Wiggle Songs

[prettyeyes72]

I was hoping we could share our favorite variations on wiggle songs. It is nice to have variety so they don't get old for me or the kids. Here are some of my favorites that I have collected from many sources (thank you!):

Popcorn popping p. 242
Stand/sit each time say pop
Twist corn twisting, march corn marching, hop corn hoping, dance corn dancing, etc.

Once there Was a Snowman p. 249
Once there was a monster, Princess, robot, etc. Sing the song exactly the same, just substitute the new word. Especially fun around Halloween and you can use their costumes.
Do actions backwards of what you are singing.

Singing a Song is Fun to Do p. 253
Sing fun to Moo, to hoot, to bark, etc. I don't actually 'moo' the whole song. We just sing "singing a song is fun to moo, fun to moo, to moo, to moo . . . "

My Hands p. 273
I usually just up the tempo and pause between phrases. This is just one that I haven't heard done much, but it can be a lot of fun if you sing it fast.

Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes p. 273
Backwards: Toes, Knees, Shoulders, Head . . . nose, mouth, ears and eyes.

Do as I'm Doing p. 276
Have a student come up and lead the actions instead of you.

Oh How We Love to Stand p. 279
Again, I speed this one up, and there are substitute words at the bottom I use (wave, point, bend, bow).

[andreagrover]

After having read this, I think we must be pretty boring in our Primary; we usually stick to the more traditional versions of each of these songs. That being said, here are some other ideas for using wiggle songs.

We hold singing time right after class, so all the kids are coming from different rooms at slightly different times. They get a little chatty as they gather, so we have been starting singing time by having the pianist play prelude music, immediately followed by a wiggle song that ends with us being reverent. (e.g. "Stand up" on page 278, "To Get Quiet" on page 275, "Roll Your Hands" on page 274, "My Hands" on page 273, "I Wiggle" on page 271) This works wonders, because as soon as the children hear the introduction to the song being played, they quit talking and start watching me.

One variation of "Once There Was a Snowman" that we have used in Family Home Evening (that comes from the nursery manual, I believe) is "Once there was a baby, baby, baby. Once there was a baby, small, small, small. Now I'm growing bigger, bigger, bigger. Now I'm growing bigger, tall, tall, tall."

I also do the singing in nursery for 10 minutes every week, and one song that kids absolutely LOVE is "Rain Is Falling" on page 241. As we sing "rain is falling," I squirt a fine mist of water above each child. Then we sing "sun is shining," and I turn off the light and turn on a little lantern. Finally, we sing "wind is blowing" while I use a paper plate to fan them. I can't take credit for this one; I borrowed it from another site.

[versiculouno]

Our kids love "Fun to Do" which in the English Children's Songbook is on page 253.

We add "marching with you is fun to do" and the kids march around the room. Then we do "skipping" and other physical activities.

This song usually gets them settled down enough to start learning a new song!

[versiculouno]

Two Sundays ago, our chorister started junior singing time by asking the kids what they liked to do for fun. Then she incorporated it into the song I mentioned above ("Fun to Do"). It was a big hit! The children loved singing about their favorite activities, and then they were ready to listen and learn a new song.

[jenleekim]

Our primary children love "Once There Was a Snowman" also. We sing it every sunday all year! Our priamary pianist taught us another version that she uses at home with her small ones when the season changes to Spring and Summer. These are the words..."Jesus made the Giraffe, Giraffe, Giraffe. Jesus made the Giraffe tall, tall, tall! He also made the Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit. He also made the Rabbit small, small, small." The actions are as follows...when singing giraffe, put your arm, bent at the elbow, up and make a "mouth" with your hand as if the giraffe was eating leaves from a tree. stretch it up when singing tall, tall, tall. As for the rabbit, make bunny ears with your hand and bounce it around like the rabbit is hopping around and shrink to the floor as you song small, small, small.

[michelle]

I will use thing song to wind the kids down after we have done a wiggle song and they are still a little hyper.

We sing "I am Like a Star" twice. The first time we sing it our hands start down low and wiggling our fingers we raise them up while we sing the song through. At the end our hands our above our heads. The second time we sing the kids follow me as we wiggle our fingers and lower our arms back down. As we finish singing the song for the second time I fold my arms and the kids do the same.

The spirit is felt every time I do this song with the kids. They are watching my arms so closely they really settle down.

[mommabear]

We have several standard wiggle songs we use. There is (of course) the seasonals (popcorn popping and once there was a snowman), but right now the favorites are "hinges" and "Stand Up". Both songs are a huge success in our primary, and that's saying a lot with the extreme age range we have in there. (many 3-4 year olds and several 8-11...not much in between).

With "hinges" we move all our hinges like the song says and at the end with the word "crack" we let one of our knees buckle so it looks like we're broken. Fun fun.

[Jennifer TX]

I love "Once there was a snowman" and we end up on the ground then sing it again, but say "once a was a baby...." and end up standing. It never snow where we live, so we sing it anytime.

I started singing "The Wise Man And the Foolish Man" and when we sing "the rains came down" we sit and then "floods came up" we stand. All kids like doing, Sr especially, I think because it hasnt been in regular rotation for years.

Of course "Head, shoulders Knees, and Toes." First few times slow, then increasing speed. At one point I have them stretch "so they wont hurt themselves" and then we continue on singing faster and faster while raising each other of the piano. Also a fun song.

My fav song to sing after doing wiggle song and the kids full of engery is "My Hands." It has movements and the kids like following along, but the end we slow down a lot and sing very reverently almost to a wisper. ALWAYS gets the kiddos reverent and quite to move onto something else.

[Ashlee Andersen]

The kids in our primary love to sing "Once there was a snowman" So for summer I have them sing "Once there was a flower, flower, flower, once there was a flower small small small in the sun it grew grew grew in the sun it grew tall tall tall.

I also love the version of popcorn popping for the winter, I don't know where I got it from, but I am sure it was one of the very helpful sights on the internet.
I looked out the window and what did I see, snowflakes falling on the evergreen trees. Winters brought me such a nice surprise snowflakes falling right before my eyes I can make a snow man I know I can 3 snow balls make a big snow man, it wasn't really so but it seemed to be snowflakes falling on the ever green trees.

[Tami]

The version of "winter" popcorn popping we sing goes... "I looked out the window and what did I see, ice cream cones on the evergreen tree. Winter has brought me such a nice surprise, ice cream cones right before mine eyes. I can take a snow ball and make a treat, an ice cream cone that would taste so sweet..." The kids love it!