Tag Archives: counting songs

Summer Camp Week 5: 5 Sleepy Songs

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So, after a week of singing and dancing, let’s calm things down a little…

1. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are.

I can’t imagine this is going to be new to anybody, but it’s still one of E’s favourite songs so I couldn’t leave it out. You could also use it as an introduction to Mozart’s piano music…

 

2. Brahms’ Lullaby

Lullaby and goodnight, with roses bedight
With lilies o’er spread is my baby’s wee bed
Lay thee down now and rest, may thy slumber be blessed
Lay thee down now and rest, may thy slumber be blessed

Lullaby and goodnight, thy mother’s delight
Bright angels beside my darling abide
They will guard thee at rest, thou shalt wake on my breast
They will guard thee at rest, thou shalt wake on my breast

This lullaby doesn’t necessarily have the most catchy lyrics, but once the melody is familiar to your child it could serve as a nice introduction to another great composer.

 

3. Golden Slumbers

Golden slumbers kiss your eyes,
Smiles await you when you rise.
Sleep, pretty baby, do not cry,
And I will sing a lullaby.
Cares you know not, therefore sleep,
While over you a watch I’ll keep,
Sleep, pretty darling, do not cry,
And I will sing a lullaby.

When I was looking up versions of Golden Slumbers my youngest fell in love (or, more accurately, was mesmerised by) the version below, but don’t forget there’s also a Beatles version if you’re after something a little less saccharine!

 

4. Beautiful Boy, John Lennon

A favourite with my children ever since watching Mr Peabody and Sherman.

 

5. Sleeping Bunnies

So now the kids are all calm and quiet, let’s get them all bouncing! I’m sorry – I can’t resist including this – it’s not really a sleepy song, I know, but it never gets old in our house…

See the little bunnies sleeping ’til it’s nearly noon.
Shall we wake them with a merry tune?
They’re so still, are they ill?
Shhhh, shhhh….
Wake up soon [clap]!
Hop little bunnies, hop hop hop,
Hop little bunnies, hop hop hop,
Hop little bunnies, hop hop hop,
Hop little bunnies, hop then… stop!

The version on this video is slightly different from the version I usually sing, but I like it because it prolongs the bouncing – sometimes with really little kids it takes them so long to get up and bouncing that the song is nearly finished by the time they’ve got going. Of course, you can always just sing the hopping section twice through… or pause for longer while everyone gets up (if the rest of your group is patient enough).

 

+ Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

And while we’re bouncing rather than sleeping, here’s another great favourite. I love this version, from the brilliant Putumayo Animal Playground album.

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Summer Camp Week 5: 5 Long Songs

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As promised, here’s a selection of longer songs to keep little (and big) people occupied…

1. Old MacDonald

This one can be as long or as short as your knowledge of farm animals/vehicles/crops and the noises they make!

Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O,
And on that farm he had some cows, E-I-E-I-O,
With a ‘moo moo‛ here and a ‘moo moo‛ there,
Here a ‘moo‛, there a ‘moo‛, everywhere a ‘moo moo‛,
Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O.

Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O,
And on that farm he had some pigs, E-I-E-I-O,
With an ‘oink oink‛ here and an ‘oink oink‛ there,
Here an ‘oink‛, there an ‘oink‛, everywhere an ‘oink oink‛,
A ‘moo moo‛ here and a ‘moo moo‛ there,
Here a ‘moo‛, there a ‘moo‛, everywhere a ‘moo moo‛,
Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O.

And on that farm he had some sheep… with a ‘baa baa‛ here…

And on that farm he had some chickens… with a ‘cluck cluck‛ here…

And on that farm he had some ducks… with a ‘quack quack‛ here…

2. There was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly

There was an old lady who swallowed a fly
I don’t know why she swallowed a fly – perhaps she’ll die.

There was an old lady who swallowed a spider,
That wiggled and jiggled and tickled inside her;
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly;
I don’t know why she swallowed a fly – perhaps she’ll die.

There was an old lady who swallowed a bird;
How absurd to swallow a bird!
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly;
I don’t know why she swallowed a fly – perhaps she’ll die.

There was an old lady who swallowed a cat;
Fancy that to swallow a cat!
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly;
I don’t know why she swallowed a fly – perhaps she’ll die.

There was an old lady who swallowed a dog;
What a hog, to swallow a dog!
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat,
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly;
I don’t know why she swallowed a fly – perhaps she’ll die.

There was an old lady who swallowed a cow,
I don’t know how she swallowed a cow;
She swallowed the cow to catch the dog,
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat,
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly;
I don’t know why she swallowed a fly – perhaps she’ll die.

There was an old lady who swallowed a horse…
She’s dead, of course!

3. She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain

There are a fair few variations on this one; I’ve included some of the most common verses I could remember below. Not everyone includes the ‘aye aye yippee’ chorus, but it certainly drags things out if you’re looking to build up your singing stamina!

She’ll be coming round the mountain when she comes,
She’ll be coming round the mountain when she comes,
She’ll be coming round the mountain, coming round the mountain,
Coming round the mountain when she comes.

Chorus:
Singing aye aye, yippee yippee, aye,
Singing aye aye, yippee yippee, aye,
Singing aye aye, yippee, aye aye, yippee,
Aye aye, yippee yippee, aye!

She’ll be driving six white horses when she comes…

She’ll be wearing pink pyjamas when she comes…

Oh we’ll all go out to meet her when she comes…

We will all have chicken and dumplings when she comes… [or cake and ice cream]

4. One Man went to Mow

It’s up to you how many men end up going to mow this meadow, but here’s a song that is good for counting up with each verse and then counting back down rapidly every time.

One man went to mow, went to mow a meadow,
One man and his dog (‘woof!’) went to mow a meadow.

Two men went to mow, went to mow a meadow,
Two men, one man and his dog (‘woof!’) went to mow a meadow.

5. The Hokey Cokey

This classic action song, more usually known as the hokey pokey outside the UK, can keep little ones moving for quite some time – especially if you add extra verses to identify and isolate different body parts (shoulders, elbows, wrists, knees etc.).

You put your right hand in, right hand out,
In, out, in, out, shake it all about.
You do the hokey-cokey and you turn around.
That’s what it’s all about.

Chorus
Whoa, hokey-cokey-cokey,
Whoa, hokey-cokey-cokey,
Whoa, hokey-cokey-cokey,
Knees bent, arms stretched, rah, rah, rah!

Verses continue with left hand, right leg, left leg, whole self…

+ 99 Bottles of Beer

In case Ten Green Bottles (suggested yesterday) isn’t long enough for you, how about counting down from 99 bottles of beer (or milk, pop, organic juice…)

99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer.
Take one down and pass it around, 98 bottles of beer on the wall.
and so on until…
No more bottles of beer on the wall, no more bottles of beer.
Go to the store and buy some more, 99 bottles of beer on the wall.

Tomorrow it’s pop song suggestions, I hope you’ll join me for some woo-hoo and way-hay action!

Summer Camp Week 5: 5 Counting Songs

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As with yesterday’s post about action songs, 5 (or 6) songs is just a very small sample of all the wonderful options available, but hopefully I’ve included something in this selection which is new to you or an old forgotten favourite.

1. Five Currant Buns

Five currant buns in a baker’s shop.
Round and fat with a cherry on the top,
Along came [name] with a penny one day,
Bought a currant bun and took it away.

Subsequent verses start with the remaining number of buns until they are all gone.

A lot of these counting songs also count as action songs – with this song you could either use your fingers to represent the currant buns, or if you have a group of children you can act out the whole song with children as the customers, the baker, and even the currant buns if you have enough people.

 

2. Five Little Ducks Went Swimming One Day

Five little ducks went swimming one day,
Over the hill and far away.
Mummy Duck said, “Quack, quack, quack, quack.”
But only four little ducks came back.

Similarly to the currant buns song, subsequent verses start with the remaining number of ducks until they have all swum away. I like to include the final verse below to keep things cheery!

Just Mummy Duck went swimming one day,
Over the hill and far away.
Mummy Duck said, “Quack, quack, quack, quack.”
…And all five ducks came swimming back.

 

3. Five Little Speckled Frogs

Five little speckled frogs sat on a speckled log,
Eating some most delicious bugs. Yum yum! 
One jumped into the pool, where it was nice and cool,
Then there were just four speckled frogs. Glug glug!

Again, this one counts down from five with each verse, with the final line being, Then there were no more speckled frogs. Glug glug!

 

If you fancy some variety, or more of a mathematical challenge, you could try this starting with ten frogs and have them jumping off in twos.

This is also a great song for introducing the idea of syncopation (stress on the off-beat) – try clapping the rhythm of the song emphasizing the syllables capitalised here, Five LI-ttle speckled frogs sat ON a speckled log.

4. Ten in the Bed

There were ten in the bed and the little one said,
‘Roll over, roll over.’
So they all rolled over and one fell out.

This continues counting down to one in the bed, until the last person in the bed says, ‘I’m lonely’, or ‘goodnight’.

 

5. Ten Green Bottles

Ten green bottles, hanging on the wall,
Ten green bottles, hanging on the wall,
And if one green bottle should accidentally fall,
There’ll be nine green bottles, hanging on the wall.

 

+ This Old Man

I thought I ought to include at least one song that counts up rather than down!

This old man, he played one, he played knick-knack on my thumb,
With a knick-knack paddywhack, give a dog a bone,
This old man came rolling home.

This old man, he played two, he played knick-knack on my shoe…

This old man, he played three, he played knick-knack on my knee…

This old man, he played four, he played knick-knack on my door…

This old man, he played five, he played knick-knack on my hive…

This old man, he played six, he played knick-knack on my sticks…

This old man, he played seven, he played knick-knack up in heaven…

This old man, he played eight, he played knick-knack on my gate…

This old man, he played nine, he played knick-knack on my spine…

This old man, he played ten, he played knick-knack once again…

 

Tomorrow I’ll suggest some longer songs… the sort that can keep you occupied/drive you crazy on long car trips.