Sunshine pie

songs written by Dany Rosevear

Down the garden path

Bees, knees and thrushes ankles

Busy little bees

Here comes the little centipede

Here comes trouble!

If a bee is buzzing round you

Rob Webb and the cobweb

Snails lunch

The yellow digger

Last updated: 20/05/2014 14:37

The songs below are part of ‘Sunshine pie’

written and illustrated by Dany Rosevear

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To listen to music from these songs click on O

To watch the author sing a song click on the title at:

© Dany Rosevear 2012 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

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· 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.

Bees’ knees and thrushes ankles O

In answer to my persistent query ‘What’s for dinner?’ my grandmother would often reply

‘Bees, knees and thrushes ankles’. You can find many more delightful replies in different

parts of the country by asking friends: ‘wait and see’, ‘sheep’s socks and cauliflower’ are other replies.

To make this game more complicated place arms on shoulders.

Chorus Bees’ knees and thrushes ankles, thrushes ankles, thrushes ankles, Bees’ knees and thrushes ankles, A funny little song! BOOM! Fleas hop and spiders wriggle, spiders wriggle, spiders wriggle, Fleas hop and spiders wriggle, As they move along. BOOM! Chorus Frogs jump and ducklings dabble, ducklings dabble, ducklings dabble, Frogs jump and ducklings dabble, As they move along. BOOM! Chorus Jellies shake and wibble wobble, wibble wobble, wibble wobble, Jellies shake and wibble wobble, As they move along. BOOM! Chorus

Children stand in a circle holding hand. Bend knees each time they are mentioned. The circle moves to the left. Step left with left foot, cross right foot in front of left, step left and so on. On ‘BOOM!’ jump to turn right Drop hands and turn to the right. Hop once then step and wriggle three times. Hop and wriggle once. On ‘BOOM!’ jump to turn left. Chorus as before. Drop hands and move right. Jump once then step and flap elbows three times. Jump and flap elbows once. On ‘BOOM!’ jump to turn left. Chorus as before. Drop hands and move right. Shake once then wobble three times. Shake and wobble once. On ‘BOOM!’ jump to turn left. Chorus as before.

Busy little bees O

Get moving in the garden just like the busy bees.

Children can choose whether to buzz, hum or sing during the verses. The chorus is very fast for younger children but they will enjoy moving quickly to this song; the leader can sing alone if this is a difficulty and then more confident may very well join in.

If safety is an issue when children move to the fast music they can run on the spot.

Busy little bees like buzzing, buzzing, Busy little bees like buzzing, buzzing, Busy little bees like buzzing, buzzing, Here and there round the garden. Chorus Busy, busy, busy, no time for thinking, Busy, busy, busy, no time for blinking, We’re getting tired and the sun is sinking, Now it’s time to STOP! Busy little bees like dancing, dancing, Busy little bees like dancing, dancing, Busy little bees like dancing, dancing, In and out the flowers. Chorus Busy little bees like humming, humming, Busy little bees like humming, humming, Busy little bees like humming, humming, Making us lots of honey. Brown bread and butter with lots of honey, Brown bread and butter with lots of honey, We’re getting full and feeling funny, Now it’s time to ... ... SIT!

Run slowly round the room flapping elbows, in and out of each other – no bumping! Move as before but faster – safety will need stressing; warn children that on the word STOP! you will look to see if each child has a space of its own. Find a partner cross hands and skip round. Chorus: Skip round with partner ready to stop immediately on the last word. Skip round in a large circle or in fours. Stop and rub tummy on last line. In the circle run on the spot with high knees rubbing tummy. Pass back of hand across forehead. Sit and fold arms.

Here comes the little centipede O

A ‘centipede’ is a misnomer as it has legs rather than feet and can have between 30 and 350 of them. It is possible to find one with one hundred legs but as one Wikipedia blogger remarked they're so ticklish, it's very hard to count!

Make lines of at least six children; place hands on the shoulder of the child in front. Practice synchronizing the movement of first right and then left feet before setting off.

Here comes the little centipede, With a hundred feet, with a hundred feet, Here comes the little centipede, And his head flew away to the beat! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The leader walks the line around the room. Stop and waggle first right then left feet. Walk as before. The head of the line makes three or more jumps in time to the music to join the tail. The new leader then takes the line off once again to continue the game.

Here comes trouble! O

The dark is not always as peaceful as it seems and many predatory daytime activities continue through the night. Introduce and investigate words and ideas such as nocturnal, predators and food chain. You will find several of the creatures in this song move about in both the day and the night time.

Children can sit to make the movements below or move around in a space.

Chorus Uh oh! Here comes trouble, gobble gobble slurp, Gobble gobble slurp, gobble gobble slurp, I’m hungry! Here comes trouble, gobble gobble slurp, Who’s out a-hunting for a dinner in the dark? Blue moth flutters in the evening sky, In the evening sky, in the evening sky, Watch out moth! Blue moth flutters in the evening sky, As a goldfish hunting spies a dinner in the dark... GULP! Chorus Goldfish burbles, bubble bubble pop, Bubble bubble pop, bubble bubble pop, Watch out fish! Goldfish burbles, bubble bubble pop! As a green frog hunting spies a dinner in the dark... GULP! Chorus Green frog jumps high, hippy hippy hop, Hippy hippy hop, hippy hippy hop, Watch out frog! Green frog jumps high, hippy hippy hop, As a grass snake hunting spies a dinner in the dark... GULP! Chorus Grass snake wriggles, wiggle wiggle squirm, Wiggle wiggle squirm, wiggle wiggle squirm, Watch out snake! Grass snake wriggles, wiggle wiggle squirm, As a hedgehog hunting spies a dinner in the dark... GULP! Chorus Hedgehog rustles, rustle rustle rake, Rustle rustle rake, rustle rustle rake, Watch out Spike! Hedgehog rustles, rustle rustle rake, As a badger hunting spies a dinner in the dark... GULP! Badger scampers, all the way back home, All the way back home, all the way back home, It’s bedtime! Badger scampers, all the way back home, Listen! It’s the lark - no more dinners in the dark.

Make hands open and close like a mouth. Roll arms and clap. x3 Rub tummy. Repeat first movement. Make hands open and close like a mouth Cross hands and make them fly all around. Shake finger. Flutter hands. Place palms together and open and shut them on GULP! Place one hand on top of the other with thumbs out and make swimming movements. Mime as before. Continue making appropriate actions with hands and arms.

If a bee is buzzing round you O

What do you fear when a bee comes near? – This song suggests the safest option for avoiding a nasty sting. Doing nothing, however, in such circumstances is often harder than the alternatives.

Stand facing a partner.

If a bee is buzzing round you just keep still, If a bee is buzzing round you just keep still. For he thinks you are a flower, You must whisper “Please go now sir!” Then the bee will fly away, oh yes he will. Do not flap and stamp and shout with voices shrill, Do not flap and stamp and shout with voices shrill. If you shoo that bee away, Then the little chap will say, “I’ll sting before you hurt me, yes I will!” If a bee is buzzing round you just keep still, If a bee is buzzing round you just keep still. When that bee flies away, You can shout “Hip, hip hooray!” And watch him find a flower for he will. Perhaps he’ll find yellow daffodil!

Link arms with a partner and skip round. Stand like a statue on the word ‘still’.ake flower shape round head. Put finger to lips. Skip round with arms linked. Flap hands and stamp. Move finger from side to side. Swipe bee away. Wag finger. Repeat as for the first verse. Cross hands and make them flap. Put hands to mouth and shout. Put hand to eyes. Skip round with arms linked the other way.

Rob Webb and the cobweb O

Weave a web like spider in this game.

Children stand in a circle holding hands. One child ‘spider’ stands in the middle.

As more children become spiders the circle will need to step further back before reforming to give plenty of space to those skipping.

My son Rob Webb saw a cobweb, With a spider sitting in it. ‘Wow!’ said Rob Webb to that mop head, ‘Did you spin it in a minute, did you spin it in a minute, did you spin it in a minute?’ Then said Rob Webb so politely, ‘Could you spin a web for me?’

The circle walks round the spider who sits in the middle. The children drop hands and step back so spider can skip in and out of the circle. On the last ‘minute’ spider stops to face the nearest child and holding hands they skip round on the spot. Both sit in the circle to begin the game again. The two then skip in and out round the circle and choose a partner as before. There are then four in the middle and the game continues until everyone is holding hands and skipping round.

Snails lunch O

Any gardener who has lost their young wallflowers to snails only hours after planting will appreciate this one.

A striking change of tempo characterizes this song and this would make a good finger play up and down a toddler’s arm – first on one arm then the other.

The simple game below will help develop a sense of space.

Snails, snails, snails, snails, In our garden crawl, Oh my goodness, how those snails run, Up the orchard wall! Snails lunch, munch, munch, Hear them cry and call, “Oh my goodness, so delicious, Flowers big and small!”

Creep slowly around the room in and out of each other. Run quickly in and out – no bumping! As before but moving hands in a biting movement. Rub tummy when running in and out. Stretch high and then crouch low to finish.

The yellow digger O

What sound does a digger make? This one sings as it works.

The digger is yellow; it’s shiny and strong;

It’s out in my garden and singing this song:

“I’ll dig here and dig there and make a big mound,

Just see how my bucket digs deep in the ground.”

The driver is ready, the lever is pulled,

It’s strong arm is moving, the bucket is full:

“I’ll dig here and dig there ‘cos digging is fun,

I’ll never stop working until the job’s done.”

The digger is yellow; it’s shiny and strong;

It’s out in my garden and singing this song:

“I’ll dig here and dig there to build a fine drive,

And when the job’s over I’ll wave you goodbye.”

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