simple super songs

Song 1

Language Focus Other songs about: Hello/Goodbye

"Hello." "Come in." "Knock knock." Classroom activities (sing, play, learn).

Knock Knock Hello Lyrics and Actions

♫ Hello! (Hello!) [Wave with your right hand.]

Hello! (Hello!) [Wave with your left hand.]

Come in. [Motion to come inside.]

Let's sing. [Pretend you are singing into a microphone.]

Let's play. [Run in place.]

Hello! (Hello!) [Wave with your right hand.]

Hello! (Hello!) [Wave with your left hand.]

Knock, knock, knock. [Pretend to knock on a door.]

Come on in! [Motion for someone to come inside.]

Let's sing. [Pretend you are singing into a microphone.]

And play. [Run in place.]

And learn together. [Tap your finger on your temple.]

Knock, knock! [Thrust your fist in the air.] ♫

Classroom Benefits

"Knock Knock Hello" is a great song to begin your English class, Mommy and Me class, or before study or play time at home. Use this song to indicate that class is starting and to introduce children to basic manners, like knocking before entering.

Using a hello song at the beginning of class signals the start of the lesson and helps provide a nice transition into a learning environment. With younger learners, use the same hello song several weeks in

a row so that students get to know it well. This will build their confidence and give them a sense of security at the start of the lesson as they immediately know what to do.

Activity Ideas

With larger groups, try breaking the class into two groups and have them line up facing each other on opposite sides of the room. Kids on one side sing, "Hello!" and wave to their classmates on the other side of the room. That group responds, "Hello!" This is a great way to use the song because it emphasizes that we are singing about doing these things together. 1

With smaller groups, you can have students get together in pairs and sing facing each other. 2

If you have parents in class, have the child and parent sing facing each other. 3

If you have a small class, try starting class by having the children knock on the door. This gives you a chance to talk briefly with each child as you invite them to "come in." 4

Draw a picture of a house with a big door in the middle, and some windows. Cut the picture so that you can open the door and windows. Hold the house in front of you and show your child/students how to "knock" on the door. Ask, "Who is it?" or "What's your name?" After the child answers, say, "Come in!" and encourage them to open the door. Hold the house up to your face so that when the child opens the door, he/she will see your face saying, "Hello!" Children love this form of "peek-a-boo" and will enjoy knocking again and again, giving them lots of opportunity to practice greetings ("Hello." "What's your name?" "Who is it?" "Come in!" etc.)

Song 2

Language Focus Other songs about: shapes, classroom management, opposites

"Make a circle." "Hello." Simple vocabulary (big/small, round and round, up/down, sit down).

Make A Circle Lyrics and Actions

♫ Time to make a circle. [Everyone rushes to the center of the room and holds hands in a circle.]

Make a circle, big big big. [Make the circle bigger.]

Small small small. [Make the circle smaller.]

Big big big. [Make the circle bigger.]

Make a circle, small small small. [Make the circle smaller.]

Hello hello hello. [Everybody waves to each other. Try to make eye contact with each child.]

Make a circle, round and round. [Holding hands, walk around in a big circle.]

Round and round.

Round and round. [If you like, move the circle in the other direction.]

Make a circle, round and round.

Hello hello hello.

Make a circle, up up up. [While holding hands, everyone reaches up high!]

Down down down. [Crouch down low.]

Up up up. [Reach high!]

Make a circle, down down down. [Crouch low.]

Now sit down. [Everyone sits down.] ♫

Caution

CAUTION: When going around in a circle, be careful. The children will be holding hands, and if some children go faster than others, or yank on their neighbor, children can take a pretty hard fall. No pulling or running! If children are being rambunctious, try jumping/hopping/tip-toeing/light skipping/etc. instead. Or have them drop their hands and go round and round by turning in a circle in place.

Preparation

Before singing the song, gather the class in a circle with everyone holding hands. Here you can practice some of the actions in the song and more. Say, "Let's make a BIIIIIG circle!" and then have everyone say, "HELLO!" Then say, "Let's make a small circle...smaller...smaller..." Whisper, "Hello" to everyone. Then say loudly, "BIG circle." Practice going round and round, reaching up and down and other actions like jumping, hopping, touching your nose/ears/head, etc.

After you have played the song for several weeks, have one of the children be the circle leader and call out commands. You can alternate circle leaders each week.

Classroom Benefits

This is a great song for classroom management. Not only does it teach children useful everyday classroom language like "make a circle" and "sit down," but at the end of the song, students are seated and ready for the next language activity.

Circle time is a great way to start class or to bring everyone back together after an activity. Use it outside of the classroom as well, such as on the playground or at the park.

Activity Ideas

If you are using this in a classroom, use the space between verses to prepare the kids for the next verse. For example, after "Hello hello hello" in the first verse, say, "Now, let's go round and round!" After you have used the song a few times, you can ask your students after each verse, "What's next?" 1

The song finishes with everybody sitting down. Now you are ready to begin any circle activity you like. "Knock Knock Hello" followed by "Make A Circle" is a great way to start any type of class. 2

This tune is such an easy one to remember, you can sing it any time you need to gather kids in a circle, even without the CD. 3

Add some extra verses to keep things interesting. Try "in/out," "touch your nose/ears/toes/etc.," "jump jump jump," "hop hop hop," and more. 4

If you have a parachute, have the class make a circle by holding the parachute as you sing. You can also use a bed sheet. 5

Once students learn this song well, sometimes they can get a little wild when the music starts. Try adding additional activities or create new ways of using the song throughout the year to keep their interest. 6

Give each student a colored ribbon (like these wrist ribbons from Lakeshore Learning.) Practice making BIG circles with it by swirling it around in front of you, and small circles. (Be sure students are far enough apart that they will not hit each other's eyes).

Twirl the ribbons round and round. Next go up, up, up and take the ribbons down, down, down. Then sit down. Ribbons are also great for practicing or reviewing colors with "I See Something Blue" or "I See Something Pink." 7

Give each student a colored piece of fabric, bandannas work great! Do a similar activity to the ribbons, having students twirl the fabric around in big and small circles, twirl it up over their heads and down low to the ground. Then have the students spread out their bandannas and sit down. This activity is nice because it gives each student a designated place to sit.

Song 3

Language Focus Other songs about: counting

Counting from 1-7 forwards and backwards.

Seven Steps Lyrics and Actions

♫ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 [Everyone sings and walks forward together.]

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 [Everyone sings and walks backward together.]

1, 2, 3 [Forward.]

1, 2, 3 [Backward.]

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 [Forward.]

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 [Everyone sings and walks forward together.]


1, 2, 3 [Forward.]

1, 2, 3 [Backward.]

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 [Forward.]

1, 2, 3 [Forward.]

1, 2, 3 [Backward.]

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 [Forward.]

Now let's go backwards, OK?



7, 6, 5 [Backward.]

7, 6, 5 [Forward.]

7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 [Backward.]



7, 6, 5 [Backward.]

7, 6, 5 [Forward.]

7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 [Backward.]

7, 6, 5 [Backward.]

7, 6, 5 [Forward.]

7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 [Backward.] ♫

Caution

CAUTION: Kids can get carried away with this, or any song, in which they are running/jumping/marching around the classroom. It's very important to set the tone the first time you use this song. Everybody moves in the same direction. No pushing. This is a great opportunity to help children learn to channel their excitement. If kids start to get too wild, turn it into a freeze game by stopping the music, then start it again when everyone has become motionless.

Classroom Benefits

Kids love "Seven Steps," and it definitely qualifies as a Super Simple Song! It's a great active song to use anytime to get the wiggles out. For this version, we added a backwards verse to get the kids moving and counting in the other direction.

Activity Ideas

This is a very versatile song the you can use in many ways. The easiest is simply to march around the room as you sing along with the song. For variation, try marching with pom-poms, batons, tambourines, or maracas. 1

Instead of marching, call out different commands like "Jump!" "Skip!" "Gallop!" "Tiptoe!" "Hop!" etc. Changing the actions you do with the song will keep it interesting for the kids, and it's great fun to try hopping or skipping backwards! 2

This is a great song to use for freeze games. When you stop the music, everybody must stop marching (or jumping or skipping) and freeze! Anybody who is moving gets a playful tap on the head with a squeaky toy or some other harmless and fun "penalty" (it's no fun when kids are "out" and have to sit out while others participate). To make it more challenging, while the kids are "frozen," they must continue singing as if the music didn't stop! 3

Sing the song sitting down. Count fingers, toes, bean bags, marbles…anything! 4

Instead of marching in a circle, have everyone line up holding hands and facing the same direction as they sing and march. If you have parents in the class, try having them stand facing the kids. As the kids move forward, the parents (or teacher) move back. When the kids move backward, the parents move forward (as if chasing the kids). It's a lot of fun. 5

Instead of forward and backward, try up and down or right and left. Or try alternating hopping on your left foot and then your right foot. 6

With children under 2, this is a great song for them to "bounce" to. Or the caretaker can count the child's fingers and toes, or walk his/her fingers up and down the child's arms and legs.

Song 4

Language Focus Other songs about: parts of the body

Up and down. Parts of the body (finger, head, nose, chin, arm, leg, foot).

One Little Finger Lyrics and Actions

♫ One little finger, one little finger, one little finger. [Hold up your index finger and bend it up and down.]

Tap tap tap. [Tap your finger against your other INDEX FINGER 3 times.]

Point your finger up. [Point up!]

Point your finger down. [Point down!]

Put it on your head. Head! [Put your finger on your head and say in a loud voice, "Head!"]

One little finger, one little finger, one little finger.

Tap tap tap. [Tap your finger against your HEAD 3 times.]



Put it on your nose. Nose! [Put your finger on your nose and say in a loud voice, "Nose!"]


Tap tap tap. [Tap your finger against your NOSE 3 times.]



Put it on your chin. Chin! [Put your finger on your chin and say in a loud voice, "Chin!"]


Tap tap tap. [Tap your finger against your CHIN 3 times.]



Put it on your arm. Arm! [Put your finger on your arm and say in a loud voice, "Arm!"]


Tap tap tap. [Tap your finger against your ARM 3 times.]



Put it on your leg. Leg! [Put your finger on your leg and say in a loud voice, "Leg!"]


Tap tap tap. [Tap your finger against your LEG 3 times.]



Put it on your foot. Foot! [Put your finger on your foot and say in a loud voice, "Foot!"]

Put it on your leg. Leg! [Put your finger on your leg and say in a loud voice, "Leg!"]

Put it on your arm. Arm! [Put your finger on your arm and say in a loud voice, "Arm!"]

Put it on your chin. Chin! [Put your finger on your chin and say in a loud voice, "Chin!"]

Put it on your nose. Nose! [Put your finger on your nose and say in a loud voice, "Nose!"]

Put it on your head. Head! [Put your finger on your head and say in a loud voice, "Head!"]

Now let's wave goodbye. Goodbye! [Wave goodbye with your index finger.] ♫

Classroom Benefits

"One Little Finger" is a fun and active song for learning or reviewing parts of the body. Simply point and follow along with the song.

Activity Ideas

Introduce new body parts names. Simply call out the body part and then point to it if students are unsure where it is. 1

Give each student a chance to pick a body part. Stand in a circle as you sing the song. When you reach the "put it on your _____," have the next child call out a part of the body. Keep going around the circle until every student has a turn. 2

Practice some simple counting by changing the number of fingers with each verse. "One little finger," "two little fingers," "five little fingers," etc. 3

This song is great to sing with children under 2 years old. The caretaker can sing and point to all the parts of baby's body.

Song 5

Language Focus Other songs about: action verbs

Simple action verbs (walking, hop, running, stop, tiptoe, jump, swimming, sleep.)

Walking Walking Lyrics and Actions

♫ Walking walking. Walking walking.

Hop hop hop. Hop hop hop.

Running running running. Running running running.

Now let's stop. Now let's stop. [Place both hands out in front of you, palms facing forward.]

Walking walking. Walking walking.



Now let's stop. Now let's stop.

Tiptoe tiptoe. Tiptoe tiptoe. [Walk on your toes.]

Jump jump jump. Jump jump jump.

Swimming swimming swimming. [Make a swimming motion.]

Now let's sleep. Now let's sleep. [Rest your head against your hands or lie down on the ground and pretend to sleep.]

Wake up! [Eyes open! Look alert!]

It's time to go! [Look at your watch.]

Are you ready to go fast? [Run in place quickly.]

Okay!









Whew! [Wipe your brow with your forearm.] ♫

Caution

CAUTION: Once children become familiar with this song, they may become very excited and simply start running. One way to stop this is to pause the music and have everyone freeze. Re-start the music when they have all stopped. Or use your stoplight (see Song Tip #3 below) to practice stop and go while the song is playing. This is a great opportunity to help children learn to channel their excitement.

Note

When using this song with children under 3 years old, you may find that some children become frustrated because they can't hop. Make sure to praise ALL of the children for good hopping, even if they are just jumping. Hold the hands of the children who have not developed the motor skills to hop yet. Or, if you prefer, instead of "hop, hop, hop," sing "jump, jump, jump" with your toddler classes. Most kids want to try to hop though. They just need praise, encouragement, a little bit of assistance, and some practice.

Preparation

This song works great with some pre-teaching to introduce the verbs before the music starts. Gather students in a circle and jump, jump, jump. Now hop, swim, tiptoe, walk and run in place. Because kids can get carried away with this song, or any song in which they are running or jumping around the classroom, it's very important to set the tone the first time you use this song. As you practice the song, be sure to emphasize that everybody moves in the same direction. No pushing and stay in the circle. That way, everyone can have fun!

Classroom Benefits

This song is one of our classroom staples. Kids love it and will ask for it again and again. Use it when your students have a little extra energy and need to get the wiggles out, or when they are feeling sluggish and need a boost. Because this song ends with a bang, kids will be a little tuckered out when it's over, so it's perfect before starting a quiet activity or storytime. We've added some additional actions (tiptoe, jump, swim, sleep) to spice up the traditional version.

Activity Ideas

For variation, or if you don't have a large enough space, have the students do the song sitting down. Use you fingers to walk, run, jump and swim up and down their own legs and arms. 1

Try it with puppets, finger puppets or stuffed animals. 2

For a simple craft to go with this song, make stop lights. Fold a piece of black construction paper in half. Draw three circles in a row on each side. On one side, put a red circle in the top one. On the other side, put a green circle in the bottom one. Tape a straw or chopstick in the middle and tape it shut. Practice stop and go with the two sides. When the song says, "Now let's stop," hold up the red light. Then flip the signal over and hold up the green light when it's time to walk again. Have students practice stop and go with each other. 3

After you sing "Now let's sleep," pretend to fall asleep and have the children wake you up by shouting "WAKE UP!" It's a hit every time.

Song 6

Language Focus Other songs about: food

"Are you hungry?" "Yes, I am." "I'm full!" Foods (banana, watermelon, french fries, spaghetti, ice cream). Yes/No question intonation.

Are You Hungry? Lyrics and Actions

♫ Are you hungry?

Yes, I am.

Me, too.

Let's eat!

Are you hungry? (Are you hungry?) [Shrug your shoulders and then rub your tummy.]

Yes, I am. (Yes, I am.) [Thumbs up gesturing "yes" and/or nod your head "yes."]

Are you hungry? (Are you hungry?)

Yes, I am. (Yes, I am.)

Mmmmm, a banana! [Pretend to peel and eat a banana.]

Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum!





Mmmmm, watermelon! [Pretend you are holding a big slice of watermelon and then eat it.]






French fries! [Pretend to eat french fries one by one.]






Spaghetti! [Pretend to twirl spaghetti on a fork and eat it.]






Ice cream! [Pretend to lick an ice cream cone.]


I'm full! [Pat your tummy with both hands and puff out your cheeks.]

Preparation

In keeping with our philosophy of making the language in the songs learnable through gestures, the food we've chosen for this song are foods you can easily mime eating. You can quickly introduce the food items before singing by teaching the gestures and/or showing the flashcards of these foods. This song can be sung in a call and response format, meaning the children just listen and then repeat.

Classroom Benefits

This is a great song for teaching the phrases, "Are you hungry?" and "Yes, I am!" Also, the easy gestures make it useful even with very young learners. It's very satisfying to see pre-verbal youngsters, or children who are reluctant to speak, communicating their hunger using the gestures learned in this song.

Kids learn to express, "I'm hungry" by rubbing their tummies. Or they can reply to a caretakers question, "Are you hungry?" by giving a thumbs up or thumbs down.

Activity Ideas

This song is great for teaching a variety of foods. Don't just stick to the items in the song, think of other foods and come up with gestures for them. When you sing the song, the teacher can call out the different foods over the voice on the CD. You can work with your students to think of new gestures for different foods, or you can use sign language (American Sign Language or the sign language native to the country you live in). Look for sign language dictionaries online for ideas. 1

With three-year-olds and up, try playing food charades after this song. Pretend to eat some kind of food and have the children guess which food you are eating. Then have each of the children try. Show one of them a food picture, and have them mime eating that food. The other children try to guess what it is. 2

This is a good song to combine with "Hello!" from Super Simple Songs 2, which also discusses being hungry. 3

Song 7

Language Focus Other songs about: classroom management

"Clean up." "Put your things away." Children's objects (toys, books, shoes).

Clean Up! Lyrics and Actions

♫ Clean up, clean up.

Everybody, let's clean up.

Clean up, clean up.

Put your things away.

(Repeat 3x)

Clean up! Clean up! Clean up! Put your things away.

Pick up your toys.

Pick up your books.

Pick up your shoes.


Clean up, clean up.

Everybody, let's clean up.

Clean up, clean up.


(Repeat) ♫

Classroom Benefits

"Clean Up!" is the perfect simple song to signal clean up time at home or in the classroom. Use this song to transition easily from one activity to another by having kids help with putting things away.

Activity Ideas

The easiest way to introduce the song is simply to start playing it each time you clean up after an activity. Children will very quickly associate this song with clean up time. 1

When using the song for the first time, use a puppet to demonstrate cleaning up some blocks or other small items. 2

Challenge the children to have everything cleaned up and put away before the song is finished. It's incredible how quickly they start moving towards the end of the song. 3

At home, use "Clean Up!" to encourage children to pick up their things after they are finished playing. Or try singing it together (with or without the CD,) when doing chores together around the house. 4

Always remember that you shouldn't rush to clean up in class after finishing an activity. Clean up time is an activity itself, and it's a great opportunity to use language in a real, meaningful context.

Song 8

Language Focus Other songs about: emotions

Emotions (happy, angry, scared, sleepy). Actions (clap your hands, stomp your feet, say, "Oh no!" take a nap).

If You're Happy Lyrics and Actions

♫ If you're happy happy happy [Smile and put your index fingers on your cheeks.]

clap your hands. [Clap your hands.]

If you're happy happy happy

clap your hands.


clap your hands, clap your hands.


clap your hands.

If you're angry angry angry [Make an angry face and cross your arms over your chest.]

stomp your feet. [Stomp your feet.]

If you're angry angry angry

stomp your feet.


stomp your feet, stomp your feet.


stomp your feet.

If you're scared scared scared [Make a scared face and place your hands on your cheeks.]

say, "Oh no!" [Say, "Oh no!"]

If you're scared scared scared

say, "Oh no!"


say, "Oh no!" Say, "Oh no!"


say, "Oh no!"

If you're sleepy sleepy sleepy [Make a sleepy face.]

take a nap. [Rest your head on your hands and pretend to sleep.]

If you're sleepy sleepy sleepy

take a nap.


take a nap, take a nap.


take a nap.

If you're happy happy happy [Smile and put your index fingers on your cheeks.]

clap your hands. [Clap your hands.]


clap your hands.


clap your hands, clap your hands.


clap your hands. ♫

Classroom Benefits

"If You're Happy" is great for helping young learners express emotions. This version is another traditional kids song we have made SUPER simple. The traditional version of this song can be a little tough for younger learners. If you visit an EFL or ESL class, or even a class of younger native-speakers, you'll often hear the children singing something like:

If you're happy (mumble, mumble, mumble) clap your hands!


If you're happy (mumble, mumble, mumble),

(mumble, mumble, mumble)


The tempo is often too quick and phrases like "and you know it" and "then your face will surely show it" aren't easy for young children to sing or understand through gestures and expressions. Since we like to use this song to teach emotions, we've slowed it down a little and simplified the lyrics to just the emotions and the body language that express those emotions. This version allows even very young kids to sing all the lyrics and act them out with gestures.

Activity Ideas

Before or after this song, explore emotions by making faces in handheld mirrors. 1

Tell students to make a happy/angry/scared/sleepy/sad/etc. face and take their pictures with a camera phone or a digital camera and then show them their pictures. 2

Print out the pictures and make an emotions book or bulletin board. Write the emotion under each one. 3

If you work with autistic children, an emotions book is great for helping the children to recognize other people's feelings. You may not be able to have your students pose for the pictures, but you can make an emotions book with photos of other people or by cutting out pictures from magazines. 4

This is a great warm up song. The actions and gestures are so easy that new students are able to quickly follow along. After the song, ask the students their names and how they are doing. If they respond with "Imfinethankyouandyou?" ask instead if they are happy, angry, scared, sleepy, sad, hungry, etc. and gesture the word.

Song 8

Language Focus Other songs about: time/calendar

The days of the week!

Days Of The Week Lyrics and Actions

♫ Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

(Repeat) ♫

Classroom Benefits

This is a classic tune for learning the days of the week. It's very short and simple and great for playing in the background in the classroom, at home, or in the car so that kids can gradually pick up on the days of the week and their order.

Activity Ideas

Make up your own gestures for each day of the week. Start by talking with the children about some of their daily activities. Many of your students may have soccer practice, piano practice, English class, etc. throughout the week. Select one activity and associated gesture to go with each day. Then, do the gestures as you sing. 1

Have the students point to the days on the class calendar as you sing. Or, each class session, select a different student be the song leader and point to the days of the week on the calendar. 2

Stop the music during the song and see if the children can say the next day. Or tell the kids to do different actions when they hear different days. For example, stand up on "Tuesday" and sit down on "Friday." These activities help students internalize the order of the days of the week. 3

If you are using the song in class, assign each student a different day of the week and give them the flashcard for that day. As the song plays, each student must stand up and sing his/her day at the right time. After singing the song, mix the students up and then have them put themselves in the correct order, starting from Sunday. Mix them up again, have them trade flashcards, and then have them put themselves in the correct order again, this time starting from Monday. 4

This is one vocabulary topic that benefits from repetition, a song is a great way to reinforce this language. Be sure to play it often.

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