Robert Munsch is one of our favorite authors. His stories have onomatopoeias and sound effects that lend themselves well to dramatic and sing-songy voices. They’re great for reading aloud and repeating (with or without the book). He’s recorded most all of his stories and they are wonderful to listen to (with or without the book). You can find them on youtube, itunes and even spotify (just search Robert Munsch).

In Mortimer, a little boy doesn’t want to go to bed so sings a boisterous song: “Clang, clang, rattle bing bang, gonna make my noise all day. Clang, clang rattle bing bang, gonna make my noise all day.” When Mortimer sings, we SING loudly! We’ve settled on a tune we made up, but any tune or sing-songy voice will do. It takes his mother, his father, his 26 brothers and sisters, and the local policemen to get him to fall asleep. It’s a bit difficult to find just Mortimer, but it is included in Munschworks 2: The Second Munsch Treasury

Click over to read what happened when author Robert Munsch told this story at a school with a very mean principal.

Do you like to make mixes for loved ones? Does it help you stay connected?

Here’s a playlist Roxcy made for me, and one I made for her.

All images are from Roxcy’s instagram feed.

This is a classic counting song with simple and fun actions. There are different variations out there. I grew up hearing the one about the Father duck really laying down the law and that’s when the little duckies obey, but the feminist in me just can’t stand it. So we stick with the mother duck just being a bit more forceful for the ending.

5 little ducks went out to play,
Over the hills and far away,
When the mother duck said,
“Quack, quack, quack,”
4 little ducks came waddling back.

4 little ducks went out to play,
Over the hills and far away,
When the mother duck said,
“Quack, quack, quack,”
3 little ducks came waddling back.
etc . . .

But when the mother duck said,
“QUACK, QUACK, QUACK!”
5 little ducks came waddling back.

Have you seen this cute and free Five Little Ducks printable on pinterest? What a great way to combine a little art and music.

This song is on the Farm Music with Friends collection.

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I love my rooster, my rooster loves me,
I feed my rooster on the green berry tree,
And my little rooster goes “cock-a-doodle-doo, dee-doodle, dee-doodle, dee-doodle, dee-do.”

I love my doggie, my doggie love me,
I feed my rooster on the green berry tree,
And my little doggie goes, “woof, woof, woof.”
And my little rooster goes “cock-a-doodle-doo, dee-doodle, dee-doodle, dee-doodle, dee-do.”

I Love My Rooster is on the Farm Music with Friends collection.

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For older kids, use this song to start separating animals into categories. Sing about Old MacDonald’s Zoo and choose zoo animals or Old MacDonald’s Aquarium and see how many sea animals you can name. You don’t need to make sounds, either. Try substituting movement; flapping wings, swimming fins, hopping legs.

Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O,
And on his farm he had duck! E-I-E-I-O!
With a quack, quack here and a quack, quack there,
Here a quack, there a quack, everywhere a quack, quack,
Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O.

Old MacDonald is on the Farm Music with Friends collection.

I like this animal sounds song for it’s upbeat rhythm. My kids like to use their plastic animals, but props aren’t necessary. When we aren’t using toy animals, the descriptions can get quite fantastical, “down on Grandpa’s farm there is a purple dog with wings . . . ” Have fun singing about whatever you can imagine, then grab some crayons and paper and draw Grandpa’s farm.

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 a little, pink pig,
Down on Grandpa’s farm there is a little, pink pig,

The pig, it makes a sound like this: OINK OINK!
The pig, it makes a sound like this: OINK OINK!

Repeat using different animals and descriptions. You can stick with color and size, or get more creative!

This song is from the Farm Music with Friends collection.

We are so excited about May at our house. This May we’re looking forward to visits from cousins, Jonah’s birthday and Roxcy coming home from France! Although we’ve never celebrated it, I love the idea of May Day and celebrating the peak of Spring. In England, May Day often involves a traditional dance called Morris. They use bells and sticks (or handkerchiefs, or swords). Grab a few props and turn on some renaissance music (I’ve picked out a few tunes on Spotify or iTunes) to celebrate like the English. First try simple dancing that involves walking towards each other, clicking your sticks a few times and then walking backwards. If you are feeling very fancy, add a spin, or turn around the circle. After showing the dancers a few moves, let them be creative.

Here’s a video of a group in England doing a Morris Dance:

Although May Day is celebrated differently all over the world, did you know the American tradition is to leave a basket of flowers on someone’s doorstep, ring the bell and run? If they catch you, they get a kiss!

Five fat peas in a pea pod pressed,
One grew, two grew
So did all the rest!
They grew and grew and never stopped,
They grew so big that the peas went
POP!

(Notice that my four year old can follow the actions pretty accurately, but only gets about half the words, even though we’ve sung this together several times. This is totally appropriate for her age. Her two year old brother does about half the actions and just a few words, like five and pop.)

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I’m a little to embarrassed to admit it, but my kids love Barney and the Wiggles and Baby Einstein. And I let them listen and watch as much as they want. There is something about that music that is so basic, I feel like it helps them to build a beginning musical vocabulary. I also want them to develop their own musical tastes so I not only let them choose what to listen to, I introduce them to different kinds of music at different ages. Young kids (as young as 2) really love early rock n’ roll. The musical vocabulary and simple song structure is really similar to the Barney/Wiggles songs. I pick songs with lyrics they’ll relate to, stuff about candy and funny rhymes and silly words. Check out the playlist I put together with my kids favorites on iTunes or spotify.

What are your favorites from this era? Follow my ping playlists on itunes, then add your favorites to the playlist!

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