The Christmas season offers a wonderful opportunity to introduce young children to the joy of music through classic Christmas songs. These tunes not only spread festive cheer but also aid in developing language, rhythm, and coordination skills. Here are some delightful Christmas songs perfect for children aged 4 to 6:
Jingle Bells A timeless classic, ‘Jingle Bells’ is easy to learn and fun to sing. Its repetitive chorus and catchy melody make it ideal for young children.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer This song tells the charming story of Rudolph, teaching children about acceptance and uniqueness. The narrative style engages young listeners and encourages imaginative thinking.
Frosty the Snowman A delightful tale of a magical snowman, this song captivates children’s imaginations and introduces them to storytelling through music.
Santa Claus Is Coming to Town With its upbeat tempo, this song excites children about Santa’s arrival, reinforcing good behavior in a playful manner.
We Wish You a Merry Christmas A simple and cheerful song that spreads festive wishes, making it perfect for group singing and performances.
Tips for Teaching These Songs:
Use Visual Aids: Incorporate pictures or storybooks related to each song to enhance understanding and engagement.
Incorporate Actions: Add simple hand movements or dances to make singing more interactive and fun.
Repetition: Regularly repeat songs to help children memorize lyrics and melodies.
Encourage Participation: Create opportunities for children to sing solo lines or in small groups to build confidence.
Introducing these festive songs to young learners not only brings joy but also supports their musical and cognitive development during the holiday season.
When it comes to teaching kids, music is one of the most powerful tools in your toolkit. Kids love to sing along, and the rhythm and melody make learning stick. When it comes to numbers, there are plenty of songs that can help little ones grasp basic counting, addition, and number recognition in a fun and engaging way.
Here are 5 fantastic songs that will help teach kids about numbers while keeping them entertained!
1. “Five Little Ducks”
Key Concept: Counting down from 5 to 1
“Five Little Ducks” is a classic, and it’s perfect for teaching young children how to count backwards. The repetitive structure of the song, combined with its easy-to-follow lyrics, helps kids grasp the idea of counting down. As each verse progresses, one little duck “disappears,” making it a fun way to reinforce subtraction concepts without them even realizing they’re learning math!
Why It Works:
Fun melody
Builds subtraction skills
Encourages participation through actions (like pretending to “quack”)
2. “Ten in the Bed”
Key Concept: Counting down from 10 to 1
In “Ten in the Bed,” ten little children roll over and fall out one by one, teaching kids to count down in a playful way. This song is ideal for young learners who are just beginning to understand numbers and the concept of counting backwards. It’s catchy and repetitive, so even little ones will be able to sing along after just a few listens.
Why It Works:
Teaches counting backwards
Visualizes subtraction through actions (children falling out of bed)
Easy to sing along to
3. “One, Two, Buckle My Shoe”
Key Concept: Counting from 1 to 10
This timeless nursery rhyme is a great way for kids to practice counting from 1 to 10 while enjoying a fun, rhythmic song. The simple lyrics and catchy tune make it easy for children to memorize the numbers, and the actions (like buckling shoes and picking up sticks) provide a multi-sensory way to engage with numbers.
Why It Works:
Teaches sequential counting
Rhythmic repetition helps kids memorize
Fun, active actions to reinforce the learning process
4. “The Ants Go Marching”
Key Concept: Counting by 1s and 2s, Number patterns
“The Ants Go Marching” is a delightful song that offers both counting and pattern recognition. As the ants march along, each verse adds more ants and introduces new actions or numbers, making it a great song for kids to practice counting forwards while understanding the concept of “next,” “after,” or “one more.” The song can even be adapted to teach skip counting by twos or fives as children become more confident with numbers.
Why It Works:
Reinforces counting in a fun, visual way
Can be adapted for skip counting or even addition
Kids love the rhythmic, marching beat
5. “This Old Man”
Key Concept: Counting by 1s and 2s, Number patterns
“This Old Man” is another classic that introduces numbers while telling a charming little story. Each verse of the song adds a number and an action (“He played knick-knack paddy-whack, give the dog a bone”), making it not only a great song for learning numbers but also a fantastic tool for introducing rhyming, rhythm, and even motor skills as children act out the song.
Why It Works:
Teaches sequential counting
Easy for kids to follow with hand movements or clapping
Simple, fun, and interactive
Bonus Tip: Use Visual Aids to Reinforce Learning
While songs are an incredible tool for learning, you can further enhance your child’s number skills by pairing the songs with visual aids like number cards, counting blocks, or even interactive games. This multi-sensory approach helps reinforce the number concepts being taught.
Conclusion
Songs are a magical way to help kids learn essential skills, and numbers are no exception! Whether you’re teaching them how to count forwards, backwards, or recognize number patterns, these five songs will make learning about numbers fun and memorable. So, get ready to sing, dance, and count your way to success with these timeless tunes!
We all know how important it is to warm up before singing. But with a school choir, it can be hard to remember to fit in warm-up time! There’s so much to prepare for; concerts, competitions, graduations, communions and confirmations. Not to mention the short amount of time to rehearse at lunch time or after school. However, in all my years teaching young adult and primary school choirs, I have picked up a few fun and memorable choral warm-ups which will prepare kids for the singing you have to get done!
A few quick tips would be to keep it short, easy and fun! The crazier the better, actually. I find my boys choir love the funny and wacky ones. Here’s five epic kids choir warm ups to try at your next choir rehearsal!
Bob’s Got a Head Like a Ping-Pong Ball
This one is a favourite with children and adults alike. It’s to the tune of the William Tell Overture, which will be known to some choir members from movies and TV. I’ve heard this used in many choir rehearsals; some people like to use “Bob”, “Johnny”, “Paul” or even “Papa” as the above link does.
Why It Works: It gives singers a chance to warm up their diction, there are different pitches in it, and mostly – it’s a lot of FUN!
This is a little tune that is based on the Solfa scale from Doh. It helps kids to practice their Solfa hand signs, remember them a little easier, and also sing the major scale. Win-win!
It goes a little something like this:
Doh is like a rock, re is like a ramp, mi is like a table, fa thumbs down, sol is like a wall la is like a hook, ti one finger, do is like a rock.
Why it works: It’s easy to do, the actions keep the kids focused on the song, and it’s just a great way to tune their ear in to using Solfa.
3. I Sigh ToSing
This is a great warm up for all types of singers, as the video above demonstrates. I normally use it with the kids with the phrase “How Cool Am I?”, because they like taht better! The same goes for adult choirs when used!
Why it works: You’re covering all your bases here, with developing musicality, warming up the jaw, and moving from the chest voice to the head voice with ease.
4. Five Note Scale
Have fun with the 5 note scale! Ascending and Descending: I normally try and start with ascending. The above video is extremely handy to practice with, and covers both bases.
When I first started working with my boys choir, they were not at all used to ascending up scales. They weren’t experienced with the scale, and it did take them a lot of practice to get the idea of it. So here’s how I made it FUN!
I used funny rhymes and rhythms that helped them to enjoy learning! The best one which I picked up from another kids choir I was lucky enough to witness was “Mama made me mash my M&M’s”. To this day, the kids in my choir still love it and they have since become masters of the scale! We’re still working on descending though!
Why it works: It practices a key skill of scale work, develops their knowledge of the scales, and warms up the voice entirely!
5. Bella Mama
This is a lovely song that I only learned recently, but as soon as it was introduced to me at a choir workshop I started using it the very next day in school! The lyrics “bella mama” just conjure up a simple image of a mother, and everyone can relate to the theme of motherly love and appreciation! So this song can be used in a round in different ways, which is a key skills you will want your kids choir to work on.
Why it works: It transcends all language barriers, practices the notion of rounds, and helps to get the children ready for singing in alternate groups. Also it sounds pretty sweet when you hear this walking down the corridor!
To conclude this blog post, I hope you got some use out of these warm ups. I find even when I teach a warm up to my adult choir, I can never be sure if they are all enjoying it but I really know the importance of warming up before launching into a singing rehearsal. With the kids choir, I know they are enjoying it because it’s a bit of fun for them and they love the crazy melodies. Maybe I should try be a bit more crazy with the adults and get them out of their shell 🙂 These were picked up over a good few years of teaching choir and I’m still coming up with knew ones to use to this day! As you can see, I mostly pick up my ideas from other choirs I’ve been in or from other choir teachers. In another blog post I’ll share with you more exciting ways to start a kids choir practice. Until then, keep warming up!
Music Múinteoir 