3 Song Activities Every Early Years Practitioner Should Have Up their Sleeve

Having a Music Time once a week is great but it is also important for music to be spontaneous.  To be able to do this you need to have music song activities that you can call on quickly from memory; no need for a CD you can just start wherever you are with the children.

Here are the 3 song activities that I believe every practitioner should have up their sleeve: Well-known Nursery Rhymes, Songs and Rhymes for different themes and a Hello/Goodbye song:

1. Well-known Nursery Rhymes

1. Twinkle, twinkle little star
2. Baa, baa black sheep
3. 1,2,3,4,5 once I caught a fish alive
4. 5 little ducks
5. Incy wincy spider
6. Jack and Jill
7. Pussy cat pussy cat
8. Grand old Duke of York
9. Row, row, row your boat
10. Old MacDonald
11. The wheels on the bus
12. If you're happy and you know it

I'm sure you can think of others!

2. A song or rhyme for different themes. 

This is especially important if your activities for the day are decided by the children’s interests:

• Animals: Old MacDonald
• Food: jelly on a plate...
• Celebration songs (it may be worth learning some when you know an event is coming up e.g. Easter, Christmas, Hanukah...
• Transport: the wheels on the bus...
• Space: 5 little men...
• Mini-beasts: incy wincy..
• Weather: I hear thunder...

Or a song that you know that you could adapt at a moment's notice: 1 potato, 2 potato could become 1 daffodil, 2 daffodils if you’re out exploring growth.

If you are looking for more ideas for children from ~2 to 5 years, you may like to take a look at: 

Early Years Music Ideas: Activity Ideas for ~2 to 5 Years  

3. A hello and goodbye song

This could be very simple.  Here is a link for different hello songs that you could use and then just adapt to sing as a goodbye song: http://www.preschooleducation.com/shello.shtml I especially like the 'Hello Children' song; I hear this sung a lot in early years setting because it has simple words and a simple tune.

Happy music making!