I’ve been doing music with the kids each day this week. To to celebrate our end of the school year I took a few requests and I was also prepared for a couple of the kids favorites that needed additional supplies.
Surprisingly this simple chant is a favorite:
Two little sausages (hold up two fingers)
Frying in a pan (wiggle both hands)
One went POP (clap hands once in front of your belly)
And the other went BAM! (clap hands high over your head)
We added musical instruments to make the different sounds: jingle bell sticks for sausages, a tambourine for frying in the pan, a triangle for Pop and a drum or tone block for Bam.
This is something you could do at home. We extended this further by humming the first line (but still playing the instrument) and saying the rest, then again only humming the first two lines, etc. It is amazing how something as simple has this maintained everyone’s interest.
However, by far, our FAVORITE is Wide Mouthed Bullfrog!
It is written by Keith Faulkner and illustrated by Jonathan Lambert.
This is an endearing little story about a frog that loves to visit with all of his animal friends telling them he eats bugs and then asking them what they eat. He encounters a bird, a mouse and an alligator. Again, this seems pretty simple however this book has WONDERFUL pop-up illustrations.
But wait, this is a book and I was writing about our favorite songs. Maryann Harmon (better known for her music program Music with Mar) wrote a song based on this book. It does not follow the text exactly but honors the essence of the story. The song has a wonderful chorus when the wide-mouthed frog introduces himself to the animal friends. You can find this song to purchase at the bottom of the page here. Unfortunately the book is out of print but often if you google it you can find one through various sources that carry used books.
I finally remembered to video tape our music time with the afternoon classes yesterday. Here’s how we enjoy the book and song. So, turn up the volume and sing along!
(click on the photo to begin the video.)
Aldersgate Preschool 
May 9, 2015 at 5:40 am
I just gave “The Wide Mouth Frog” book (along with a few others) to my daughter’s best friend who just had a baby. I intend to sing to her next time I see her!