Music for Preschoolers: Steady Beat

Jan 7

Preschool has to be one of my favorite ages for teaching music. (...Who am I kidding. They're all my favorite ages.)

Preschool aged children have mastered the art of language, moving nonstop, and asking "WHY?" a million times a day. This is also the age when they spontaneously burst out into songs they have composed about their lives: what they are doing, what they want to do, what they imagine.

This action song is perfect for this age as they work to develop steady beat because children can suggest their own actions for new verses.

A Note About Children's Choices

When children are allowed to make up their own verses to songs, you may find that they don't fit inside the meter (the groupings of steady beats) as well as two syllable words like "jumping" or "walking" do. Children may suggest verses like "swinging so high on my swing set" instead. Whatever your child suggests, find a way to make it fit into the meter of the song, even if you have to cram all the words together quickly to make them fit. Then, find a way to mime the action in a steady beat.

Giving children this young the option to make up new verses is most of the fun with this song. It takes you as the parent being just as creative as your child is, but its well worth it!

And Now We Sing

Here is the song with "walking" as the action verb. Once you get the hang of the song (which you will quickly!) you can begin singing it with your child without the track.

If your preschooler enjoys signing, he or she may try to sing along with you, even though he doesn't know the song yet. That's okay. After several listens he will catch on to the melody and the words. When he is ready, invite him to add some verses of his own.

Remember to act out the action verbs in a steady beat to develop pulse and improve rhythm!

For Your Library

Be sure to print off the music and lyrics to this song! You can put them, along with your other favorite songs, in a binder so that you have all your favorites in one place.