SINGING GAMES & DANCES FROM AROUND THE WORLD & BACK AGAIN
©2014 Brigid Finucane, Merit School of Music, Chicago, IL
GoAEYC 2014
This
interactive workshop expands typical classroom dances and singing games, and
fosters community and cultural diversity.
These multicultural dances and musical games that can be put to
immediate use!
1. HA HA THIS A-WAY
/ American Heritage
Circle to partner
dance - developmental progression. Note: Chant verbs to improve participation.
Beat & Rhythm: Beat always stays the same. Rhythm’s what
you sing or say.
·
Have
children walk the beat for half the song, then pat rhythm with a partner.
·
Invite
children to give their ideas for other movements - pat, turn, jump, etc.
·
One way
to end the song: Now we are sitting…Just like this.
Autumn extensions:
Now leaves are falling, twirling, etc.
Now we are raking, “booing,” picking
(apples), climbing (apple trees), etc.
2. JUMP JIM JOE
/ American Heritage Playparty
Partner circle dance – inhibitory control, sequencing, following
complex directions.
Teach dance in a circle first before
transitioning to partners. Two,
three or more partners can dance together – a nice feature of this gathering
activity.
-Transition
rhymes: - 1, 2, 3and 4…Find a new partner and we’ll do it some more!
2,
4, 6-8-10…Find a new partner and do it again!
Find a new partner as quick as can be. Find a new partner before I count
to three!
3. HOW PUNG YO (Looking For A Friend) / Traditional Chinese Folk
Song
Three different versions:
(1) Make a circle,
with one child in center. This
child is “It,” and walks or skips inside the circle while children are singing
the first line, then he/she stops in front of another child. On “Jeeng
gah lee ah,” the two bow to each other, then shake hands on “Wah guh sho.” On the last line, they
trade places, with the new friend going into the center. Repeat. Continue until everyone has had
a turn (no repeats!). Teaching Tolerance: I Will Be Your Friend
(2) All the children
play, looking for a friend simultaneously. Walk for the first two lines, then
turn to a friend, bow and shake their hand. At the end of the song, wave
goodbye. Repeat, finding a new friend. Chinese
American Service League (CASL), Chicago
(3) Follow directions
for #1 (above), but instead of trading places, the new friend holds gently on
to the shoulder of the first child (“It”). Repeat the song, adding a new friend
with each repetition. New friends
are added to the end of the train, until everyone is selected.
Note: Only the
first child shakes hands with other children as they are added.
Campbell, P.S. et al. Roots
& Branches. A Legacy of Multicultural Music for Children
Jow
yah, joy yah, jow yah jow, Looking,
looking, looking for,
Jow
do wee guh how pung yo. Now
I find a good friend.
Jeeng
gah lee ah. I
bow to you.
Wah
guh sho. (I)
shake your hand.
Nee
shur wah duh how pung yo. You
are my good friend.
4. LET US CHASE
THE SQUIRREL / American Singing Game
Learned from Julie Swank, Intro to Kodaly, DePaul University, Chicago,
IL. This North Carolina singing
game is great fun.
·
After the
children have learned the song, count off by threes.
Ones
and twos are trees. Threes
are squirrels. One child
should be “left over.”
·
Two tree
children make a tree. Partners face each other, holding hands.
·
A squirrel
stands in the middle of each tree. Only one child is allowed per tree.
·
Sing the
song, with “trees” holding their branches/bridges down, on either side of their
“squirrel.”
Trees may seesaw their arms to
the steady beat of the song.
·
At the
end of the song, cry, “whoop” while lifting arms to make a high bridge. All
squirrels, including the squirrel in the middle, must find a new home as quickly
as they can. When a new squirrel enters a tree, that tree lowers their branches
around him/her.
·
A new
squirrel is now in the middle. Repeat.
5. AROUND AND
AROUND ©2014 Susan Salidor / Scarf play, Stretchy Bands!
Friend and fellow
Children’s Music Network (CMN) member Susan Salidor (http://susansalidor.com)
has been charming children and the grownups who love and teach them for
two decades with her delightful CDs, YouTube videos, classes and workshops.
This is a song she
shared 2/17/14 on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/susan.salidor)
as part of her
continuing series of “Itty Bitty Ditties.” Originally designed as scarf play,
the song is also perfect for “stretchy bands.” Used with permission.
Lyrics:
Around and around and around and around,
Around
and around and around.
Up
and down, up and down, up and down, up and down,
Up
and down, up and down, up and down.
Rock!
Rock! Rock! And freeze!
And
rock! And rock! And rock and rock and freeze!
6. JUMP JOSIE /
American Heritage Playparty
This song changes
from a circle to a partner dance and from fast to slow. It also changes from 3/4 to 4/4 meter and from legato
(smooth and connected) singing and dancing to staccato (short and separate). It is a great song to reinforce the
“two x” math tables.
·
Teach the
song with students in a circle.
Move side to side during the first section, then clap hands in the
second section, “One in the middle…”
·
On “Oh, my Susan Brown,” make a large
“sunshine circle” with both arms crossing.
·
Choose 2
students to be partners. Ask them to hold hands, facing each other.
·
Dancers
in the middle, or inside, are jumpers, dancers
in the circle are clappers. The
only ones who jump during the second half of the song, are those in the middle.
·
After the
song is completed, ask the “two in the
middle” to choose new partners from the circle and repeat the song. After several repetitions, ask everyone to get a partner. At this point, sing “all in the middle.”
·
Other
ideas include using colors (“red in the
middle”), clothing (“jeans in the
middle”)
or
anything you can think of -
gender, patterns, shoe styles, month born, etc.
·
Other
thoughts: Several couples can
start the song in the middle to speed things along. Partners can also “tap tap Josie,” “fly fly Josie,” “turn turn
Josie,” etc.
7. TUE TUE /
Traditional, Ghana
There are as many
versions of this song as there are interpretations of what it means!
For a fascinating
look at the unresolved, and continuing, conversation, visit Mama Lisa’s blog: http://www.mamalisa.com/blog/can-anyone-help-with-the-song-tue-tue-from-ghana/
This is a great song
for steady beat. Movements can be simple or increasingly complicated!
Simple:
·
Count “1 -2
-3 -4” a few times to establish the steady beat.
·
Pattern:
Pat hands out in front of body for two beats,
then pat knees for two beats.
·
Sing song
while clapping pattern with partner.
·
When pattern is mastered, increase the
tempo with each repetition.
Harder:
·
Make a
double-ringed circle, with one partner in the inside circle, and the other in
the outside circle. Direct partners to face each other.
·
Divide
the ring into “boxes.” A “box” is made from two neighboring couples- 4 kiddos.
·
Ask
original couples to greet their partners, then turn and greet the person next
to
them
– their “side” partner. Do this several times, to get accustomed to the
movement.
·
Using one
group, or “box,” demonstrate patting the pattern with the original partner,
then with the new, “side” partner.
·
At a very
slow tempo, invite students to try the pattern. Sing the song.
Hardest:
·
Tell
students that there’s another “box” on the other side!
·
With a
group of eight (4 kiddos and their partners / 2 boxes), slowly try the pattern.
1.
Pat original partner’s hands
2. Pat “side” partner’s hands
3. NEW side partners
OR
·
Sit,
facing partner in a double ring.
·
Pat
partner’s hands, then your knees for the first four beats.
·
On the
second four beats, pat hands with the neighbors on both sides for the first two
beats, pat knees for second two beats.
Repeat pattern, starting with original partner.
8. MRS. MURPHY’S
CHOWDER / Crescendo circle game
Crescendo means to get gradually louder, in Italian, the language of music. After teaching the
chant, get into a small circle, and very quietly, with feet to the beat, say the words. With
each repetition, the circle becomes a little larger, and the words a little
louder – until at last, the circle is at its fullest. Crescendo!
9. LUCY
LOCKET / England. Tune: Yankee Doodle
This game may
be done two different ways: As a chasing game or Crescendo hot /cold game.
(1) Chasing game: A child with a small
purse, handkerchief, etc., circles the ring of seated players as all sing. At some point in the song – it can be
anytime – the child drops the object behind the back of a seated child. The seated child chases the first child
around the circle. The empty space
left by the second child (chaser) is “safe.”
(2) Crescendo
game: A “finder’ is chosen
to hide their eyes while a “hider”
hides a small object (‘pocket’) somewhere in the room. The object MUST be
partially visible.
The finder turns her / his
back or leaves the room while the object is hidden – whatever is best for your
classroom. The hider then joins the
group, and the whole class softly sings the song while the finder looks for the object.
As the finder gets closer to
the object, children gradually sing louder (crescendo)
until the finder is guided to the
object by the singers’ voices. Choose two more children, and repeat, etc.
Lyrics:
Lucy Locket lost her pocket.
Kitty
Fisher found it.
Not
a penny was there in it,
Only
ribbon round it.
10. SOL UTE, SOL
INNE (Sun, Only Sun) / Traditional,
Norway
Partner dance created
by Brigid Finucane and Amy Lowe. To hear the song sung in Norwegian, visit Mama
Lisa’s World: http://www.mamalisa.com/?t=es&p=378&c=52
Students stand with
one partner, holding hands.
Lyrics:
Sun outside, sun inside. (Step
away from partner, then forward)
Sun in the heart, sun in the mind. (Seesaw
to one side, then the other)
Sun, only sun. (Double
handed “bridge turn”)
11. CHOCOLATE / Traditional Mexican Chant. Partner activity, steady beat, tempo
There are many
variants of this chant, some which allude to mole negro, the rich, spicy sauce whose main ingredient is
chocolate (con arroz y con tomate…).
I use the simpler
chant, which refers to the molinillo,
a wooden utensil that is twirled between one’s palms making the chocolate
frothy. Each repetition is faster
than the last.
Children hold hands and “see-saw” their arms back and forth while
saying the chant.
Pause briefly at the
end of each line, emphasizing the final syllable.
Variation: Try
a double-handed “bridge turn” on the last “chocolate!”
Lyrics:
Uno, dos, tres, CHO! Uno,
dos, tres, CO!
Uno,
dos, tres, LA! Uno,
dos, tres, TE!
Chocolate,
chocolate, Bate,
bate, chocolate!
12. UNO, DOS Y
TRES – Mexico / Traditional Counting Song.
Partner
circle-dance created by Brigid Finucane.
Students stand in a circle
facing a partner, back to back – in one ring.
Lyrics:
Uno
dos y tres, (Clap,
pat and tap hands together with partner)
Cuatro, cinco, seis.
(Repeat)
Siete, ocho, nueve, (Take
partners hands, and go halfway round in a two- hand
turn, changing places with partner)
I can count to diez. OR (On
“diez” turn around halfway to face a new partner.
(Yo) Puedo contar a diez. Repeat
with new partner, etc.)
and the “Games Children
Sing” series (China, India, Malaysia, Japan- book with CD).
Take
suggestions and be creative!
Above all, have fun!
Please
contact me with additional questions.
I’ll gladly
sing melodies into your answering machines!
Brigid Finucane *
847-213-0713 * gardengoddess1@comcast.net
Merit School of Music, 38
S. Peoria St., Chicago, IL 60607. 312-786-9428.
@booksinger1
Visit my blog the 18th
of every month for more musical and tech ideas:
prekandksharing.blogspot.com
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Finucane” in the search bar.
OR
Conference Handouts are
available @: http://brigidfinucane.blogspot.com
I’m a proud and grateful member of GoAEYC, GCAOSA, NAEYC
& the Children’s
Music Network
