Kindergarten Music songs, games, & activities
Our repertoire in Kindergarten serves multiple purposes at the same time.
From a musical standpoint, these songs and rhymes form the basis for all the other musical work we’ll do in later years. Musical expectations about things like phrasing, tonality, meter, and form are constructed through active musical experiences in Kindergarten.
But perhaps more importantly, this is also where we learn crucial skills about how to interact with each other in a group setting. What is it like to make music in a collaborative, collective ensemble? What will the overall tone of music class be?
Ideally, in addition to building music foundations, we’re also building a love for music class, a joy from being together, and the capacity to engage with many different types of musics on many different levels.
Teaching Music Tomorrow: Kindergarten Music Series
In the new Kindergarten Music series on Teaching Music Tomorrow, Anne Mileski and I are talking about active Kindergarten experiences for developing musicianship skills in a play-based way.
Click here to listen and learn more.
Action Song: All Around the Brickyard
What a great action song for entering the classroom, or any time throughout the lesson!
This song has been well-loved across many places in America, but was collected in Illinois as a circle dance (McIntosh, 1957).
Song Activity:
In the classroom today, it’s more commonly sung as a follow-the-leader, action game in which students suggest movements to replace the text.
For example, “I’m gonna jump it and a jump it,” “I’m gonna wiggle it and a wiggle it,” etc.
Consider starting with the teacher as the line leader, leading the class around the room, and calling out different movements with each iteration. After a few rounds students can suggest their own motions, and eventually be the line leader instead of the teacher.
Ball-Bouncing Game: Bounce High Bounce Low
This is a Kindergarten classic!
It’s a great game to use at the beginning of the year, or after a break, especially when learning names.
Singing Game Directions:
To play the game, students stand in a circle with one student in the middle. That student in the middle bounces a ball on the strong beats of the song as the whole class sings. Instead of “Shilo,” the class sings the name of another student in the circle. The person in the middle bounces the ball to the chosen student and the two switch places. Repeat the activity with different student names each time.
To save time with choosing which student’s name the class will sing in the next iteration of the song, I have also modified this game to have a solo singing component. The whole class sings the first four beats (“bounce high bounce low”) and the student in the middle sings “bounce the ball to __(student name)___.”
Circle Game: Old Bald Eagle
A classic play party, this singing game has been re-imagined for young music students in a classroom setting.
In an interview, Jean Ritchie (1957) commented that Old Bald Eagle was often the last song they would sing at their “singing plays” before it was time to go home. This can make it another great song to use at the end of class, like “Caballito Blanco.”
Singing Game Directions:
Students create a circle with one student on the inside. That student walks around the inside of the circle as the class sings the song. At the end, the student in the middle chooses the student they are standing next to, and both students walk around the middle of the circle as the class sings “two bald eagles sail around.”
Cumulative Song: Juanito Quando Baila
How does young Juan like to dance? He dances with his feet, his hands, his fingers, his elbow…. Just like this!
This Spanish song has been loved by many children across many Spanish-speaking countries, making it difficult to pinpoint an exact location for its origin. Kindergartners can add themselves to the collection of children across the world who love singing and moving to this Spanish song!
additional Verses
(2) Con el pie pie pie (foot)
(3) Con la rodilla dilla dilla (knee)
(4) Con la cadera dera dera (hip)
(5) Con la mano mano mano (hand)
(6) Con el codo codo codo (elbow)
(7) Con el hombro hombro hombro (shoulder)
(8) Con la cabeza eza eza (head)
Song Activity:
Sing the song and dance with each new addition to the text.
This is a cumulative song. Each time through, add on one more body part to dance with!
Echo Singing GAME: Charlie Over the Ocean
By the time this singing game was recorded in its current version, it was no longer associated with its original social and political connotations. Like other mentions of Charles Edward Stewart in Scottish songs like “Over the River to Charlie,” Scottish songs with Jacobite references eventually became encompassed into play parties, then in children’s singing games, and transitioned into the singing games we love today.
Singing Game Directions:
Students create a circle with a leader on the outside. The leader sings the song while moving around the outside of the circle, and the rest of the class echoes. In the last line (“can’t catch me”), the leader taps the student closest to them on the shoulder. Both students run around the circle, with the student who was just tagged trying to catch the leader.
If the leader makes it back to the tagged student’s spot, the student who was tagged becomes the new leader and the game begins again. If the leader is caught, they lead the game in the next round.
You can also have students walk, or jump, or hop on one foot around the circle if running doesn’t work for your situation.
Greeting Song: Bonjour, Mes Amis
This activity is a hit at the beginning of my Kindergarten lessons! I’ve used it in other grades as well, and it’s just as delightful.
Translation
Hello, my friends, hello!
Song Activity
There isn’t a game or activity that accompanies this song, so this is one I have added.
In this activity, I ask students to imagine how they would greet a friend if they couldn’t use any words. We explore all sorts of non-verbal waves: waving two hands enthusiastically, wiggling fingers, Barbie wave, etc.
With a few student ideas at a time, the teacher signs and shows different ways to wave for each phrase. Students copy the teacher’s movements.
Another day, students choose their favorite three silent ways to wave. Practice switching between the three waves, following the teacher as they hold up 1, 2, or 3 fingers. Students sing the song and wave with their first, second, and third movement choices as the teacher directs.
Imaginative Play Song: Con Mi Martillo
What could we build with our hammer?
Translation
With my hammer, hammer, hammer,
with my hammer I hammer
Song Activity
In this activity I‘ve added to the song, my Kindergarteners love suggesting things we could make.
Students imagine what we could build, the class sings the song as we pat imaginary hammers, and then we inspect our work. Each iteration of the song, the teacher discovers we have made a mistake following the directions, and have almost finished building something else entirely. Students suggest what we built by accident, and we sing the song again.
LOCOMOTOR Pathway Song: Caballio Blanco
This is another hit in my Kindergarten lessons, and another song that doesn’t come with a standardized activity. Instead, I’ve added a movement activity to help us line up at the end of class.
Translation:
Little white pony, take me from here
Take me to my home where I was born
Song Activity
Students sing the song and walk in a circle. (My students sit in a circle, so it’s easy to stand and point our “noses and our toeses” in one direction.)
At some point, the teacher breaks away from the circle and the class continues to follow. Explore different movement pathways around the room such as zig-zag, straight, curvy, etc.) With each iteration of the song, ask students to suggest how much further the little white pony has to travel until we’re back home.
Eventually the teacher leads the line of students to the door.
Lullaby: Sulla Rulla
Sulla Rulla is one of my favorite lullabies for Kindergarten, or any age!
It’s associated with Østerdalen, a valley in southeastern Norway. The phases, “sulla rulla,” or “sulla lulla,” are calming sounds used in many Nordic lullabies. Traditional performance practice would include an elongation of consonants rather than vowels, specifically with the “ll” sound.
This song is sourced from the collection at Nordic Sounds.
Song Activity
Sing this song as you rock side to side. If you have stuffed animals in your class, have students take turns rocking them as they sing.
Move & Freeze dance: Las Estatuas de Marfil
This singing game from Mexico is such a great way to practice movement and stillness! Montoya-Stier (2008) suggested that teachers might give categories of statues for students to explore (animals, etc.).
Translation
Like the ivory statues,
one, two, three, like this
Singing Game Directions
There are several ways to play this game about ivory statues, all of which involve freezing in place at the end of the song.
For Kindergarten, a fun way to play is to move around a circle, or around the room in open space, while singing the song. One student stands at the front of the room, facing the other students. At the end, all students freeze in their favorite statue shape. If anyone moves the person at the front of the room calls their name and they are out in the next round of the game.
Movement Song: Just From the Kitchen
This children’s ring game was shared by the beloved singer, Bessie Jones. Bessie Jones is one of the most well-known singers from the Georgia Sea Islands, and has contributed tremendously to the field of children’s music education through her preservation and dissemination of Georgia Sea Islands culture.
The phrase, “shoo lie loo” was believed by Jones to be a joyful expression of gratitude. The song references children playing in the yard who periodically go into the kitchen and come back out with a handful of biscuits.
Singing Game Directions:
Students stand in a circle and sing the response. In the place of "Miss Mary", the lead singer sings the name of another student in the circle. That student improvises a movement as he or she travels to the opposite side of the circle.
Singing Story: Aiken Drum
The history of Aiken Drum is fascinating!
The melody I notated here is from The melody I have notated here is from Crane (1878) and Forrai (1990), but there are many more tunes associated with the name, “Aiken Drum,” and even more stories about its origin. You can find more in the “sources and variants” section of the repertoire page.
From my reading of the sources, this is a very old Scottish children’s song that was recycled into a Jacobite ballad, and like “Charlie Over the Ocean,” this song isn’t currently associated with the Jacobite cause or Charles Edward Stuart. Some other early versions include another character, Willie Wood, before Aiken Drum is introduced.
Song Activity:
In the classroom, students love changing the foods Aiken Drum was made of.
For example:
His head was made of a tomato, a tomato, a tomato...
His hair was made of spaghetti, of spaghetti, of spaghetti...
His nose was made of a strawberry, of a strawberry, of a strawberry…
Winding Game: Caracol Col Col
Winding games are delightful additions to Kindergarten music, provided every member of the group shows the self-control to keep everyone safe!
The text of this song is conducive to encouraging self-control, as students pretend to be very slow snails.
Translation
Little snail snail snail,
Take out your horns and stand in the sun
Singing Game Directions:
Students hold hands in a line, with a leader at the front. The leader moves the line in an inward circle, creating a spiral like a snail. Eventually the leader turns around and unwinds the group.
Fun & Games - where to find more
I don’t think I’ve met a person who loves Kindergarten music as much as my friend, Anne Mileski.
Anne and I collaborate on the podcast, “Teaching Music Tomorrow.” If you’re interested in more songs, games, and activities for Kindergarten music, I cannot recommend enough that you jump over to teachingmusictomorrow.com to listen to our latest podcast season about Kindergarten music!
