Whether chanting or singing music and rhymes are fun ways to learn and play.
Songs to sing:
“The ABC Song”
“This Old Man”
“She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain”
“I’m a Little Teapot”
“The Hokey Pokey”
“The Ants Go Marching”
“Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes”
One of my favorite chants is 5 Little Monkeys jumping on the bed.
Five Little Monkeys
Five little monkeys, Jumping on the bed. One fell off, And bumped his head Mama called the doctor, And the doctor said: "No more monkeys jumping on the bed!"
When I was young we played a lot of skip rope games. Chanting while we skipped was always fun at school with my friends.
Chanting Rhymes:
Miss Mary Mack
Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack All dressed in black, black, black With silver buttons, buttons, buttons All down her back, back, back. She asked her mother, mother, mother, For fifteen cents, cents, cents, To see the elephant, elephant, elephant, Jump the fence, fence, fence. He jumped so high, high, high. He reached the sky, sky, sky, And he never came back, back, back Till the Fourth of July, lie, lie.
Bluebells, Cockle Shells
Bluebells, cockle shells, Eevie, ivy, over; I like coffee, I like tea; I like the boys, and the boys like me. Tell your mother to hold her tongue; She had a fellow when she was young. Tell your father to do the same; He had a girl and he changed her name. Bluebells, cockle shells, Eevie, ivy, over; Mother went to market To buy some meat; Baby's in the cradle Fast asleep. The old clock on the mantel says One o'clock, two o'clock.. (to twelve o'clock)