Magical Movement Company: Carolyn's blog

ARE YOU LOOKING AROUND FOR A FUN SONG WITH SOME SURPRISING COGNITIVE BENEFITS FOR YOUR PRESCHOOLERS? Here is my free Music Activity: "Icky, Sticky Bubblegum"... a favorite of my Montessori music groups!

THE SONG

"Icky, Sticky Bubblegum"

If you haven't yet discovered this funny little song, you'll be delighted to see how it can be used to develop vocabulary about the parts of the human body! To make this song really fun, I like to be very dramatic in acting out the motions and I also like to choose unusual body parts such as cheeks, jaws, elbows, forehead, etc. But don't forget some really funny ones for acting out like lips and nose and cheeks (hilarious!)

Great for your Cultural Unit about The Human Body!

I like to combine these Activities today with my Music Unit #4, "Head & Shoulders, Baby" from my eCourse, "Let's All Sing: 15-Day Challenge."

This bubblegum song is fun for very young children, although they may not understand about bubblegum, in which case you can show pictures of people blowing bubbles with bubblegum before teaching the song to the children.

You can get my free Downloads, "Visuals of People Chewing Gum," when you enroll in my FREE "Let's All Sing" 5-Day Challenge HERE

THE WORDS

~1. "Icky-Sticky, icky-sticky, bubblegum"

~2. "Bubblegum...bubblegum!"

~3. "Icky-sticky, icky-sticky bubblegum"

~4. "And, it sticks right to my... elbows!" (Choose a part of the body, ex: elbows, cheeks, eyebrows, etc. Place the palms of the hands so they mimic being "stuck" to that part of the body, such as: "elbows.")

~5. Move palms up and down on the particular part of the body while singing "And, I pull it, and I pull it, and I pull it off!"

~6. Return to line 1 etc. of the song (see above)

~ Repeat:

~1. "Icky-sticky, icky-sticky bubblegum," etc... (continue with lines ~2, ~3...)

~4. "(And, it sticks right to my...") choose a new part of the body.

~5. Move palms up and down on the body part "And, I pull it, and I pull it, and I pull it off!"

~6. Return to line 1 and proceed as above with a different body part

Repeat ~1 through ~6 as long as children are engaged

THE ACTIONS

~1.Clap palms together and flip hands over and under while keeping the steady beat.

~2. Continue to clap palms as above through ~3 of the song.

~4. Move palms of hands to the body partas if your hands are stuck to the body part by the sticky bubble gum.

~5. Move palms back and forth on the body part as if trying to get the sticky gum loose from the body part.

Repeat these actions (~1-5) with each new body part you sing about.

EXTENSIONS

+Give each child a tambourine to tap instead of clapping palms of their hands together

+Children can hold a scarf in one hand and pretend it is the bubblegum

+ Invite children to stand during this song and they can move in larger ways. (Ex: shoe is stuck to gum on the ground, knee is stuck to gum on the ground, elbow is stuck to gum on the ground, etc.)

SEE THIS SONG IN ACTION

Here is a Youtube video showing the motions to the song:

MORE EXTENSIONS:

+ Individualized Shelf Work for 2 or more children: Print off pictures of parts of the human body and place them in a basket. One child picks a picture and then both children sing the song including that body part. You can purchase my set of cards to go along with this Activity at my TpT Store. (see below)

MORE RESOURCES

If you would like to create a little "Curriculum Unit" featuring this song...

I have produced some fun Language and Movement Activities with Printables and Templates for more musical fun for your group.

Let's All Sing "The Bubblegum Song"

Musically Montessori TpT Activity Packet

Here is what is in my TpT Pack to complement today's Lesson:

~Visuals of people chewing bubble gum

~Montessori-style Command Cards to go along with the song lyrics

~"Icky Sticky" rhyming words cards (Great for using with the Moveable Alphabet)

~Body Parts visual cards for creating individualized shelf work games

~A Write-up including instructions on how to do the activities and links to hear and see the song being performed.

COGNITIVE BENEFITS FOR YOUNG CHILDREN

~Refining Large Motor Skills
~Developing the singing voice
~Enriching vocabulary
~Creatively exploring and coordinating movement to music
~Preparing for writing and reading

~GET FIVE FREE LESSONS~

Would you like to get a free music activity lesson delivered to your inbox every morning for the next five days?

I invite you to join my "Let's All Sing "FREE 5-Day Email Challenge from my newest Musically Montessori eCourse series.

LEARN MORE

Thank you again for visiting my Blog today. I hope you have discovered some fun musical activities for your group!

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PRESCHOOLERS IN MY MONTESSORI GROUPS LOVE REPETITIVE SONGS THAT REQUIRE THEIR PARTICIPATION.
"We're Going On a Lion Hunt" has always been one of their favorites!
You can get this FULL lesson for free at my "Musically Montessori" eCourse site. (or purchase the Full Lesson at my TpT Store.)
You'll find THE LINKS at the END of this post.

LET'S GO ON A LION HUNT!

Recently, I spent just about the entire season of Autumn taking care of my little grandchild who turned three during those months.

Every night, at bedtime, he would ask me to tell him a story. Then, he would have to have a song...too. You probably know that little routine: Child thinks: " Let's stretch out this cuddly time before going to sleep! A book, a story, a drink of water, gotta go to potty, oh...and please sing me a song!"

Over the weeks, my grandchild became very particular about the story and the song. For his younger years he had always asked for stories about Minnie Mouse or a cute little bunny, etc. And, his song request was always "Old MacDonald".

However, during these recent months, he had moved into his "big boy" bed and he wanted stories about lions, dinosaurs, and then about super heroes. He also wanted our night-time song to go along with the subject of the story!

When he heard "We're Going on a Lion Hunt" after our "Lion Story" he proceeded to ask for that song (rhyme) every night! That's when I remembered how much my Montessori groups had loved that song when I was a teacher in the classroom.

After weeks of the Lion Hunt, I began to get requests for going on a T-Rex Hunt...then a Pteranodon Hunt, and then even a Spiderman Hunt!

I hadn't realized how versatile this little rhyme could be!

I've prepared one of my quirky videos so you can hear how my version of the rhyme goes:

Magical Movement Company's YouTube Video:"Going on a Lion Hunt" with Carolyn from Musically Montessori eCourses

"We're Going on a Lion Hunt"

This repetitive rhyme is fun for Preschoolers and doesn't require a perfectly tuned singing voice. It is actually spoken in a steady, rhythmical way. Great for "first days" and great for "warming up" the group. (or even transition times!)

THE WORDS

~1. "We're going on a lion hunt,"

~2. "We're going on a lion hunt, to see if we can find one"

~3. "Stop...Look...and Listen..."

~4. "Ribbit!" (this is where the teacher makes a sound that a familiar animal would make, ex: frog, or bird, or cow, etc.)

~5. Everyone says: "No, that's a frog!" (or a bird, cow, snake, dog, cat etc.)

~6. Return to line 1 etc. of the rhyme (see above)

~ Repeat:

~1. "We're going on a lion hunt," etc... (continue with lines ~2, ~3...)

~4. (teacher makes another animal sound, as above, ex: bird)

~5. Everyone says "No, that's a bird!"

~6. Return to line 1 and proceed as above with a different animal sound

Repeat ~1 through ~6 as long as children are engaged (I suggest 5 or 6 animal sounds)

Finally...it's time for the animal sound to be a lion's roar!

Now, the children tap their knees quickly as if running back home!

THE ACTIONS

(to go along with the lines of the rhyme above)

~1. Pat alternating knees as if "walking"

~2. Continue patting motions

~3. "Stop"= hold hand up like a stop sign "Look"= make "binoculars" with fingers "Listen"= cup hand up to ear

~4. Make the motions to go along with the sound of the animal the Teacher is making

EXTENSIONS

(PDF Downloadable Templates are available at the links below)

+ Change the animal you are hunting for... (ex: "Bear", "T-Rex", or even "Spiderman" (he makes s swishing "web-making" sound)

+ Make up a "Drama Game": Provide pictures of various animals that you will include in the rhyme, then invite one child at a time to come up and pick a picture and make the sound of the animal pictured.

+ Substitute rhythm instruments (ex: Rhythm Sticks, maracas, tambourine, drum etc) for the sounds that the animals actually make. Use the pictures of animals and then assign an instrument to each picture. Children respond according to each instrument you play. TIP: a drum makes a good "roar" for the lion!

+ Set up an individualized Shelf Work for free play or work time: Place a plastic model of a lion, child-sized binoculars and a small selection of plastic animal models in a basket. One child hides the animals, then the other child uses the binoculars to "hunt" for the lion. They can sing the rhyme while they play!

+ Create a “Rebus” Story with this rhyme using pictures for the key words

+ Make Stick Puppets for dramatizing the Rhyme. On card stock print pictures (or outlines) of animals. Cut them out. Attach to craft sticks.

+ Include this activity in your Cultural Studies Unit featuring African Animals

GET YOUR FREE RESOURCES!

CLICK THIS LINK to access this Full Preview Lesson for FREE

Musically Montessori eCourses:

"Let's All Sing" 15-Day Challenge
****Click the link "1 free lesson is available"****