ve created some stick puppets for you to use when teaching the song – you can download them for free from my TPT store, Grumpy Dumpling.
There’s a very nice version of the song from LittleBabyBum if you don’t remember the tune.
Lyrics:
Five little ducks went out one day
Over the hills and far away
Mother duck said “quack, quack, quack, quack”
But only four little ducks came back.
Four little ducks went out one day
Over the hills and far away
Mother duck said “quack, quack, quack, quack”
But only three little ducks came back.
Three little ducks went out one day
Over the hills and far away
Mother duck said “quack, quack, quack, quack”
But only two little ducks came back.
Two little ducks went out one day
Over the hills and far away
Mother duck said “quack, quack, quack, quack”
But only one little duck came back.
One little duck went out one day
Over the hills and far away
Mother duck said “quack, quack, quack, quack”
But none of the little ducks came back.
Then mother duck said “quack, quack, quack, quack”
And all the little ducks came back.
I Can Stand
Rhymes help kids memorize new words with little effort. Here’s a rhyme I wrote to help kids learn the verb “can” and other basic verbs:
I CAN STAND
I CAN SKIP
I CAN THROW
AND I CAN KICK
You can download tracing worksheets and some colouring pages here - these will help you teach the poem. They are free on my TPT store, Grumpy Dumpling.
Five Little Monkeys
Songs can be a fun way to teach numbers and new words. Five Little Monkeys is one of the greatest nursery rhymes because it has silly rhymes, easy words (doctor, mother, monkey, jump, bed), it teaches kids numbers, it can be danced on, and even acted out.
Lyrics:
5 little monkeys jumping on the bed
One fell off and bumped its head
Mother called the doctor and the doctor said:
No more monkey jumping on the bed!
4 little monkeys….
3 little monkeys…
2 little monkeys…
1 little monkey…
No more monkeys jumping on the bed
None fell off or bumped its head
Mother called the doctor and the doctor said:
Put those monkeys back in the bed!
Here are some stick puppets I created for this song. I hope you’ll enjoy using them!
A Song and Guessing Game to Teach Story Characters
When we were in kindergarten, teaching a foreign language was done mainly through repetition of certain words. This made English seem boring and uninteresting. Nowadays, however, we teach English through songs and stories, games and riddles, making learning a foreign language easier and enjoyable.
Using songs in the classroom offers a lot of benefits, such as:
-
they help learners become familiar with certain English sounds and their correct pronunciation;
-
through songs, children are able to learn words as they are used in context, not just isolated;
-
songs develop children’s memory, by using rhythm;
-
action songs help develop children’s gross motor skills;
-
songs make the whole experience an enjoyable one – children don’t think of learning English as “work” they “have” to do.
I wrote this very easy song so I can teach my pupils characters from stories: boy, girl, queen, king, princess, and witch. It comes with stick puppets that you can print and laminate and then use to play the guessing game described in the printable. I hope your kids will enjoy it! :)
The Action Song
I bought some great images from Kari Bolt (http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Kari-Bolt) and I couldn't wait to use them to create some materials. Although it's almost midnight on a Friday and I'm very, VERY tired, I wanted to post some things on my shop. Here's a song that can be used to teach basic verbs to kids. It has flashcards that you can use to play vocabulary games, such as Memory, Word Hopscotch, Word Twister, mime, etc.
Knock, knock, trick or treat!
I’m a huge fan of Super Simple Learning. I love everything they do – from songs to flashcards and worksheets. When I first started teaching I didn’t know any English songs for kids. They saved my life: not only are the songs easy to teach, but they have free printables to help them learn the words.
Whenever I had hectic days, when I was in charge of two large groups on my own, I just used the song box to keep the kids entertained. When I left my workplace, Jaana, the manager, made a movie for me; the kids were asked what they love most about me, and most of them answered “she sings songs” :)
“Knock, Knock, Trick or Treat” is a song that helps teach basic vocabulary related to Halloween: ghost, monster, ballerina, pirate, witch, trick or treat, etc. Even though my kids are quite young, they weren’t scared, because we used funny gestures. Here’s a link from Super Simple Learning where you can find the song and some printables for it.
Happy Halloween!
Five Little Ducks
This is a very easy traditional song for kids that’s helpful for practising counting down from 5 to 1. Teach the main words through vocabulary games and then
download these cute stick puppets from Picklebums to sing the song. Have fun!
"Five little ducks went out one day,
Over the hills and far away.
Mother duck said,“Quack! Quack! Quack! Quack!”
But only four little ducks came back."
The Wheels on the Bus
This is the very first song I taught the Penguins, my first group ever :) It’s a fun song that kids love, mainly because they get to dance and move about. Even if they don’t know the lyrics at first, they can join you.
Here’s a video from Super Simple Learning. The kids can sing along quite easily, because it's not sung too fast.
You can make a puffy paint bus, like the one from craftymorning.com. Click here to see how to make it. You just need some shaving cream and paint.
We also made some funny looking sandwiches with the kids using cheese, butter, olives and crackers.
Five Currant Buns
This is a traditional rhyme all my kids had fun singing: Five Currant Buns!
Materials: We prepared the props for the song with the kids: we made coloured salt dough (pink and green) and created five buns with cherries on top.
You can make your own money, by laminating silver or gold paper and cutting circles. We used laminated money downloaded from one of my favourite sites, Picklebums.
I changed the traditional lyrics, so we can learn the words “boy”, “girl”, “money”:
Five currant buns in a baker's shop.
Round and fat with a cherry on the top,
Along came a boy/girl with some money one day,
Bought a currant bun and took it away.
