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!

Nice mice?

We've just had a mouse in the house. Luckily we seem to have only had ONE lone ranger, who has now been caught (and dispatched). It's made me feel uncomfortable in the room we found it. I know it's tiny and not in any way a threat, but there's something about the speed they move and the unpredictability of their habits. 

When singing this week though, I noticed just how many rhymes have mice in them- nice mice too! Think about Three Blind Mice (though they come to a grizzly end), Hickory Dickory Dock and squeaking mice in Old MacDonald. I suppose it's only relatively recently that we have been able to live separately from mice, and they used to be a part of everyday life for most people. My little boy, who's four, has been imagining mice families all over the house, and creating little lego houses for them to live in. For him, they hold no fear.

There was a little mouse Hold forefinger and thumb a mouse length apart

Who sat in a chair Place fingers in palm of other hand

And when the cat went 'Miaaaaaaow' 

He ran right up the chair. Tickle all the way up to the armpit

If a mouse runs up my arm, I will NOT be laughing.

The North wind doth blow.....

It's been a while since I've done this... life has a way of keeping you busy. But I'm back, and now snow has come to Bristol! They say it's the worst snow in 18 years.... we say it's the best. We were out in the garden at 7.15am, finding 'polar bear tracks' right across the lawn, and making snowmen.

The north wind doth blow, and we shall have snow,

And what will poor robin do then, poor thing.

He'll sit in the barn, and keep himself warm,

And hide his head under his wing, poor thing.

Hot summer days are here! Hooray!

Though we're stuck in the city, we would love to be at the beach- so we've been singing I do like to be beside the seaside and sorting through boxes of shells. 

I do like to be beside the seaside

I do like to be beside the sea

I do like to stroll along the prom, prom, prom

Where the brass band plays tiddly-om-pom-pom

Just let me be beside the seaside

I'll be beside myself with glee

And there's lots of girls besides 

That I'd like to be beside

Beside the seaside, beside the sea

It would sound great on the ukelele, sung with a cheeky wink at the last few lines!

Try this clip of Basil Rathbone for size.....

I've also been trying to learn the sea shells tonguetwister......

She sells sea shells on the sea shore

The shells that she sells are sea shells I'm sure

So if she sells shells on the sea shore

I'm sure she sells seashore shells

... but even just writing it out gets my brain all twisted! I want to do it at Rhymetime, but just can't get it straight. At least it makes my kids laugh!

Everything is growing apace in our garden. All the seeds that the children helped me plant have germinated and there are so many little shoots, leaves and  wisps of green. It's such a satisfying time, when you see signs of growth and life and energy, before the slugs feast on baby plants!

Our favourite seedlings have been the pumpkins. In Milly-Molly-Mandy this is called the surprise plant- and it does grow amazingly quickly. It's perfect for little people who check the pots every day for signs of growth.

The cherry stone rhyme is ideal for this time of year..... 

I had a little cherry stone (finger and thumb as if holding a stone)

I put it in the ground (putting stone onto palm of other hand)

Next time I came to look

A little shoot I found ( make a circle with thumb and forefinger of one hand and push two fingers of the other hand through it, like a shoot)

It grew and grew 

Into a great big tree (fingers grow up and branch out above head, like a tree)

And then I picked the cherries (pretend to pick cherries from above)

And ate them for my tea (...and eat them!)

Postcode Carmen

All my singing with babies and toddlers is based on the idea that music is fun, pleasurable and comforting. I hate the idea that we should be using every opportunity to teach our children something. But on the other hand... singing is a great way to learn things that you might otherwise have to just learn by rote. As a little girl I learnt my postcode by singing it to the opening phrase from Habanera, Carmen. This might sound a little precocious but try it- it works really well! If opera's not your thing, you might be seduced by this fantastic Sesame Street video!

Sesame Street was, of course, another great example of using music to teach all kinds of things- if you're a child of the seventies (like me!) you might remember this pinball counting song too. Oh happy days! 

Long nights

After a few long and broken nights, I've been running through some lullabies. I've got a few I like- but it needs the right combination of tune and lyrics to work as a lullaby. Rock around the clock, for example, has great words (sing it through and you'll see what I mean) but is hard to sing soothingly. 

Amazing Grace is such a beautiful tune, but since hearing Bee, age two, sing the line 'saved a wretch like me', I've felt uneasy about the lyrics. Of course, there are plenty of lyrics in other nursery rhymes and traditional tunes that aren't particularly child-friendly (mice having their tails cut off in Three Blind Mice, for example) and I'm ok with that, but I'm really not keen on a toddler referring to herself as a wretch! So I've been singing my own.... here they are.....

Lie down my child, it's time to sleep

It's dark and cold outside

Lie down my child, don't make a peep

Curl up and close your eyes

You're tired and sleepy, don't fuss now

You're fed and clean and warm,

You need to rest, and so do I

Tomorrow starts at dawn.

When I sang this to her, she would melt in my arms and just listen. A beautiful melody.

Beans in a pod

There were broad beans at the greengrocer's this morning. The children fell on them with delight and demanded we bought handfuls of them. Back at home, they pulled them apart and devoured the plump raw beans like sweeties! There were a few left, which we ate (cooked!) for lunch. 

Of course, we had to do the peas in a pod rhyme- adapted- and Pip-squeak clapped his hands at the end for the very first time! What a clever bean!

  

Five broad beans in a bean pod pressed

One grew, two grew, and so did all the rest.

They grew and grew and did not stop,

Until one day, the pod went POP!

Hippopotami

With the rain pouring down outside, we're singing the wonderful chorus to the Flanders and Swann hippopotamus song...

 'Mud! mud! glorious mud! 

Nothing quite like it for cooling the blood, 

So follow me follow, 

Down to the hollow, 

And there let us wallow in glorious mud.' 

Written in the 50s, and still going strong. The lyrics to the whole song are here..... 

In the original, this bit is sung by an amorous hippopotamus to his 'fair hippopotomi maid', while she sits and combs her hair.  Perhaps we should act that out while we sing, but we just like to just stomp about while singing it really loudly. 

For a modern, adult version on the hippopotamus theme, I love Flight of the Conchords, with their geeky cool rap Hiphopopotamas vs. Rhymenoceros on YouTube. So good, but NOT suitable for kids!