MGOL as a Summer Reading Club Theme
( example: Music Around the World)
Sample Program – Outline:
Welcoming Comments:
Sing: If you’re happy and you know it (US)
Rhymes and Reads:
fb: Two Little Kookaburras (Australia & England)
Sway: Kookaburra sits on the old gum tree (Australia)
Song with puppet kisses: The eency weency spider / La arana pequenito – Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico)
Book to read aloud: Babies Around the World by Puck, illustrated by Violet Lemay, duopress, 2017.
Fb: Open them, Shut them (Belguim)
Knee bounces from England:
Fb: See-saw Scaradown (England)
Fb: The Grand Old Duke of York (England)
Fb: Humpty Dumpty (England)
Rum Pum pum drum sequence
Rum Pum pum
Stand-up
Bate Chocolate – (Mexico)
London Bridge is Falling Down – (England)
Sov B’Ma’agal or Oooga ooga – (Israel)
Epo I Tai Tai E – (New Zealand)
Handy Spandy
Book:
I went to visit the farm (use any book with animal illustrations)
Animals sounds are different in different countries (Vengan a Ver) – Spain
Musical Instruments (Bells):
We ring bells our bells together (Canada)
Frere’ Jacques – (France)
Everybody Loves Saturday Night (Nigeria)
Bells Away – Canada
Musical Instruments (Shakers)
We Shake our Shakers Together – Canada
Tingalayo – The Carribean
Obiswana – Ghana
Mexican Hat Dance – Mexico
Shakers Away – Canada
Musical Instruments (Rhythm sticks)
We tap our sticks together – (Canada)
Grandfather’s clock (from Germany)
Sticks away – (Canada)
Scarves
Holo Holo Ka’a – (Hawaii)
Scarves Away – (Canada)
Lullaby
Kula Bébé (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
Ending:
If You’re Happy and You Know It
Program Script
Welcoming Comments:
“Hello everyone. I am Ms. Betsy and I am delighted to see you here today at our program “Nursery Songs Around the World.” Today’s program is based on our summer reading theme, ‘One World, Many Stories.” We all come from different homes, but we are all here together. I’m so glad to see you than I am going to sing a song about being happy. Please join in!”
Sing the first verse twice from If you’re happy and you know it
If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands.
If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands.
If you’re happy and you know it and you really want to show it,
If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands.
“MGOL is a 30 minute early literacy program that helps children develop a wide variety of skills while having lots of fun. Since children this age don’t sit perfectly still, it’s fine for them to wander around. However, please pretend there is an invisible circle around the flannel board. If your children come up to the flannel board and enter the circle, please physically pick them up and bring them back to their seats. Otherwise, it’s fine for them to wander.
I’m going to repeat each rhyme twice; the first time you can listen and the second time, repeat it with me. If you already know the rhyme, you are welcome to say it with me both times.”
Rhymes and Reads:
“The Kookaburra is a bird from Australia that looks like this.” (Show pictures of kookaburras from a book or use flannel board pieces made from internet images of kookaburras)
Two little kookaburras sitting on a cloud,
One named Soft, the other named named LOUD.
Fly away Soft, fly away Loud.
Come back Soft, come back LOUD.
To expand upon this, choose a YouTube video from the San Diego Zoo of a kookaburra laughing (https://youtu.be/H2wyBU2GzhQ, for example) and show it on an iPad. “Here is a video of a kookaburra bird from the San Diego Zoo. Does it sound to you like it is laughing?
Ask everyone to try to imitate the Kookaburra’s laugh
“Can you imitate its laugh? Let’s try!”
Sway from side to side while singing, “Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree.”
Kookaburra sits on the old gum tree.
Merry, merry king of the bushes, he.
Laugh kookaburra, laugh kookaburra, gay your life must be.
Kookaburra sits on the old gum tree. Eating all the gumdrops he can see.
Stop kookaburra, stop kookaburra, leave some there for me!
( This song was written by Marion Sinclair)
The eency weency spider went up the water spout.
Put thumb to index finger on the other hand and vice versa; “walk” them up in the air.
Down came the rain and washed the spider out.
Push down and out with your hands.
Out came the sun and dried up all the rain.
Put hands above your head, touch fingers together so it forms a circle.
So the eency weency spider climbed up the spout again.
Put thumb to index finger on the other hand and vice versa; “walk” them up into the air.
Speak in a very deep voice. “Wait a minute! That’s not fair.”
Bring out the spider puppet, who says: “You are always singing about my brother, the eency weensy spider, but you never sing about me, the GREAT BIG SPIDER. I am so sad I am going to cry – Boo hoo hoo….”
Facilitator: “Don’t cry, Great Big Spider, we can sing about you.”
Spider: “Would you sing using your great big voices and your great big hand movements?
Facilitator: “Can we do that, boys and girls?” Pause for answers. “Okay, let’s take out our great big hands (open arms as wide as possible) and our deep, deep voices (continue speaking using a deep voice), and here we go! (
The GREAT BIG spider went up the water spout . . .
Sing the song using a deep voice and exaggerated, large hand movements.
Down came the rain and washed the spider out.
Out came the sun and dried up all the rain.
And the GREAT BIG spider climbed up the spout again.
Spider: “That was so wonderful! I loved hearing a song about me. Now can you sing it in Spanish?”.
Facilitator: “Sure! We’re going to play both versions of the song. If you know the words in Spanish, sing along. If you don’t know the words, you can still do the all of the hand motions with us. The singer is Evelio Mendez, and he uses his opera voice when singing “La araña grandotota.” You will hear that it is quite magnificent!
(Play track 13 from “Escucha y disfruta con Mama Gansa” sung by Evelio Mendez).
| La araña pequeñita / La araña grandotota |
| (Con títeres de arañas) |
| La araña pequeñita subió subió subió.
Vino la lluvia y se la llevó. Salió el sol y todo lo secó. Y la araña pequeñita subió subió subió.
(Cante en una voz profunda con movimientos exagerados) La araña grandotota subió subió subió. Vino la lluvia y se la llevó. Salió el sol y todo lo secó. Y la araña grandotota subió subió subió. -traditional |
Spider: Thank you for singing my son in both English and Spanish. I am so happy I’d like to give each of you a spider kiss. (Go around the circle and give each child a spider kiss from the puppet)
Read aloud:
Babies Around the World by Puck, illustrated by Violet Lemay, duopress, 2017.
Here’s a rhyme you probably already know, but you may not have known that it originated in Belgium. (follow the directions in the rhyme with your hands)
Open them, shut them, open them shut them, give a little clap.
Open them, shut them, open them, shut them, put them in your lap.
Creep them, creep them, creep them, creep them,
Right up to your chinny chin chin.
Open up your little mouth, but do not let them in!
Knee bounces:
“Now we are going to do some knee bounces These rhymes were written long ago, in England. Parents, please put your legs out straight in front of you. If you have an infant, put him or her on your outstretched legs facing you, since babies love to have eye contact with adults they love. If your children are a bit older, put them on your legs facing out so they can observe the other children in the group.
Let’s start by moving one knee up and one knee down.”
(Display felt piece shaped like an arrow that reads “to Londontown”)
See saw, scaradown
See-Saw, Scaradown, this is the way to Londontown.
One knee up and the other knee down, this is the way to Londontown.
(Remove Londontown character and put up the Grand Old Duke of York character)
Grand Old Duke (England)
On, the Grand Old Duke of York, had had ten thousand men.
Gently bounce your outstretched legs
He marched them UP to the top of the hill,
Bring legs up, bending your knees
And he marched them DOWN again.
Bring legs down so they are straight on the floor.
And when they were UP, they were UP.
Bring legs up, bending your knees
And when they were DOWN, they were DOWN.
Bring legs down so they are straight on the floor.
And when they were only HALF WAY UP,
Bring knees half way up
They were neither UP nor DOWN.
Bring knees fully up, then bounce them back down.
Rum Pum pum
With the tambourine:
(Start by hitting tambourine and saying:)
Rum pum pum, this is my drum. Rum pum pum, this is my drum.
My name is ______, what’s your name? A
I’m now going to come around the circle, and I’d like each child to tap out their name on the drum, using the syllables. If your child is too young to do it alone, take their hand and direct it so that they can tap out their own name. This is a great phonics activity for the under two crowd!
(Then walk around the circle, encouraging the children to tap their names out on the drum using syllables. If the child is too young to do it on his own, ask the parent to take his hand and help him. Once the child says his name, give him a friendly greeting, such as “Good morning, Jason!”)
Everybody, stand up!
Stand-up
Bate Chocolate – Mexico
“Did you know that chocolate in Mexico is called cho-co-la-te? I’m going to say it and I’d like you to repeat after me. Cho-co-la-te! (Pause while they repeat). Again! Cho-co-la-te! (Pause while they repeat). One more time. Cho-co-la-te! (Pause while they repeat).
The dance we are going to do is based on a song from Mexico where hot chocolate is made in a special way. Let’s all pretend that we have a mug. Now pour in some hot milk. Put in a piece of chocolate. The milk is so hot, it will melt the chocolate. But we need to stir it to mix it around. So, we take a wooden carved stick called a molinillo that looks like this (show your felt piece, made with a color photocopy from a Webpage or (from the template at the end of this book!!!!)
Put one end of the molinillo in your mug, and place both hands around the top of the stick. When you rub your palms together, the stick will move and will stir the chocolate. Pretend you have a molinillo in your hands and try it!
Everyone, stand up, make a circle and get ready to make some hot chocolate. First we’ll say the rhyme in Spanish and then we’ll say it in English. Imitate the movements I make.
| Bate, bate, chocolate |
| Bate, bate, chocolate, tu nariz de cacahuate |
| Rub palms together |
| Uno, dos, tres, CHO!
Rub hands and clap on CHO |
| Uno, dos, tres, CO!
Rub hands and clap on CO |
| Uno, dos, tres, LA!
Rub hands and clap on LA |
| Uno, dos, tres, TE!
Rub hands and clap on TE |
| Chocolate, chocolate!
Rub hands |
| Bate, bate, chocolate! |
| Bate, bate, bate, bate, bate, bate…. |
| (baje la voz y el cuerpo – say softer and softer while slowly squatting down) |
| CHOCOLATE! |
| (brinque y grite – Shout “Chocolate” while enthusiastically jumping up.) |
| – traditional |
| Stir it, Stir it, Stir the Chocolate |
| Stir it, stir it, stir the cho-co-lat-e |
| You have a peanut nose. |
| One, two, three, CHO! |
| One, two, three, CO! |
| One, two, three, LA! |
| One, two, three, TE! |
| Chocolate, chocolate, stir it, stir it, |
| Stir the chocolate. |
| (lower voice and body) |
| Stir it, stir it, stir it, stir it, |
| Stir it, stir it, stir the CHOCOLATE! |
| (jump up & shout) |
| Now we eat the chocolate and sit down. |
| – English translation by Anne Calderón |
London Bridge is Falling Down – England
“Hold hands and march around the circle in this direction.” Point in a direction.
London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down.
London Bridge is falling down, my fair lady. DOWN!
(everyone kneels or squats and begins tapping the floor to the beat for the next verseJ
Build it up with sticks and stones, sticks and stones, sticks and stones.
Build it up with sticks and stones, my fair lady. UP!
(stand up again and repeat.)
This is a song that all preschoolers in Israel know. We’re dancing in a circle around a big, delicious, cake. The Hebrew word for cake is “ooga.” Repeat that after me. Ooga!
Stay in the circle, hold hands, and let’s move in this direction. (Point in a direction)
Sov B’Ma’agal or Oooga ooga – Israel
Ooga Ooga
Ooga ooga ooga, ba’ma’agal nachuga.
Walk in the circle while holding hands.
Nistoveva kol hayom, ad asher nimtza makom.
La’shevet, la’koom. La’shevet, la’koom.
Squat down, stand up. Squat down, stand up.
La’shevet, la’koom. La’shevet, v’la’koom.
Squat down, stand up. Squat down, stand up.
Ooga ooga ooga, we’ll dance in a circle,
Twirling around all day long.
Until we find the right place
To sit down, to get up. To sit down, to get up.
To sit down, to get up. To sit down and get up.
– Aharon Ashman
“Here’s one more circle song from Israel. The Hebrew word for STOP is “Atzor.” Can you say that? Atzor. (Pause while they repeat the word.) Atzor. (Pause while they repeat the word.) Last time, atzor. (Pause while they repeat the word.)
We are going to walk around the circle by as soon as we sing the word “Atzor,” stop immediately!
(The following song can be found on track 14 on the “Listen Like Learn with Mother Goose on the Loose: Hebrew/English Edition” by Betsy Diamant-Cohen and Rahel. You can hear it at: https://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bdcr2)
Sov Ba’ma’a’gal
Sov ba’ma’a’gal (3x)
Atzor!
Go around the circle, go around the circle, go around the circle,
Then stop!
Now let’s have an energetic free dance to Epo I Tai Tai E, a Maori song from New Zealand. (Play any version of the song. There are several YouTube)
Handy Spandy
This song helps everyone to sit down after standing up.
Handy spandy, sugary candy we all jump in.
Jump into circle.
Handy spandy, sugary candy we all jump out.
Jump out of circle.
Handy spandy, sugary candy we all jump up.
Jump up.
Handy spandy, sugary candy we all sit down.
Sit down.
Animals
(Sing songs about the sounds animals make using book illustrations. Find a book with photographs from a farm in a different country, and show pictures of animals on that farm while singing the following song)
(Suggest other animals and their sounds.)
Did you know that animals have different sounds in different countries? In the US, dogs say “woof, woof” but in Israel they say, “hav hav” and in Japan they say “wan wan.”
Sing, “Vengan a Ver,” a version of “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” from Spain OR sing “I Went to Visit the Farm one day using the book Animals Speak by Lila Prap.
Bells:
(Hand out bells – be sure to give one to each child and one to each adult)
DEVELOPMENTAL TIP: The use of small percussion instruments (bells, rattles, sticks, small drums, chime bars) helps develop and coordinate muscular development and provides an emotional outlet though music.
We ring our bells together, we ring our bells together,
We ring our bells together, because it’s fun to do.
Ring them up HIGH. Ring them down LOW. Ring them IN THE MIDDLE! A
Frere’ Jacques – France
Are you sleeping, are you sleeping,
Brother John, Brother John?
Morning bells are ringing, morning bells are ringing.
Ding ding dong. Ding ding dong.
Frère Jacques, Frère Jacques,
Dormez vous? Dormez vous?
Sonnez les matines, Sonnez les matines.
Ding ding dong, Ding ding dong.
—Traditional French
Did you know that the song, “Everybody Loves Saturday Night” originally comes from Nigeria? Let’s sing it first in English, ringing our bells along. Then I will play aversions of the song in Yoruba, a language spoken in Nigeria and we can ring along. If anyone here knows a version of the song in another language, feel free to share it with us!
(Sing and ring together)
Bells away, bells away, put your bells away today.
Bells away, bells away, put your bells away today.
(Walk around with the bag and have children drop the bells into the bag. Occasionally say “thank you”, but not after each one. Keep singing the song until all of the bells have been collected.)
Shakers
Shake our Shakers
We shake our shakers together, shake our shakers together
We shake our shakers together, because it’s fun to to.
Shake them UP HIGH.
Shake the DOWN LOW.
Shake them in THE MIDDLE
Let’s shake our shakers together to “Tingalayo, ” a song from the Caribbean sung by Raffi. (Play the song while everyone shakes along)
Obwisana is a song from Ghana. Children sit in a circle. They sing ob-wi-sa-na while passing a rock around the circle. When each child gets the rock, they tap it on the ground and then pass it to the next person.
Let’s use our imaginations and pretend that our shakers are rocks. We will pass them in this direction (Point to the direction in which the shakers will be passed. )
(Obwisana is available on the Kindermusik’s “Drums, Drums, Drums” CD. Watch this video to see the game in action using bean bags: https://youtu.be/7lF4iydAtrM)
Obwisana
Obwisana sa nana
Obwisana sa
Obwisana sa nana
Obwisana sa.
Now I’m going to play “The Mexican Hat Dance.” Clap or shake your shakers along to the beat! (Play Mexican Hat Dance)
Shakers away, shakers away, put your shakers away today.
Shakers away, shakers away, put your shakers away today.
(Collect shakers)
Sticks
We tap our sticks together
We tap our sticks together, We tap our sticks together, We tap our sticks together, Because it’s fun to do.
Tap them UP HIGH. Sing in a high voice, tap sticks above you.
Tap them DOWN LOW. Sing in a low voice, tap sticks near floor.
Tap them IN THE MIDDLE. Sing in a normal voice, tap sticks in front.
Grandfather’s clock (from Germany)
Grandfather’s clock goes “Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock.”
Tap ticks slowly, pausing between each “tick” and “tock”
Mother’s kitchen clock goes “Tick tock, tick tock, tick, tock, tick, tock.”
Recite at a normal pace.
Brother’s little watch goes “Tick tick tick tick, tick tick tick tick, tick tick tick tick, STOP!”
Recite and tap all of the “ticks” in a quick, steady beat, and emphasize the word “STOP!”
Sticks away, sticks away, put your sticks away today.
Sticks away, sticks away, put your sticks away today.
Scarves
(Pass out scarves, one to each child and one to each adult)
This is a song from Hawaii called Holo Holo Ka’a. Pretend your scarves are leaves swaying the breeze and sway them along to this song.
(Watch at what the children are doing with the scarves, and imitate some of their motions. They will probably have some very creative movements. If not, try waving your scarf in a circle, throwing it up in the air and catching it, etc.)
Scarves away, scarves away, put your scarves away today.
Scarves away, scarves away, put your scarves away today.
Lullaby
There are many beautiful lullabies from around the world. Here is one from the Democratic Republic of the Congo called Kula Bébé. Snuggle together with your child and sing along with this song (https://www.pri.org/node/64785)
https://www.pri.org/lullabies
Ending sequence:
I had so much fun going around the world with you. This made me so happy, I’d like to sing the happy song again. Please join in.
If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands.
If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands.
If you’r happy and know it and you really want out show it.
If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands.