Blog Posts

Spring Ideas

Denise Gagne

In the Spring newsletter I’m hoping to highlight some ideas to use for St. Patrick’s Day, Easter and Mother’s Day.

Sing and Play on Special Days cover

St. Patrick’s Day Jig

In the book “Sing and Play on Special Days” (found here) there is a St. Patrick’s Day Jig:

Oh come along with me and I will show you how to play,
We’ll dance and sing like leprechauns upon St Patrick’s Day.
Oh dance a jig, an Irish jig, upon St Patrick’s Day.
We’ll dance and sing like leprechauns upon St. Patrick’s Day!

St. Patrick's Day Jig Notation

DIRECTIONS: Have the class form a circle. Choose 1 child to be a leprechaun. The leprechaun marches around the inside of the circle. At the end of the second phrase the leprechaun stops in front of a child. They join hands they “jig” - left heel forward, right heel forward etc. The children in the circle should do a “sailor’s hornpipe” at the same time. (fold arms and jig in place.) Now two children march inside the circle - the first chosen and his partner. They choose two more partners and jig again. Continue with four, then eight, then sixteen, then the entire class. Play again with a new leader if you aren’t too exhausted. If you have a child in your class that can’t celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, use the words “upon this happy day” instead of the original version.

St. Patrick’s Day - Boomwhacker Dance

Choose a piece of celtic music with a steady, moderate beat. The “Connaughtman’s Ramble” is an ideal tempo and length.

Have all the children form 2 lines across the back of your classroom.

Beats 1-16: listen to the music for the tempo
Beats 17-32: Forward: (step) right, left, right, hop and clap; (step) left, right, left, hop and clap; Forward: (step) right, left, right, hop and clap; (step) left, right, left, hop and clap;
Beats 33-48: To the right: step -close-step-hop and clap To the left: step-close-step-hop and clap To the right: step-close-step-hop and clap To the left: step-close-step-hop and clap
Beats 49-64: Forward: (step) right, left, right, hop and clap; (step) left, right, left, hop and clap; Forward: (step) right, left, right, hop and clap; (step) left, right, left, hop and clap;
Beats 65-80: To the right: step -close-step-hop and clap To the left: step-close-step-hop and clap To the right: step-close-step-hop and clap To the left: step-close-step-hop and clap
Beats 81:96: Bring the back row through to the front (front row does the steps in place) Forward: step right, left, right, hop and clap; step left, right, left, hop and clap; All do the steps in place: step right, left, right, hop and clap; step left, right, left, hop and clap;
Beats 97-112: Circle to the right - turn for 6 beats - clap twice (1 2 3 4 5 6 clap clap) Circle to the left - turn for 6 beats - clap twice (1 2 3 4 5 6 clap clap)
Beats 113:128 In place: hop on left foot extend right heel; hop on right foot and extend left heel; hop on left foot extend right heel clap (Say: hop hop hop clap or heel heel heel clap) Do the reverse: hop on right foot and extend left heel; hop on left foot extend right heel; hop on left foot extend right heel clap

Give each child a boomwhacker, and have them hit the boomwhacker in place of the clap. (This is Danece Workman’s idea - she said I could use it in the newsletter)

Other steps to try: right left-right left clap (ta titi ta clap)

Forward: step right, bring left knee up and clap (hop if you’re energetic), repeat
Backward: step right, bring left knee up and clap (hop if you’re energetic), repeat

For added color, tie green ribbons to a wrist elastic and give each child a pair to wear. (This is also Danece Workman’s idea - her mother made her 50 pairs of green wrist ribbons)

Easter Ideas

All of these ideas come from the book “Sing and Play on Special Days”

Hurry Easter Bunny

Easter bunny, Easter bunny, hurry hurry do.
Or the children in the houses will be catching you!

Hurry Easter Bunny Notation

DIRECTIONS: The children form a circle. Choose one child to be the bunny. The bunny hops around the outside of the circle while all the children sing the song. At the end of the song, the “bunny” tags a child who hops after the bunny. If the bunny gets tagged he is “caught”. If the bunny makes it to the opening in the circle before being tagged he is safe. Both children sit in the middle of the circle after racing and a new bunny is chosen.

Find the Easter Basket

Tisket a tasket a green and yellow basket
look up here, look down there,
you won’t find it anywhere

Find the Easter Basket Notation

DIRECTIONS: Choose one child to hide the Easter basket and another child to look for it. The child who is going to hunt for the basket leaves the room or hides eyes while the hider hides it. The basket must be hidden in plain sight. When the finder returns, the class sings the song, singing softly when he/she is far away from the basket, and singing louder as he/she gets closer to the basket. The game continues until everyone in the class has had a turn to hide the basket or to find it. It usually takes more than one class to give everyone a turn. I don’t give turns to do both - you either get to hide or find. This is a great game for reviewing dynamics. You can use this game with all grade levels.

Bunny pokey

You put your left paw in, you put your left paw out
You put your left paw in and you shake it all about
You do the bunny pokey and you hop all about,
And that’s what it’s all about!
2. You put your right paw in.....
3. You put your left leg in......
4. You put your right leg in.......
5. You put your left ear in........
6. You put your right ear in.......
7. You put your bunny tail in.......
8. You put the whole bunny in......

Sung to the tune of the “Hokey Pokey” - just a fun game to add for the kindergarten classes.

Hide the Easter eggs game

Five little bunnies hopping up and down, hiding Easter eggs all around
Orange, yellow pink and green, Hide them where they can be seen
Five little bunnies hopping up and down, hiding Easter eggs all around

Sung to the tune of “Twinkle Twinkle”

Choose 5 students to hide colored eggs while the others close their eyes and sing the song. When the song is over, hunt for the eggs. Choose 5 new students to hide the eggs.

Hide the Easter Eggs Notation

Mothers Day

Mom’s Are Special

Divide the class into 3 groups.
Group 1: this group wears aprons and holds mixing bowls and spoons
Group 2: this group has blankets that they pull up to their chins
Group 3: this group has books that they hold up.

All sing verse 1:

Moms are special. Moms are nice. (G B GB | G ED.....)
Moms are special. Moms are nice. (F# A F#A | G ED......)
Moms are special. Moms are nice because they love us so. (G B GB | C CC C | B B AA G)

Group 1 sings verse 2: * this group wears aprons and holds mixing bowls and spoons
My mom cooks me lots of food.
My mom cooks me lots of food.
My mom cooks me lots of food because she loves me so.

Group 2 sings verse 3: * this group has blankets that they pull up to their chins
My mom tucks me in at night.
My mom tucks me in at night.
My mom tucks me in at night because she loves me so.

Group 3 sings verse 4: * this group has books that they hold up.
My mom reads me lots of books.
My mom reads me lots of books.
My mom reads me lots of books because she loves me so.

All sing verse 1 to end the song.

Mom's are Special Notation

Theres a fun song in Musicplay for Kindergarten called “Frog in my Pocket” - the kids will enjoy singing about the “frog in their pocket”, “earthworms in this hand”, “ants in my gym shoes” and the “mouse in my lunch kit”.

There are 2 mothers day songs in the book “Sing and Play on Special Days”. My students always like “That’s my Mom” from this collection.