Songs and Fingerplays Archives

Ten Preschool Songs for New Year’s

December 26, 2014 By Deirdre

After sharing how to make a New Year’s Eve countdown ball with you earlier in the week, I decided to seek out so New Year’s themed preschool songs for kids. I thought you would enjoy having fun songs to welcome the new year with! I searched high and low to find preschool songs for New Year’s. (There are actually tons of them out there. I was pleasantly surprised!) Here are the ten preschool songs for New Year’s that I loved the most. Wait! Before you look over the preschool songs, please note that they could be used in any primary classroom or at home with your family. Don’t let the title of this post throw you off. I think they would be fun to do with everyone!

New Year’s Songs for Preschoolers

Cheer the New Year (Row, row, row your boat)

Found on Kids Parkz

Cheer, cheer, cheer the year,
A new one’s just begun.
Celebrate with all your friends,
Let’s go have some fun!
Clap, clap, clap your hands,
A brand new year is here.
Learning, laughing, singing, clapping,
Through another year.

Fireworks On New Year’s Day (Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed)

Found on Perpetual Preschool

5 little children waiting to see,
Fireworks on this New Year’s Eve.
One saw the fireworks and what did she say?
“Happy New Year to you this day!”

Out with the Old, In with the New (Mary Had A Little Lamb)

Found on The Best Kids Book Site

This year’s drawing to an end,
To an end, to an end.
This year’s drawing to an end.
Soon we’ll start a new one.
Out with the old, in with the new,
In with the new, in with the new,
Out with the old and in with the new,
On January 1st.

Hickory, Dickory, Dock

Found in a nursery rhyme book in our book collection.

Hickory, Dickory, Dock,
The mouse ran up the clock,
The clock struck one and
The mouse ran down.
Hickory, Dickory dock.

Hickory, Dickory, Dock,
The mouse ran up the clock,
The clock struck two and
The mouse said Boo!
Hickory, Dickory dock.

Hickory, Dickory, Dock,
The mouse ran up the clock,
The clock struck three and
The mouse ran Weee!
Hickory, Dickory dock.

THE PEOPLE ON THE BUS (The Wheels on the Bus)

Found on Preschool Express.

Oh, the people on the bus wear party hats,
Party hats, party hats. (Children place hands together at a point over their heads)
Oh, the people on the bus wear party hats,
All through the town.

Oh, the people on the bus are blowing horns,
Blowing horns, blowing horns. (Children place fists over their mouths)
Oh, the people on the bus are blowing horns,
All through the town.

Oh, the people on the bus say, “Happy New Year”,
“Happy New Year”, “Happy New Year”.
Oh, the people on the bus say, “Happy New Year”,
All through the town.

THE CLOCK IS TICKING DOWN (The Farmer In the Dell)

Found on Preschool Express.

The clock is ticking down.
Get ready for the sound.
Boom, Bang, it’s 12 o’clock
Fireworks all around!
Jean Warren

A Brand New Year (The Muffin Man)

Found on Preschool Education.

Now we have a brand new year,
A brand new year, a brand new year.
Now we have a brand new year,
It’s (name of year).

New Year’s Day (Jingle Bells)

Found on Preschool Education.

New Year’s Day, New Year’s Day
Comes but once a year.
On New Year’s Eve, we celebrate
And ring it in with cheer!
New Year’s Day, New Year’s Day
Comes but once a year.
On New Year’s Eve, we celebrate
And ring it in with cheer!

Happy New Year (Are You Sleeping?)

Found on Preschool Education.

Happy New Year!
Happy New Year!
Rah! Rah! Rah!
Rah! Rah! Rah!
Goodbye to the old year!
Hello to the new year!
Rah! Rah! Rah!
Rah! Rah! Rah!

This Year’s Drawing to an End (Mary Had A Little Lamb)

Found on Preschool Education.

This year’s drawing to an end,
To an end, to an end.
This year’s drawing to an end.
Soon we’ll start a new one.

Out with the old, in with the new,
In with the new, in with the new,
Out with the old and in with the new,
On January 1st.

Along with singing these wonderful preschool songs, you may want to have the kids make props to use while singing them. A New Year’s Eve noise shaker or having your children select an object like the ones in our New Year’s Eve sensory bin to hold while singing would be fun!

Five Little Shamrocks Craft and Song

March 11, 2014 By Deirdre

Have you heard the Five Little Shamrocks song before? Have you ever made a hand print shamrock? We hadn’t done either until we started to work on this Five Little Shamrocks craft and song. We love Five Little… so much that I searched and searched until I found one for St. Patrick’s Day.

Five Little Shamrocks

One green shamrock, in the morning dew,
Another one sprouted,
and then there were two.

Two green shamrocks, growing beneath a tree;
Another one sprouted,
and then there were three.’

Three green shamrocks, by the cottage door;
Another one sprouted,
and then there were four.

Four green shamrocks, near a beehive
Another one sprouted,
and then there were five.

Five little shamrocks, bright and emerald green,
Think of all the luck
these shamrocks will bring.

While I think the Five Little Shamrocks is a super cute song that can be song all by itself, I love to try to come up with a craft to go along with rhymes and songs that we are working on. The crafts can be used as props while you sing the song. They are also great for retelling the song. When you have finished using them along with the song, they make wonderful crafts to display in the hallway outside of your classroom or on your kitchen fridge.

Our hand print shamrocks were so simple to make. We placed green paint on the palm side of a hand and placed four hand prints in flower petal design onto white paper. Then we cut out the hand prints and I added an outline around the shamrocks with green marker. A stem for the shamrocks was also drawn on with green marker. Finally two wiggly eyes are placed on each shamrock along with an orange pom-pom. ( I tried a green pom-pom on the shamrocks, but it really didn’t differ enough from the green paint and marker. ) Orange is one of the colors on the Irish flag and it added contrast so, we went with orange pom-poms.

You may notice that one of the shamrocks has tiny eyes. I didn’t have enough large wiggly eyes for all five shamrocks. It may look a little odd in the picture. I think it ended up being okay. Five is an odd number so, why shouldn’t the fifth shamrock be a little odd.

Here are some other Five Little.. Songs and Crafts we have done:

Deirdre Smith writes/owns JDaniel4’s Mom. After twenty years as a elementary school and technology resource teacher in Northern Virginia, she became a stay at home mom in upstate South Carolina. Her blog features ways she and her 5 year old are exploring learning, crafting, creating healthy meals and living life to its fullest. Deirdre can also be foundon her blog’s FB page. You can also check her out on Google+.

Five Little Valentines Craft and Song

January 24, 2014 By Deirdre

There is something wonderful about receiving one, two, three, four or even five little valentines that might lead you to want to sing a song or do a craft for someone. I remember opening each little card I received in my decorated card box on Valentine’s Day at school. I just loved to read the rhymes on them and see what kind of card each person in my class had selected to pass out to the class or to give to me.There were always a few homemade cards in placed in my box each year. Those really stood out to me as did the ones that came with candy attached. There were never lots of either, but I think that is what made them special.

Recently JDaniel and I sang the Five Little Valentine’s Song and Craft. These Valentine’s Day cards will be sent to people we love to let them know them know they are remembered.

Here is the Five Little Valentines song:

Five pretty valentines sitting in the store,

[Child’s name] bought one, and then there were four.Four pretty valentines left on the shelf,[Child’s name] bought one, and then there were three.Three pretty valentines waiting for a home,[Child’s name] bought one, and then there were two.Two pretty valentines standing side by side,[Child’s name] bought one, and then there was one.One pretty valentine left all alone[Child’s name] bought that valentine and all were gone.

Here is how we made our five little valentines:First we gather the following supplies:

Paint (red, pink and white)
Yarn
Construction Paper
Glue Stick
Buttons
Scissors

Then JDaniel and I ran short strings of yarn through paint. We found that pulling the string back and forth through the paint really loaded up the string.

Five Little Valentines Song and Craft- Painting with String

Next the string was rolled, dragged, and smashed onto the paper. A spoon was rubbed over the paint loaded the string to encourage the paint onto the paper. Lines of paint were randomly applied all over five pieces of construction paper.

Five Little Valentines Song and Craft- Painting with String on Paper

The painted sheets of paper were then left to dry or mostly dry. When they were mostly dry, we folded them in half and cut hearts out of them. The paint that was still damp made an imprint on the opposite side of the paper when it was pressed together adding to the paper’s design.When the paint was completely dry, various size and colored buttons were attached to the hearts with a glue stick. It was very easy to rub the bottom of the buttons onto the top of the glue stick. The bottoms ended up fully coated and this made them easy to attach to the heart.

Our five little valentines ended up with a modern art feel. I hope that those who receive them will love them as I think the people who received the five little valentines in the song loved getting their cards.Other Five Little songs we have a song and crafted about:

Deirdre Smith writes/owns JDaniel4’s Mom. After twenty years as an elementary school and technology resource teacher in Northern Virginia, she became a stay at home mom in upstate South Carolina. Her blog features ways she and her 5-year-old are exploring learning, crafting, creating healthy meals and living life to its fullest. Deirdre can also be found on her blog’s FB page. You can also check her out on Google+.

Five Little Snowmen Song and Craft

January 19, 2014 By Deirdre

Five Little Snowmen is the fifth five little song and craft we have shared on the blog. There is something really fun about these rhymes. We started with Five Little Pumpkins as few years ago. JDaniel relearned it in kindergarten this year. He sang it over and over again. That inspired me to look for some more five little songs. Since then we have done Five Little Turkeys, Five Little Christmas Trees, and Five Little Firecrackers.Five Little Snowmen’s craft involved white paint, a potato masher, and some odds and ends from our craft closet. I used black paper to make the white paint really stand out in hindsight I should have probably used a lighter color.

Five Little Snowmen5 little snowmen sitting on the ground, (pat hands on floor)the first one said; “oh my aren’t we round.” (make circle with arms)The second one said; “there are snowflakes in the air.” (wiggle fingers above head)The third one said; “but we don’t care.” (shrug shoulders)The fourth one said; “Lets run and run and run. (pat hands quickly on the floor)The fifth one said; “I’m ready for some fun.” (smile)Whew went the wind (blow) and out came the sun (make a circle with arms over head)and the five little snowmen knew their fun was done.(pretend your melting)

JDaniel painted the white paint onto the potato masher. I thought it would keep the paint from looking clumpy. It would have probably looked more natural with clumps.

We started by placing the paint loaded potato masher onto the paper to make circular prints. JDaniel thought we need to wiggle the masher a little to create blurred lines. Honestly, his blurred lined snowman really looked better than mine.

five_little_snowmen_song_and_craft_potato_masher_printmaking

JDaniel also placed his circles at angles so, they aren’t standing straight and tall. I really love the added character he added to his snowmen.

When the snowmen had dried, we pulled out some odds and ends from our craft closet and decorated them. My husband thinks they look like snow penguins. What do you think?

If you love five little songs like we do, watch for a post on Five Little Valentines song and craft.

Deirdre Smith writes/owns JDaniel4’s Mom. After twenty years as an elementary school and technology resource teacher in Northern Virginia, she became a stay at home mom in upstate South Carolina. Her blog features ways she and her 5-year-old are exploring learning, crafting, creating healthy meals and living life to its fullest. Deirdre can also be found on twitter as @jdaniel4smom and on her blog’s FB page. You can also check her out on Google+

Butterfly Fingerplay and Song

April 7, 2010 By Deirdre

Roly-Poly Caterpillar

Roly-poly caterpillar (wiggle right pointer finger)

Into a corner crept, (place right pointer finger in left cupped hand)

Spun around himself a blanket (spin around)

Then for a long time slept. (place head on folded hands)

Roly-poly caterpillar (wiggle right pointer finger)

Wakening by and by, (“stretch” right pointer finger)

Found himself with beautiful wings

Changed to a butterfly. (flutter arms like wings)

Oh, Butterfly!

Sung to: “Oh Christmas Tree”

Oh, butterfly, Oh, butterfly

How I love your colors.

Oh, butterfly, Oh, butterfly

How I love your colors.

You fly so high and beautiful,

You are so soft and gentle.

Oh, butterfly, Oh, butterfly,

How I love your colors.

Signs of Spring Fingerplays

March 23, 2010 By Deirdre

See, See, See

See, see, see (shade eyes with hands)

Three birds are in a tree (hold up three fingers)

One can chirp (point to thumb)

And one can sing (point to index finger)

One is just a tiny thing. (point to middle finger, then rockbaby bird in arms)
See, See, See Three birds are in a tree (hold up three fingers)

Look, look, look (shade eyes)

Three ducks are in a brook (hold up three fingers)

One is white, and one is brown. One is swimming upside down (point to a finger each time)

Look, look, look Three ducks are in a brook. (hold up three fingers)

Taken from Spring Time Theme

Bunny in the Ground

Here is a bunny with ears so funny (make bunny ears)

And here is his hole in the ground (make a circle with fingers)

When a noise he hears (put hand to ear)

He pricks up his ears, (hold bunny ears up straight)

And he jumps in his hole in the ground! (make hole with one hand and stick finger in it)

St. Patrick’s Day Finger Plays

March 15, 2010 By Deirdre

Leprechaun Fingerplay

Leprechaun, leprechaun,
Hiding in the hay. (Hide pointer finger under opposite hand.)
Leprechaun, leprechaun,
Don’t you run away. (Hop pointer finger around.)
Leprechaun, leprechaun,
Let’s go out and play. (Hop both pointer fingers together.)
Leprechaun, leprechaun,
It’s St. Patrick’s Day! (Dance pointer fingers up and down.)

This Little Leprechaun

This little leprechaun slid down the rainbow, (Point to thumb.)
This little leprechaun stayed home. (Point to index finger.)
This little leprechaun picked a shamrock, (Point to middle finger.)
This little leprechaun found some gold. (Point to ring finger.)
This little leprechaun cried, “See if you can catch me,” (Point to little finger.)
As he ran home. (Wiggle little finger.)

Taken from http://www.preschooleducation.com/spatrick.shtml

Birthday Songs and Fingerplays

March 6, 2010 By Deirdre

The Birthday Song
Oh, do you know the birthday girl (boy) The birthday girl, the birthday girl, Oh, do you know the birthday girl, Her (his) name is __________.
Do you know how old she is How old she is, how old she is? Do you know how old she is She is ___________ years old.

Birthday Doo Dah

Zippity – sung to “Zippity Doo dah”
Zippity dooh dah, zippity ay,my oh my what a wonderful day,plenty of sunshine comin’ your way (you way!)zippity dooh dah, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!
Taken from http://stepbystepcc.com/holidays/birthday.html

Five Candles on the Cake
Five candles on a birthday cake

Five, and not one more.

You may blow one candle out, [make blowing sound and motion]

And that leaves four!

Four candles on a birthday cake

There for all to see.

You may blow one candle out, [make blowing sound and motion]

And that makes three!

Three candles on a birthday cake

Standing straight and true.

You may blow one candle out, [make blowing sound and motion]

And that leaves two!

Two candles on a birthday cake

Helping us have fun.

You may blow one candle out, [make blowing sound and motion]

And that leaves one!

One candle on a birthday cake

We know its task is done.

You may blow this candle out, [make blowing sound and motion]And that leaves none!

Taken from http://earlylit.net/wordpress/category/storytime-component/fingerplays-and-rhymes/

Birthdays
Birthday candles, one-two-three (hold up fingers on the count)
Birthday candles just for me! (point to self)
Last year two, next year four (hold up 2 fingers on left hand and 4 on right)
Birthday candles I want more! (hold up all fingers)

Taken from http://leland22201.tripod.com/id3.html