More
action songs H
Hardy
sailors all are we
Have
you seen the little ducks?
Heads
and shoulders knees and toes
Head,
shoulders, baby, 1, 2, 3
Head,
shoulders, knees and toes
Here
comes Thomas
Hop,
said the grasshopper
Hop
up and jump up
How
do you do?
Last updated: 7/13/2020
2:13 PM
The songs below are part of ‘Away we
go’ Round and about
compiled,
adapted and illustrated by Dany Rosevear
Return to the ‘Singing games for
children’ home
To
listen to music from these songs click on 🔊
To watch the author sing a song click on
the title at:
© Dany Rosevear 2008 All rights reserved
You
are free to copy, distribute, display and perform these works under the
following conditions:
·
you must give the original author credit
·
you may not use this work for commercial purposes
·
for any re-use or distribution, you must make clear to others the
licence terms of this work
·
any of these can be waived if you get permission from the copyright
holder
Your
fair use and other rights are no way affected by the above.
|
Hardy sailors all are
we 🔊
An old sailor chantey. It is
also called ‘The Sailor Lads’ from the ‘New elementary music’ by Charles A. Fullerton 192.
The tune is also familiar as ‘Boney was a warrior’. Encourage children to make up
new verses with actions: rowing boat, pulling up the anchors, scrubbing the
decks. 1. With hands on hips skip
forward and then back. 2. Find a partner and skip round holding hands, squat
and rise. 3. Pull at the ropes, skip round once again. |
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Hardy sailors all are we, O hey ho! Sailing on the mighty sea, O hey ho! See the billows leap and
flow, O hey ho! Down we sink and up we go, O hey ho! Now we set the flapping sail, O hey ho! For to chase the flying gale, O hey ho! |
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Have you seen the little
ducks O
An action rhyme. Children put hands to shoulders to
make wings. First they bob knees up and down, then bend low and dip beaks.
Lastly they flap wings.
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Head and shoulders,
knees and toes 🔊
A simple action rhyme for the
very young from the early edition of ‘This little Puffin’. There is only one mention of the
Alabama verse on the internet with the spelling ‘bolders’. Touch body parts as they are
mentioned and finish by turning around. Encourage children to think of other
actions to finish. |
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Head and shoulders, knees and
toes, Knees and toes, knees and
toes, Head and shoulders, knees and
toes, We all turn round together. Eyes and ears and mouth and
nose, Mouth and nose, mouth and
nose, Eyes and ears and mouth and
nose, We all clap hands together. (Alabama version) Bed and boulders, bees and
bows... We all stamp feet together. |
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Head, shoulders, baby,
1, 2, 3 🔊
Traditionally an American
clapping game. This version is from Songbirds ‘Me’ published 1997 and worked
well with classes of 5-6 year olds. However it is a challenging
action song that needs to to be built up gradually; words, touching body
parts and finally including claps. Encourage children with their
partners to make up their own verses. Touch body parts mentioned,
then clap between one and two and two and three in time to the music. |
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Head,
shoulders, baby, 1, 2, 3, Head, shoulders, baby, 1, 2, 3, Head, shoulders, head, shoulders, Head, shoulders, baby, 1, 2, 3. Hands, fingers, baby, 1, 2, 3, Hands, fingers, baby, 1, 2, 3, Hands, fingers, hands, fingers, Hands, fingers, baby, 1, 2, 3. Hips, tummy, baby, 1, 2, 3, Hips, tummy, baby, 1, 2, 3, Hips, tummy, hips, tummy, Hips, tummy, baby, 1, 2, 3. Knees, ankles, baby, 1, 2, 3, Knees, ankles, baby, 1, 2, 3, Knees, ankles, knees, ankles, Knees, ankles, baby, 1, 2, 3. |
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A very popular action rhyme. First time sing the song all the way through touching each part of the
body as it is sung. Second time omit the word ‘head’ but touch all parts of
the body as before. Continue missing out a new part of the body each time
until there is no singing and only actions in the last but one verse. Finally
sing all the words and make each movement as in the first verse.
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Here comes Thomas 🔊
My grandchildren, big Thomas the Tank Engine enthusiasts, requested a song
that had to have the following characters: Thomas, James, a frog and a
crocodile, this is the outcome with some modification from them! You can
easily add other animals to the scenario. This can be played as a hand play
or as below in groups of three. Children take turns to be the animal. 1. In pairs chuff round the
room with arms moving back and forth. 2. A third child pretends to be frog or
crocodile and stops train. 3. Shake forefinger and put hands on hips, Pull on
hooter and make loud tooting noise. |
Here comes Thomas, Mike and
James,
Rolling down the track again.
Right in front in the deep, dark gloom,
A frog is singing to the moon;
“Little frog you might be cute,
But it’s time you scarpered, Toot! Toot! Toot!”
Here comes Thomas, Mike and
James,
Rolling down the track again.
Right in front out on the track,
A crocodile goes snippety snap;
“Crocodile you might be cute,
But it’s time you scarpered, Toot! Toot! Toot!”
Here comes Thomas, Mike and
James,
Rolling down the track again.
Right in front out on the track,
Ducklings three go Quack! Quack! Quack!
“Ducklings three you might be cute,
But it’s time you scarpered, Toot! Toot! Toot!”
Here comes Thomas, Mike and
James,
Rolling down the track again.
Right in front out in the dark,
A little dog goes Bark! Bark! Bark!
“Little dog you might be cute,
But it’s time you scarpered, Toot! Toot! Toot!”
Here comes Thomas, Mike and
James,
Rolling down the track again.
Right in front out in the sun,
A polar bear is having fun,
Polar bear you might be cute,
But it’s time you scarpered, Toot! Toot! Toot!”
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Hop, said the
grasshopper 🔊
Time to wake up the Spring creatures. Children sit in a circle. Choose
one to be the grasshopper. Music by Dany Rosevear. 1. Grasshopper hops round
the outside of the circle. 2. Those in the circle make raindrops fall with
their fingers. 3. Grasshopper chooses a bee, buzzing and flapping elbow
wings, to follow it around circle. Game continues with each creatures making
a suitable action. |
Hop, said the grasshopper, hop,
hop, hop!
The summer is coming and I can’t stop.
All winter long I lay asleep,
and the winter it seemed would
never, never cease,
But an April raindrop fell on
my nose,
and woke me up from my repose,
and now it's time to have a
little peek,
and see if I can find a little
friend.
Here comes a honey bee...
Hum, said the honey bee, hum,
hum, hum!
Fresh sweet clover field here I
come!
All winter long...
Here comes a squirrel now...
Scurry, said the squirrel and
waved her tail
like a little brown ship with a
furry furry sail.
All winter long...
Here comes a rabbit now...
Jump, said the rabbit with a
jump, jump, jump,
I must find a fat lettuce to
make me plump!
All winter long...
Here comes a grasshopper...
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Hop up and jump up 🔊
Share love and respect as you whirl round. A Shaker folk song which can be played as a lively action game. For more fun start slowly and then get faster each time the song is
sung. 1. Hop once, jump once, turn
round twice. 2. Pull hands in to cross heart, hands make big circles twice.
3. Hands to heart, roll hands round. Hands up to ‘catch’ as you go round. 4.
Reach up, reach down, throw hands out. |
Hop up and jump up and whirl
round, whirl round,
Gather love, here it is all
round, all round.
Here is love flowing round,
catch it as you whirl round.
Reach up and reach down, here
it is all round.
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Learn to greet each other with this
song by ED Berman. With a partner shake hands in time to the music. |
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How do you do? How do you do? I'm very pleased to meet you I'm very pleased to meet you How do you do? How do you do? Everyone hold hands, Everyone hold hands, Shake them up and down, Shake them up and down, Now we can sing, Now we can sing: |
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