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circle games A
A little dancing song
A qua qua del a omar
A-tisket, a-tasket
Ach ja! So, so!
All around the buttercup
All join hands
All those born in January
Ally galoo galoo
An opening song
Apple tree, apple tree
Apples, peaches, pears and
plums
Also see:
Last updated: 7/17/2023
10:06 AM
These
songs are nursery rhymes and other traditional songs compiled, illustrated and
music arranged by Dany Rosevear.
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To listen to music from these
songs click on 🔊
To watch the
author sing a song click on the title at:
© Dany Rosevear 2013 All rights reserved
You
are free to copy, distribute, display and perform these works under the
following conditions:
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you must give the original author credit
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you may not use this work for commercial purposes
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for any re-use or distribution, you must make clear to others the
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any of these can be waived if you get permission from the copyright
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Your
fair use and other rights are no way affected by the above.
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A little dancing song 🔊
Words by
Emilie Poulsson, music by Eleanor Smith from’Songs of a little child’s day’
published in 1910. Instructions below are as in the book. Try out different ways of moving with a
partner. Music arranged
by Dany Rosevear. Children choose partners and stand next to them
forming a large circle; or stand in two lines facing partners. For the first
two lines dance singly then point heel and toe. Then bow low to partners and
dance away together, continuing the dance without singing till the music is
repeated. |
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Now in the dance we'll
float around, Follow the music's merry
sound. Point heel and toe, Bow very low, Dancing and dancing away we go. La, la, la… Now in the dance we'll
skip around, Follow the music's merry
sound. Point heel and toe, Bow very low, Dancing and dancing away
we go. |
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Move to a
steady beat. A children’s hand passing game from Jerusalem. Once children are
familiar with the game they can speed up when counting. Children sit in a circle with left hand palm facing
up. Right hand is rested, palm down, on the left hand of the child to their
right. With a steady tempo the chosen leader, on the downbeat, with the right
hand reaches across to tap the hand of the player on the left passing the
beat, this person then does the same and the tapping continues round the
circle. The person whose hand gets tapped on ‘FIVE’ is out. https://sarahcreativeexplorer.wordpress.com/2014/06/10/a-qua-qau-israeli-childrens-song/
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A qua-qua dela omar, Qua, qua, qua. Del si ma trico, trico,
trico tra. Valo, valo, valo, valo,
valo, vala! One! Two! Three! Four!
FIVE! |
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A fun circle game. This song was first noted in the U.S.A. in 1879.
Roud Folk Song number 13188 Sit in a circle and as the others sing
a child walks round the outside and drops a letter behind one child’s back.
This child then jumps up and runs in the opposite direction to the dropper
aiming to reach the vacated space before them. If successful they become the
new ‘postman’.
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Ach ja! So, so! 🔊
This song and
dance ‘Es geht nichts über die
Gemütlichkeit’ was brought over by German settlers to the USA. It appeared as
a schoolroom dance in the 1950s from the Silver Burdett series ‘Music for
living’. I have adapted
it a little to get back to its Germanic roots. You can find out more at: https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=152393.
‘Ach ja! So, so!’ means ‘Oh, yes, like that!’ I rather liked
the dance in this video where it is sung in German and played at different speeds:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7c2H1zkYWRI
. Children choose partners and stand side by side
behind other pairs in a circle. Walk round holding hands with partner. Each time
‘Ach ja! So, so!’ is sung face partner and clap hands low then turn and clap
outwards. On ‘Tra la las’ hold both partners hands and swing round. For more
complex movements visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltZYbQo1li4
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When my mother and my
father made a visit to the fair, Ach ja! So, so! They hadn’t any money, but
they didn’t seem to care, Ach ja! So, so! Tra la la, tra la la, Tra
la la la la la la, Tra la la, tra la la, Tra
la la la la la la, Ach ja! So, so! |
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If you like this one also look out for ‘Buttercups and daisies
dancing’ Stand in a circle with linked hands
held high. One child weaves in and out of the windows. On ‘me!’ this child
chooses the nearest who holds hands with the first child and leads them in
and out of the circle. Each time the refrain is sung a new child is chosen to
lead the line until one child is left and the line circles round them. If
there is time that child then becomes the new leader travelling in and out of
the newly formed circle.
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All join hands O
A lively circle
game suitable for younger children. It will also help children remember their
left and right hands! Children stand next to an identified partner holding
hands in a circle. Verse 1. Circle to the left in a lively manner. 2.
Do the same to the right. 3. Link arms with partner and skip round. Older
children could finish by ‘turning the blanket’. 4. Back in the circle holding hands move into the
centre and out again. Repeat. |
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All join hands and circle
to the left, And circle to the left,
and circle to the left. All join hands and circle
to the left, To swing them all around. All join hands and circle
to the right, And circle to the right,
and circle to the right. All join hands and circle
to the right, To swing them all around. Round and around and
around we go; Round and around and
around we go; Round and around and
around we go To swing them all around. Old grey goose come flying
home, Come flying home, come
flying home. Old grey goose come flying
home, A gander by her side. |
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All those born in January 🔊
A birthday
month song with lots of actions. Children can pick their own actions. As it is a
long song sing it briskly, you can also start at different months each time
or just pick out random months from a bag. It could also be played as ‘all
those wearing blue’, ‘all those who are five’ in a mixed age group or any
other grouping! Children in a circle stand up when their birthday
month is called out and either move on the spot or around the outside of the
circle. Lots of fun! |
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All those born in January
skip around, All those born in January
skip around, Tra la, tra la, la la la
la la, Tra la, tra la, la la la
la la, All those born in January
skip around. All those born in February
jump around… All those born in March
march around… All those born in April
turn around… All those born in May clap
your hands… All those born in June
dance around… All those born in July row
a boat … All those born in August
tiptoe around… All those born in
September gallop around… October… hop around… November… stamp your feet
… December… throw a
snowball… All those born with wings
fly around… |
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A circle game for young children. It is very similar to ‘Sally goes
round the sun’. Walk round in a circle holding
hands. On ‘Wheeee!’ kick foot up high. The second time walk into the circle
and raise hands high.
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An opening song 🔊
A get together
circle song for the beginning of a session, term or day. Identify the
weather: snowy, rainy, windy, cloudy. Add percussion
for the different types of weather. Words by
Winifred E. Barnard from ‘The nursery song and picture book’ published in
1949. Music arranged by Dany Rosevear. Children stand, walk, tiptoe, stamp or move in other
suggested ways round in a circle. |
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1. We are standing in a
ring, Holding hands together; Glad to be at school
today, In this sunny weather. 2. We are walking in a
ring… windy… 3. We are creeping in a
ring… snowy 4. We are running in a
ring… rainy We are stamping in a ring… |
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Apple tree, apple tree 🔊
A
simple seasonal song for late Summer / early Autumn. Younger
children could pass an apple round the circle, every
time a child is caught with the apple at the end of the song is ‘out’. Older
children might like the game below: Children make a circle holding hands. The circle
walks through a bridge made by two others. On the word ‘out!’ the child
caught underneath joins the ‘bridge’ to make a little circle. Continue as the
small cirle gets bigger and the original one shrinks until there are just two
left for a new bridge and if there is enough stamina a new game! |
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Apple
tree, apple tree, Will
your apple fall on me? I
won’t cry, I won’t shout, If
your apple knocks me out! |
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Apples, peaches, pears and plums 🔊
A traditional skipping / jump rope and counting
out rhyme. Music by Dany Rosevear. Play as a ball game either bouncing or throwing the
ball to each child round the circle Last child beomes the one in the circle.
If it lands a 2nd time child sits down. |
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Apples,
peaches, pears and plums, Tell
me when your birthday comes. January,
February, March, April, May,
June, July, August, September, October,
November, December. |
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