Let's go driving......

We're lego obsessed at the moment. Every waking moment is spent constructing tiny vehicles which, I'm informed, are 'super rockets', or 'monkey bicycles'. Adapt the following song accordingly....

Let's go driving in our car,
In our car, in our car,
Let's go driving in our car,
All day long.

Let's go riding on our pony,
On our pony, on our pony,
Let's go riding on our pony,
All day long.

Let's go flying in our plane,
In our plane, in our plane,
Let's go flying in our plane,
All day long.

Let's go rowing in our boat,
In our boat, in our boat,
Let's go rowing in our boat,
All day long.

Bread tastes nice

We can't resist a fresh loaf of bread, with jam, honey or just butter. It's fun buying an unsliced loaf just to do this rhyme.

Slice, slice, the bread tastes nice,
Spread, spread, the butter on the bread,
A spoonful of honey to make it sweet,
And now it's ready for us to eat!

Feeding the lambs

Here's the new farm song we sang at Rhymetime this week, inspired by a trip to a friend's farm in Pitney, Somerset. There's a barn with pigs, cows, ducks and chickens and you can wander in and say hello to all the animals before visiting the farm shop. We were lucky enough to see the new born lambs and got a chance to feed the two orphans. If you're ever in the area, Pitney Farm Shop is worth a visit- say hello from me!

We're on our way, we're on our way, on our way to Grandpa's farm,

We're on our way, we're on our way, on our way to Grandpa's farm,

Down on Grandpa's farm there is an old brown cow,

Down on Grandpa's farm there is an old brown cow,

The cow, she goes a bit like this, MOOOOOO

The cow, she goes a bit like this, MOOOOOO

Repeat!

Dabbling ducks

Feeding the ducks today. They were pretty obliging, paddling their way across the water to wherever the bread landed. Their tails didn't waggle but we sang this anyway.

All the little ducks go up and down, (turn palms up and down)
Up and down, up and down,
All the little ducks go up and down,
As they dabble at the bottom of the pond.

All their little tails go wiggle waggle wiggle, (hands together as if praying, and waggle from side to side)
Wiggle waggle wiggle, wiggle waggle wiggle,
All their little tails go wiggle waggle wiggle,
As they dabble at the bottom of the pond.

All their little beaks go quack quack quack, (you can guess this one)
Quack quack quack, quack quack quack,
All their little beaks go quack quack quack,
As they dabble at the bottom of the pond.

Half-term baking- yum..........

Lots of buns at the baker's shop

Nice and round with a cherry (raisin, banana, tractor, spider) on the top

Along came Tom with a penny one day

Bought a little bun and took it away

This was such a hit when I did my small Rhymetime sessions at the Natural Nursery, especially with the three year olds. Over time they would gain confidence to come into the middle of the group and take the imaginary bun from me and then rejoin the circle. It's fun substituting the cherry for all sorts of silly things- a plane? a welly? and mummy?!

We're listening to.......

There's such a lot of good music in the world that it just isn't necessary to listen to children's music. My lot clamour for The Kinks, Bebel Gilberto and Beck, and enjoy numerous repetitions in the car. But just because it isn't necessary is a poor excuse for not exploring original children's sings. It seems to be a boom industry, especially in the States, and there's some wonderful cds.

Our musical find of last year was a kids' cd by Barenaked Ladies (who are Canadian). This is a CD of original and witty songs for children of about 3yrs plus. Definitely good for adults too- it's the musical equivalent of those children's films where there are just as many jokes for the adults as the children.

On the US Amazon you can listen to samples- our favourites are Raisins, Allergies, My Big Sister and... well, most of them actually!

http://www.amazon.com/Snack-Time-Barenaked-Ladies/dp/B0015YGUR2

Be brave- dip your toes into the world of Snacktime!

A bus stop song

 We often get quite fidgety and cold waiting for the bus so I've been thinking about how to channel that nervous energy instead of nagging. We used to sing this at primary school, many many years ago- I expect you remember it. I think it this will work with older toddlers just as well as The Wheels on the Bus.

Start slowly as it gets quite complicated if you're only little.

One finger one thumb keep moving wriggle your forefinger and thumb
One finger one thumb keep moving
One finger one thumb keep moving
We'll all be merry and bright  twirl around if standing or do 'bobbin' action if sitting

One finger one thumb one arm keep moving  wriggle your finger, thumb and lift your arm in the air
One finger one thumb one arm keep moving
One finger one thumb one arm keep moving
We'll all be merry and bright twirl as before

...... and continue, adding in turn: a leg; stand up; sit down and turn around!