LET'S ALL SING A SONG AND THEN LET'S TAKE A BOW...FUN STUFF FOR PRESCHOOLERS!
"Old Miss Sally"
This is a traditional and simple Movement song with a catchy little theatrical "bow" at the end of each phrase. I've always loved this Activity, because it is active, yet the "bow" after each action tends to calm down the energy. Great for teachers to not only give children opportunities to really move, but also to practice self control by reigning in the energy when taking a bow after each action.
Traditionally, this song has been titled, "Old Lady Sally" and that is the way you will most likely find it being performed. However, in the 1990's, when I was taking my Orff-Schulwerk music training, one of my teachers (Janet Greene) explained that she changed the words to "Old Miss Sally" because she thought that was a more respectful reference to the "old woman" in the song.
So I have always taught this song as "Old Miss Sally" and it works nicely that way.
Likewise, I have prepared my materials for presenting Extensions for this wonderful musical Activity with photos of happy, healthy and active seniors to continue the respectful and more appropriate image to be portrayed in the song!
This song has lots of room for participation from the children. Not only are they creatively moving according to the actions being sung about, they can also suggest the actions themselves! Working with the muscles of the body AND the brain!
And, we all know that songs with repetitive refrains (ex: "And, Old Miss Sally likes to bow!") aid in cognitive skills development. In this song: Language, vocabulary, and memory skills.
THE WORDS
~1. Old Miss Sally likes to jump up & down, jump up & down, jump up & down!
~2. Old Miss Sally likes to jump up & down...
~3. And, Old Miss Sally likes to bow.
~Repeat and change the action:
~4. Old Miss Sally likes to hop on one foot, hop on one foot, hop on one foot!
~5. Old Miss Sally likes to hop on one foot...
~6. And, Old Miss Sally likes to bow.
~Continue with new actions in each verse as long as the children are engaged
I always end this song in this way:
~7. Old Miss Sally likes to sit right down, sit right down, sit right down
~8. Old Miss Sally likes to sit right down
~9. And, Old Miss Sally likes to bow!
I've created a wonderful Lesson for this favorite song from my groups over the decades! You can access these activities and how to do them in my FREE eCourse, "Let's All Sing: 5-Day Challenge."
My groups always enjoy Movement Activities for the songs we love. "Old Miss Sally" is automatically a movement song! You can reinforce the fun of the movement with a classic Montessori-style shelf work for an individualized activity.
COMMAND CARDS
Another classic Montessori individualized activity that is fun for reinforcing this song is a set of 3-Part Cards based on the lines from the song.
3-PART CARDS
A great way to engage children in a fun way is to create stick puppets to go along with the movement activities in this song. You can make these up yourself, or create a shelf work for the children to make their own!
STICK PUPPETS
FOR MOVEMENT PROPS
I invite you to join hundreds of other Montessori educators who have been enjoying lots of musical activities from my "Let's All Sing" Musically Montessori eCourses.
Here are some of the comments from "Let's All Sing" eCourse Participants:
"My Montessori preschoolers loved this. Thank you so much for the idea ('Icky Sticky Bubblegum') and all the comprehensive materials you provided to prepare teachers to introduce this activity." from Sarah B.
"What a fun and simple song. I know that my children will love this. A great standing in line or transition song too." from Helen
"This is great!!!! We've been singing 'going on a lion hunt' since you sent out the freebie and my kiddos love it! Thanks for all you do!" from Beth B.
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Thank you very much for visiting my Blog today. I hope you have gotten some fun music ideas for your little children!
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DO YOUR MONTESSORI CHILDREN LOVE SINGING "THE CONTINENTS SONG" AS MUCH AS MY GROUPS DO? Here are ten fun extensions for creating learning experiences through Music and The Arts.
PREPARE THE CHILDREN
Fortunately, there are lots of materials in the Montessori pedagogy that lay a foundation for learning about the continents of the world through hands-on experiences with Manipulatives.
There is the sandpaper land & water globe, the color-coded continent globe, and then the color-coded "Continents Map."
Even if you don't have access to all of the Montessori Cultural Studies Materials, you can still offer children a Globe and Visuals of a World Map.
REINFORCE THE NAMES OF THE CONTINENTS
WITH A SONG
After the children have had lots of hands-on experiences with globes and puzzle maps, you can teach them "The Continents Song," while you point to each continent when its name comes up in the song.
There are lots of versions of "The Continents Song" that you will hear in Montessori classrooms all over the world.
My groups have two favorites: one that is short and one that is long!
1. "The Continents Song"
SHORT VERSION
I always introduce the short version to the children first. You can listen to my short version of the song at my Youtube channel HERE.
Eventually, you can introduce the children to the longer version, which is more repetitive and very fun rhythmically!
2. "The Continents Song"
LONG VERSION
Here's the YouTube video I created for the longer version of "The Continents Song."
PROVIDE EXTENSIONS FOR GROUP AND
INDIVIDUALIZED ACTIVITIES
There are lots of fun musical extensions to reinforce the names of the continents of the world.
One activity is to clap the rhythm of each of the names of the continents.
In Lesson #11 of my Musically Montessori eCourse, "Let's All Sing: 15-Day Challenge," you will be able to download a set of rhythm notation and recitation cards for each of the Continents.
3. Clapping the Rhythm of the
Names of the Continents
In that Lesson #11 from my Let's All Sing eCourse, you'll find lots of ideas for extensions along with downloadable Printables to bring the Lesson to the children through many of the areas of the Preschool curriculum, including:
Visuals of the Continents Map and Musical Notation Cards
Rhythm Pattern Cards for Movement Activities
Rhythm "Body Percussion"/ Command Cards
"Make Your Own Musical Map" Individualized Shelf Work
Picture Cards of rhythm instruments for creating a classroom "Performance"
Click here to learn more about the eCourse: "Let's All Sing eCourses."
MORE WAYS TO REINFORCE LEARNING ABOUT THE CONTINENTS OF THE WORLD
4. Greet children in the Language of the
Featured Country of Each Continent
"Jambo"
Saying "Hello" in Swahili, one of the languages of Africa, during
our Cultural Studies of Africa
5. Provide Activities for Movement
on the Montessori Line
Give children baskets to carry, trays of tea cups, or flags for marching that reflect the lives of the people of your featured country or continent in your Cultural Studies Curriculum.
I traced each continent from the Montessori Continents Puzzle Map, on color-coded paper, and then made calendar inserts, enough to create the pattern for the days of the month in which I first introduced "The Continents Song." You can sing the Short Version of the Song each morning so that the children can predict what comes next in the pattern.
7. Teach the Children Traditional Dances
from the Country or Continent being Featured.
Providing long ribbons for children to dance the Chinese Ribbon Dance is a fun way to celebrate the continent of Asia. Put on some lively traditional music of China and invite the children to dance!
You can read about how I do this Activity with my groups HERE:
8. Create Stories for Dramatizing the Daily Activities of the People from the Country Being Featured
This is a picture of children walking on a balance beam in our Drama Play Story of the "Alligator in the River" during our Cultural Studies of Africa. You can create stories for children to dramatize with Movement Activities, props, child-made stick puppets, masks, or with rhythm instruments that feature the country of study.
You can see how I've created these stories for my groups in my Blog Articles:
As you introduce each of the continents in more depth over the months, you can set up a fun station for creating "Sandpaper Continent" cards. My groups have always greatly enjoyed this activity!
Provide a tray with pieces of cardboard, a pencil, glue stick, and colored sand in a shaker bottle. The sand is color-coded for each continent.
The child chooses the continent to work with, then fetches that puzzle piece from the Montessori Continents Map.
Next, the child traces the shape of the continent on a piece of cardboard.
Then, s/he fills in the tracing with glue.
Now it is time to shake the sand onto the glue-filled shape.
After, the child has filled in the shape with the colored sand, then s/he can pour off the excess sand into a container to save for art projects.
Finally, the child (or teacher) can write the name of continent on the card.
10. Check Out My "Let's All Sing" eCourses
or my TpT Continents Song Activity Packet
CLICK HERE to learn more about my Musically Montessori "Let's All Sing" Free 5-Day Challenge and 15-Day Challenge
CLICK HEREto learn more about my TpT Activity Packet, Musically Montessori "Let's All Sing" The Continents Song
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I'm happy to see you here at my Blog today. I hope you have gotten some musical ideas for your children!
Photos in this Blog are from Adobe Stock, Depositphotos, and Magical Movement Company Archives.
Advertising Disclosure: Magical Movement Company may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links posted on this website. Thanks for your support!
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!
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.
~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.
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~
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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:
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 Puppetsfor 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
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Welcome! I'm Carolyn, a grandmother, long-time Montessori Teacher, and Orff-Schulwerk Music Specialist. I hope you enjoy these activities that I have curated over my many years of teaching in many different settings! You can check out my website by clicking on my picture.
