Learning Through Music
Popular Activities
Parent & Teacher Tips
Reinforcing the concept of subtraction
"Ten in a Bed"
Parent Tip
- Line up 10 stuffed animals on a bed or bench.
- As the song is sung, act it out with the stuffed animals.
- Each time "one falls out," count the remaining animals and start again.
Teacher Tip
- Choose 10 children to line up facing the class.
- Number the children from 1 to 10 (if desired, they can each hold a card with their number written on it).
- As the song is sung, the 10 children turn around on “So they all rolled over.”
- Child #10 sits down in place on “and one fell out”.
- This continues until all are sitting except child #1. On “Goodnight,” he rests his head on his hands as if sleeping.
Reinforcing the concept of right and left
Songs/Fingerplay: "Right Hand, Left Hand," "Looby Loo," "Jimmy Crack Corn", "Hokey, Pokey," "Jimmy Crack Corn," "Old Brass Wagon", "Looby Loo," "Hokey Pokey"
Parent Tip
- Put a fun sticker or stamp on the back of your child's right hand. This helps him/her know immediately which is right and left.
- The above songs/fingerplay, whether done with the audio or without, are good for practicing the difference between right and left. They can be done just as easily with a child and parent as well as with a group of children.
Teacher Tip
- Put a fun sticker or stamp on the back of each child's right hand. This helps them know immediately which is right and left.
- The above songs/fingerplay, whether done with the audio or without, are good for practicing the difference between right and left.
Passing time while riding in the car
Keep a collection of your child's favorite sing-along CDs or tapes in the car. Or, without a CD, sing some old favorites from your own childhood.
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Parent Tip
- Singing together creates a special bond.
- Singing from your past helps keep tradition alive.
- Singing together with or without a CD or tape makes the miles go by more quickly.
- Children are just having fun, but many skills are being developed such as language, listening, rhythm, memory, concentration, coordination....
Teacher Tip
- Plan what songs to sing ahead of time so you feel confident and prepared.
- Start singing when the trip gets long or the children get restless.
- The miles will pass by quickly and the experience will be joyful.
Memory and thinking skills
Wee Sing Nursery Rhymes and Lullabies or other nursery rhyme collections
Parent Tip
- After your child has learned many nursery rhymes, play a memory game with him/her by leaving out words that he/she must say to complete the thought. Choose rhymes that your child would know best. Here are some examples:
- Little Bo Peep has lost her?
- Little Boy Blue, come blow your ?
- Jack and Jill went up the ?
- Little Miss Muffet sat on her ?
- Then make the thought process a little more difficult. Instead of saying the rhyme exactly, form the thought differently. Here are some examples:
- When Little Boy Blue fell asleep, what animals were in the meadow?
- Where did Little Boy Blue fall asleep?
- What couldn’t Jack Sprat eat?
- What kind of pie did Little Jack Horner eat?
- Who picked pickled peppers?
Teacher Tip
- After children have learned many nursery rhymes, play a memory game with them by leaving out words that they must say to complete the thought. Choose rhymes that the children would know best. Here are some examples:
- Little Bo Peep has lost her ?
- Little Boy Blue, come blow your ?
- Jack and Jill went up the ?
- Little Miss Muffet sat on her ?
- Then make the thought process a little more difficult. Instead of saying the rhyme exactly, form the thought differently. Here are some examples:
- When Little Boy Blue fell asleep, what animals were in the meadow?
- Where did Little Boy Blue fall asleep?
- What couldn’t Jack Sprat eat?
- What kind of pie did Little Jack Horner eat?
- Who picked pickled peppers?
Memory and concentration skills
Cumulative songs, such as Old McDonald and John Brown's Baby (from a variety of Wee Sing books)
Parent Tip
- Go to the search page of this website and find “search by category.”
- Scroll down and click on “cumulative songs” to find a list of fun songs to challenge anyone’s memory and concentration.
- Sing along with your children. As their memory and concentration skills are being developed, the children think they are just having fun.
Teacher Tip
- Go to the search page of this website and find “search by category.”
- Scroll down and click on “cumulative songs” to find a list of fun songs to challenge anyone’s memory and concentration.
- Sing along with the class. As their memory and concentration skills are being developed, the children think they are just having fun.
Parent Tip
- When it’s time to pick up toys, the parent starts by singing:
- This is the way we pick up our toys,
- Pick up our toys, pick up our toys,
- This is the way we pick up our toys
- And put them all away.
• Change the words to fit the items to be cleaned up (e.g. clothes, dishes..).
Teacher Tip
- When it’s time to clean up after an activity, the teacher starts picking up and singing:
- This is the way we pick up our toys,
- Pick up our toys, pick up our toys,
- This is the way we pick up our toys
- And put them all away.
• Change the words to fit the cleanup activity.