Mini Music and Movement Ideas
Free mini Music and Movement ideas for you to use in your early years setting. Great activities to encourage children to use their imaginations and creative development.
Involves – listening, participating, re-acting, and engaging
ACTIVITY – Toyshop (Pictures of toys: robot, doll, heroes etc and music: Doll on a music box-Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)
Explain to the children that you are going to be the toymaster who makes the toys in his workshop! When the toymaster goes to sleep the toys wake up,
but they cannot move normally as they are made from plastic, metal or wood.
Pretend to go to bed, (you may wish to turn out some lights!) play the music and watch the children wake up and become their favourite toys.
You can extend this game to any toys, cars, fire engines etc. If you do not have access to the music, you can imitate winding them up to make them ‘go’.
Ideally demonstrate a wind-up toy so that children can see the power reduce and ask the children to show they are running out of power.
Children love this activity and will want to play it again and again.
(make your own ankle bells: your local haberdashery will sell individual bells and ribbon. Children can thread bells onto the ribbon and they can
be tied around their ankles. NB Keep the ribbons short, as not to trail on the floor)
Using the scarves dance to the celebrational music to welcome Rama and Sita back. Then use the scarves to create a slow rhythmical dance using hips
and arms. Also use the ankle bells in time with the music by jumping hopping.
Create a little routine in Bollywood dance using Typical moves…pushing the wall, twisting apples from trees, hand rolls, shoulder shrugs, snake arms.
Music: Mundian To Bach Ke – Punjabi MC, Gaur Nalon – Bollywood Brass band
ACTION SONGS
Twinkle Twinkle, 5 little monkeys, Wind the Bobbin up
PERCUSSION IDEAS – Tap sticks/wooden claves
(or you can find some sticks and paint them and wrap ribbons around them)
Dhandiya sticks: ( to the tune of In and out the dusty bluebells)
Tap your sticks in the air, tap your sticks in the air, tap your sticks in the air.
We can tap to the music.
Tap your sticks and turn around, ……..etc
Tap your sticks and shake your hips ………etc
Tap your sticks to the side………..etc
Tap your sticks behind your back………
Tap your sticks and kick your legs…
Five little speckled frogs,
Sat on a speckled log,
Eating some most delicious bugs.
Yum Yum!
One jumped into the pool,
Where it was nice and cool,
Then there were four speckled frogs.
Glug Glug!
Four little speckled frogs,
Sat on a speckled log,
Eating some most delicious bugs.
Yum Yum!
One jumped into the pool,
Where it was nice and cool,
Then there were three speckled frogs.
Glug Glug!
Three little speckled frogs,
Sat on a speckled log,
Eating some most delicious bugs.
Yum Yum!
One jumped into the pool,
Where it was nice and cool,
Then there were two speckled frogs.
Glug Glug!
Two little speckled frogs,
Sat on a speckled log,
Eating some most delicious bugs.
Yum Yum!
One jumped into the pool,
Where it was nice and cool,
Then there was one speckled frog.
Glug Glug!
One little speckled frog,
Sat on a speckled log,
Eating some most delicious bugs.
Yum Yum!
He jumped into the pool,
Where it was nice and cool,
Then there were no speckled frogs.
Glug Glug!
PARACHUTE AND BALL PIT BALLS (soft balls)
Lay out the parachute on the ground and ask the children to carefully walk around the edge and find a handle, NO CHILD MUST WALK ON THE PARACHUTE AS IS IS EXTREMELY SLIPPERY. Explain that children will not be going underneath at
this point.
Place all of the balls on top of the parachute, and on the word ‘Popcorn’ the children will shake the parachute and make the balls bounce around, once all the balls are off, the children can collect them, and the exercise can be repeated.
Suggested story to incorporate the word ‘Popcorn’
(Once upon a time there lived a girl called..PPPoppy, who loved to eat…Pppeppers and Ppppineapple. One day she decided she would like to try PPPPopcorn!!!!)
A GUST OF WIND
Ask the children to stand around the parachute holding the handles/edge of parachute, on the word (UP) lift the parachute up, on the word (DOWN) pull it down quickly, this will create a gust of wind which will be felt all around the hall.
Little Bunnies Song
See the little bunnies sleeping til it’s nearly noon (start asleep on the floor in silence)
Come and let us wake them with a merry tune!
Oh so still, are they ill, wake up soon! (on wake up soon, teacher/leader claps hands)
Hop little bunnies, hop hop hop, (Children hop around the room)
Hop hop hop, hop hop hop
Hop little bunnies, hop hop hop,
Hop hop hop.
2. (Jump little bunnies, jump jump jump) (as above but jumping)
3. (Skip little bunnies, skip skip skip,) (as above but with skipping)
Little Peter Rabbit Song
Peter rabbits got a fly upon his nose (rabbit ears with hands, one finger on nose)
Peter rabbits got a fly upon his nose (repeat)
Peters rabbit got a fly upon his nose (repeat)
So he flipped and it flapped it and the fly flew away ( gesture flip and flap with hands)
Floppy ears and curly whiskers (floppy ears sign with hands, make curly whiskers Floppy ears and curly whiskers with hands)
Floppy ears and curly whiskers (repeat)
So he flipped it and he flapped it and the fly flew away (as before)
Explain the connection with the instruments and the songs:
Silver bells: Hand Bells,
Cockle Shells: Castanets,
Pretty maids: Triangles
Sing the song and ask the children to hold their instruments up when they here their part in the song.
Ask the children to remain silent until it’s their time to play, as a tutor you will need to orchestrate the music! Sitting the children in groups according to instruments will help.
Discuss and show images of an orchestra. Look at the plan for the musicians, where would your instruments belong? Explain that an orchestra is a collection of musicians who all play at certain times in the music score, and the conductor tells them when to play and how to play.
Repeat the exercise above but change tempo and volume creating appropriate gestures with your hands.
Rain and Thunder (rain and thunder CD, Puddles)
Listen to the rain and thunder music with your eyes shut. Lets make our own rain!
Rain percussion (sitting):
Fingertips on the floor: Raindrops on the pavement
Two fingers tapping the palm of the other hand: raindrops on the window
Heavy slow claps: Heavy Rain
Rapid leg slaps: Torrential Rain
Feet on the floor: Thunder
Repeat starting with Thunder.
To the music pretend to put on your coats and hats and wellington boots ready to go outside don’t forget your umbrella. Place out sequencing markers
as puddles. Ask the children to walk around the room, splashing in the puddles. Repeat to the music, step on right leg, kick out on left, step on left
kick out on right, encourage the children to kick the water high in the air.
Follow the leader, form a line and walk around the room splashing in the puddles, making sure to copy the person in front of you.
Music:- The rain Music, Burt Bacharach – Raindrops keep falling on my head
Children will stand in a space and teacher will instruct the different ‘bean’ movements:
Runner Beans: Run around the room
Broad Beans: Legs wide arms stretched out
French beans: one hand on hip, other hand out stretched “oh la la”
Kidney beans: lay on side and curl into a kidney shape
Dwarf beans: Squat small
Baked beans on toast: Lay flat on the floor next to someone
Jumping beans: Jump
String beans: Stretch up tall
Jelly Beans: Wobble
This game is great fun and children will enjoy it and respond appropriately