Clapping Songs and Games Collection

Update: July 13, due to overwhelming interest (and overwhelming my email box) the full collection will only be available until Monday, July 14. Only requests received until that time will be honored.  Thanks for understanding! 

It's finally done.. after asking many other music teachers about their favorite clapping games for the classroom, I've put it all together into one collection.  Here are some of the ones from the collection.  Enjoy!

If you haven't read this post:  http://www.musicalaabbott.com/2014/06/dazzling-discipline.html
READ IT!!! Wonderful advice, well written and informational!

School's Out.. but not really...

Dont' get me wrong, I LOVE summer.. time to play, relax, enjoy, and for me, research, rejuvenate, refresh!  I am planning on some changes for school next year and looking to go backwards a bit.  There are so many wonderful folk songs kids don't know and I'm not sure if it's just that I'm getting older and a bit sentimental about having finished my 20th year of teaching, or if it's just that a friend of mine turned me on to the song, "Lead Through That Sugar and Tea" and another friend onto "Jump Jim Joe".  I really love these songs; classics, fun, silly, and the kids really enjoy singing them and they are jewels!!  Lead Through that Sugar and Tea is an African American childrens song and can be found in the Sail Away book by Boosey and Hawkes on page 32.  It's listed as a play party song but other sources say it's African American, from Alabama.  Jump Jim Joe is in a book of that same name and is an absolute gem; my kindies and first graders can't get enough; kinders were even doing it on the playground so you know when that happens it's a keeper!  We even played it with everyone having a stuffed animal as a partner then switching "partner animals".  HILARIOUS!  Here's a video I found on youtube:

Right now I am obsessed with the Song: I Let Her Go, Go, which is from Trinidad:  Here's a video:

Formation: A single circle with partners facing each other
I let her go-go, - Partners pat hands two times on - go-go.
Ee-ay, I let her go-go, - Turn and face the partner behind, and again pat hands two times on - go-go.
Eeay, I let her go, . . . - Partners put hands together on - go ... but linger.
I let her go-go-go! - Partners pass by the right shoulder and continue with a new partner.

 

Source: Canciones De Nuestra Cabana.
Public Domain. May be reproduced.

FIVE more days!!!

Countdown!  The teachers feel it, the kids feel it, and the parents feel it!  Summer break is almost here. School for us is out next Thursday and this Friday is our Seniors graduation (we are a Pre-K through 12th grade independent school).  Very exciting!  My daughter will have Kindergarten Honors (similar to graduation but we call it something else) next Thursday and I am in utter disbelief and denial that she is going to be in the first grade next year.  Time flies far too swiftly! 
In the music room, we have been singing and dancing like crazy little chicks!  It has become tradition after our spring concert to have a campfire sing-along.  Some of our favorites are "Go Bananas" which is a chant and VERY funny; if you're not familiar with it and the movements, look it up on youtube.

 

Another favorite is Hi Lo Chickalo which is a song and hand clapping game.  It is great to play in a cirlcle and have students go through it one time with a partner, then turn the opposite direction and play with new partner. Sing/play faster and faster!  Giggles will fly!

 

Mac and Cheese is another HUGE favorite!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xV46eduDyTY  We partner up, back to back, sing the song, then clap and walk around to find a new "back" to be back to back with.

Wisconsin Milk is pure fun, also!  Older kids LOVE it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BqZd0bxTrs

Singing in the Rain is hysterical!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bbHVrtx0Ow

A Sailor Went to Sea; there are quite a few variations, motions go with each.  Have your students figure out additional variations; 3 syllables that make sense on their own (you'll see...)

A Sailor Went to Sea

Traditional: 

A sailor went to sea, sea, sea (make the letter “C” with one hand)

To see what he could see, see, see (make the letter “C” with one hand)

But all that he could see, see, see ((make the letter “C” with one hand)

Was the bottom of the deep blue sea, sea, sea (make the letter “C” with one hand)

 

A sailor went to chop, chop, chop (chopping motion with hands)

To see what he could chop, chop, chop (chopping motion with hands)

But all that he could chop, chop, chop (chopping motion with hands)

Was the bottom of the deep blue chop, chop, chop (chopping motion with hands)

 

A sailor went to knee, knee, knee (touch knees)

To see what he could knee, knee, knee (touch knees)

But all that he could knee, knee, knee (touch knees)

Was the bottom of the deep blue knee, knee, knee (touch knees)

 

A sailor went to sea, chop, knee (do actions in order)

To see what he could sea, chop, knee (do actions in order)

But all that he could sea, chop, knee (do actions in order)

Was the bottom of the deep blue sea, chop, knee (do actions in order)

 

 

 

A SAILOR WENT TO SEA VARIATIONS cont’d.

Burger King

Brrr, brrr, brrr (hands on opposite shoulders, shiver)

Grrr, grrr, grrr (hold hands over head, curled

King, king, king (pretend to put a crown on your head)

 

Chick Fil-A

Chick, chick, chick (flapping elbows up and down)

Fill, fill, fill (pretend to fill a glass of water with a pitcher)

A, A, A (make the letter A with hands in an upside-down V and thumbs touching across)

 

Disneyland

Dizz, dizz, dizz (hold head, act like you are dizzy)

Knee, knee, knee (touch knee)

Land, land, land (touch the ground)

 

Dollar Tree

Doll, doll, doll (rock a pretend baby in arms)

Arrgh, Arrgh, Arrgh (like a pirate)

Tree, tree, tree (hold hand up like a tree with fingers spread)

 

 

VARIATIONS:

Carowinds

Care, care, care (place hands across heart )

O, o, o (make an “O” with mouth, hands on cheeks)

Winds, winds, winds (move hands back and forth in front of body)

 

Panerra

Pan, pan, pan (pretend to hold a frying pan in hand)

Air, air, air (move hands back and forth in front of body)

Uh, uh, uh (put pointer finger on chin, look like you’re thinking really hard)

 

Toys R Us

Toys, toys, toys (hands up over head, excited!)

R, R, R (like a pirate)

Us, us, us (sweep hand in front of body right to left to show everyone in the room)

 

MadPad App Review

I have
used this app with a few classes in rotations and it's pretty amazing. The video above is older (2011) but is a great intro. to MadPad.

 I am looking at using it as a composition project for next fall, probably with fourth grade.  I like that you can adjust the pitch of each sound set, and you can loop and record a rhythm. There are so many sound sets you can download.. try the toys one and find the guy with the mouth.. awesome!  It's just his mouth making various sounds!   There are also great ones with kids making sounds with various objects from around the house. This is  a great way to incorporate tech with music and can be used in the classroom to reinforce the concept of ostinato.  How would you use it? 

Rhythm Eggs to PLAY with

There are so many uses for these; I use them in a game called "Steal the Banana".  You can look up the directions on the internet, but there are many other games and activities you could do with them.  Enjoy!  If you want as a PDF, email me at musicquilt@Hotmail.com

Planting a Rainbow book and lesson and Upcoming Workshop!

I know.. it's been a while since posting but I've been CRAZY busy writing music to go with three Amazon/South American jungle stories; Conejito, Jabuti, and Papagayo.  Lovely childrens books and my first through fourth graders are performing these with music, speech, dancing, and a narrator!  More to come on that later...

I am so excited and honored to be the clinician at the newly formed Southeastern Carolina Chapter of the American Orff Schulwerk Association!! We are going to sing, play, dance, move, groove and have a blast in Lumberton, NC on March 29!! 

Today, I am excited to share with you a lesson that was inspired by Thom Borden's blog:  http://thomborden.blogspot.com/  Thom and I took Master's Level of Orff Certification together and I truly enjoy his creative energy.  A while back he posted about this Lois Ehlert book:

Planting a Rainbow.  I loved his idea of using seed packets with rhythms and I made seed packet rhythms from vintage seed packet images I found online.  You can save and print them here:

 

Yes!  Some of them are upside down; if you print them in color, then all you have to do is fold the pages hot dog style (long end to long end), glue together and laminate; then you will have the seed packet on one side and the seed packet with the rhythm on the other side!  Voila!  Yes, it took me a while to figure that out; first time I made them I didn't do this but I figured if I was putting it "out there" I wanted a better, easier way to make these!  I only used flowers but you could easily make vegetable seed packets or even "core value" seed packs; your imagination/creativity is your only limit!!
I put 8 various seed packs in an envelope made from laminated construction paper so I had enough for partners or small groups.  Each group may end up with a completely different set; that is so much fun.. what an amazingly diverse group of flowers! I also have discovered it is really smart to use a sharpie and draw a small colored circle on each set so you have a "yellow dot" set and a "blue dot" set, etc.  If groups work close to each other then their seed packets won't get mixed with the other groups; each group has their own specific colored dot on all their manipulatives.  This has helped me tremendously when manipulatives are the same. 
If you haven't used the heart charts before from previous posts I've had; here is an example you can save and print:

 

1.        After reading the story, tell students that we are going to create a garden of flowers in the music room today.  Demonstrate how to create a 4 beat rhythm using rhythm packs.  Ask students to clap the words of the flowers.  Show the seed packet side without the rhythm note first.  Using the 4 beat heart charts  and small manipulatives (flower erasers or small glass gems from Target or Dollar Tree) “write” the rhythm of the words.

2.        Clap and say the rhythm of the flowers using “ta” and “ti-ti”.  Turn the seed packets over, say, “Let’s see if we are right”. 

3.       Divide students into 7 groups; each gets a seed packet, manipulatives, and a heart chart.

4.       Ask them to create as many rhythms as they can, showing the flower side up (not the flower and rhythm), then “write the rhythm they think goes with the words, THEN check their answer by flipping the seed cards over.  There are 8 seed packets but they will only use FOUR each time so there are MANY possibilities of rhythms. 

5.       On another day, ask students to create 8 beat rhythms and use the dry erase 8 beat grids to draw their rhythms; demonstrate how to place 4 cards (flower side up, not flower and rhythm) next to one another, then another 4 under that (just like the 8 beat grids; 4 boxes over 4 boxes) and ask them to write the rhythms THEN check their answer by flipping the seed cards over to show the rhythm.

6.       Extensions:

a.       Use scarves and a piece of music to create a movement piece.

b.       Students create a tune on E and G (sol and mi) with glockenspiels and rhythms

 

HAVE FUN!!!