Follow, Follow Me
Simon's mom broke out "Eensy-Weensy Spider"* on Skype last week, and now we have this (after Wombat sees a spider in his "Little Critter" collection):
I have quite the catalog of children's songs in my head, but I can't for the life of me think of any others with actions simple enough for a toddler besides "Do As I'm Doing" (a relic from my stint in the Mormon church, where everything has a subtext) and "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" (which we're just one set of ball-and-socket joints away from mastering.)
Can you help? What other action songs do you know? I think it's still too early for the hand jive, baby.
*Bonus poll: Do you say "Eensy-Weensy Spider" or "Itsy-Bitsy Spider"? I suspect this might be one of those regional things, like "pop" and "soda" or "couch" and "sofa." (But everyone calls them the "Chili Peppers" for short, yes? Not the "Red Hots?") If you you're drawing a blank on kids' songs, could you at least tell me which spider you grew up with and where you grew up?
Itsy-Bitsy, all the way. I grew up on the Central Coast of California.
I've just started doing Patty Cake with Rowan, with really exaggerated hand movements, and I pat him all over during the "pat it" part and poke him in the belly during the "mark it with a B" part, and he just eats it up. We also do "Where is Thumbkin," which is so very basic, but he likes that one, too. Most of the time, though, I just sing the ABCs to him. I know, real original, huh?
I know a LOT of hand gesture songs for littles. I can teach you some on Saturday if you like. :)
Where I grew up, it was "Itsy bitsy spider."
Eensy-weensy, for sure. Actually, more like incy-wincy. I'm totally prepared to admit that this might be a British thing.
As far as action songs go, what about that one that goes "Skinna-marink-a-dink-a-dink, skinna-marink-a-doo, I love you! I love you in the morning, and in the afternoon, I love you in the evening, and underneath the moooooooooooooooooooon. Oh! Skinna-marink-a-dink-a-dink...." etc etc etc.
(Uh, other people know that one, right? I'm happy to come over and hold a Skinna-marink-a-dink-a-dink seminar for Wombat.)
Definitely Itsy-Bitsy for me. We also do hand motions for Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, Little Bunny Foo-Foo (which, now that I'm an adult, seems a little...violent for a kids' song), If You're Happy and You Know It Clap Your Hands, Hokey Pokey...and I'm sure others I'm not thinking of right now.
(Totally have Where is Thumbkin stuck in my head now)
Yay! I knew you guys would help. All those songs are coming out of hiding now. "Patty Cake" and "Little Bunny Foo-Foo" are officially on the agenda.
Holly--I know "Skinna-marink," but we never did any actions with it, and now I'm totally curious.
Oh! I just remembered the one that's been on the tip of my tongue all morning: "Waddly-atcha, waddly-atcha, doodley doo..." Anyone? (My dad is fond of doing this one with the cats.)
Look up Hugh Hanley and then order his book/cd sets. Three books/cds worth of aweseome kid music, with pictures to illustrate the actions. I'm a youth services librarian, and I use them all the time.
And does your local library have a toddler storytime? That would be a perfect place to go to learn more songs and meet other kids!
Itsy-Bitsy - Vancouver, Canada
For kids' songs with gestures, what about I'm a Little Teapot?
It was always "Itsy-Bitsy Spider" for me, and I grew up in West Virginia.
"Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" is definitely one, usually easy to master since it's the same rhythm as the ABC song (or vice versa?).
What about "Ring Around the Rosy"? "I'm a little Teapot"? The ever popular "Wheels on the Bus"? "Old MacDonald Had a Farm"?
Eesh, now I'm going to have these all stuck in my head...
Itsy Bitsy. I grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, PA.
"Itsy Bitsy" for me. I grew up in Texas and South Georgia.
Definitely agreeing with Wheels on the Bus and I'm a Little Teapot. Those were two of my nephew's favorites when he was younger.
Oh, and another one from Primary... Popcorn Popping. That one has hand motions, right? I was too old for Primary by the time we started going to church.
I loooved "Popcorn Popping." My grandpa had an apricot tree in his yard, and I always thought the song was written about that specific tree.
"Once There Was a Snowman" is another good Primary song, although kind of irrelevant in the Bay Area...
I grew up in Kentucky and I say the Itsy Bitsy spider.
But...funnily enough, my husband (who grew up in the same town as me and whose mom was my preschool teacher) and I sing "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" differently. Instead of "Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes," he sings "Head, shoulders, knees and toes and toes." For what it's worth, his mom sings it my way.
The Skinnamarink song was the closing theme of a show I watched as a kid called The Elephant Show...I had completely forgotten about it! I found a video of it with the motions though: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qUAsuRLXig&feature=related
More awesome songs here: http://ask.metafilter.com/76685/Patacake-The-Itsy-Bitsy-Spider-and
Also, it seems that most of us (myself included) grew up with "Itsy-Bitsy," so now I'm wondering if it's a generational difference rather than a regional one. (Although I guess it would be weird if our parents had learned it one way and then taught it to us another...)
Hooray! Late to the party, but...
I grew up with Itsy-Bitsy as well. I'll second Lil' Bunny Foo Foo (LOVE that song!) even with all the violence and that just reminds me of the Baby Bumblebee song--you know--the one that starts with "I caught a little baby bumblebee! Won't my mommy be so proud of me" etc, etc. I seem to remember hand motions: catching the bee, peering at it, um, smashing it...er...then licking it off your hands...anyone get the feeling that my parents were completely messing with me as a child??
Right. Sorry. I'll just be over here in the corner.
(I'm smashing up my baby bumblebee...)
Ellbee, I'm totally joining you in the corner- I remember smashing (and licking!) my baby bumblebee also, complete with hand motions! Funny how it never seemed odd to me until just now...
Oh, Itsy-Bitsy all the way in Santa Cruz. I definitely smashed and licked some baby bumblebee. Who thinks up these songs?
growing up in canada, i was taught itsy bitsy spider. i know the gestures to skinna-marink too! can't get it out of my head now. look up raffi on youtube (baby beluga, brush your teeth, apples and bananas..) kids LOVE him, wombat will too.
Itsy-Bitsy for sure (Mammoth, CA)!
Elbee and Kate, I remember licking the bumble bee too, but I was taught that version by a naughty friend. My mom sings it "I'm wiping up my baby bumble bee" and wiping her hand on her pants.
Oh my god - who is calling them the "Red Hots"?! Hope he/she doesn't mind me thinking that he/she is a very hilarious person. Hahahaha!
Itsy Bitsy, grew up in LA. It is looking as though you're right about the regional thing!
I grew up with "Lille Peter Edderkop" in Denmark (where Peter is the only spider around). As for other hand songs I am thinking "Macarena". Never too early to get started with that one.
Itsy-bitsy for me. Jersey (but not the Shore) reprezent!
And, uh, I know a lot of gesture-y songs but they're in Arabic. Sorry.
Itsy-Bitsy-Chicago 'burbs with parents from Maine.
My little one has always loved watching me sign along with the alphabet (although I'm totally faking it on X-I can't remember that one). But that's not really one that he can easily master/follow along with.
Speaking of regional differences-on Patty Cake, I say "Pat it, roll it, mark it with a B, put it in the oven for baby and mommy." But his sitter sings it "Roll it, pat it, pop it in a pan." Anyone else ever heard the pop it in a pan version?
Eensy-weensy/incy-wincy spider as Holly said, for me too. But then I'm British too, so perhaps it's a whole continent thing?
Other favourites from when I was a teaching assistant are: Heads, shoulders, knees and toes
Patta-cake
2 little dicky-birds (Peter and Paul)
Row, row, row your boat,
I'm a little teapot (again maybe very British!)
Wheels on the bus
London bridge is faling down
If you're happy and you know it (clap your hands)
and everyone's favourite, The Hokey Cokey!
Itsy-Bitsy for me. I grew up in Vermont.
Patty Cake is a great one!
Sorry, London Bridge is *falling* down, not faling. That would just be weird!
Insy winsy in Ireland. I never heard Itsy Bitsy till I came to the US, so I think it's a UK/US difference.
There's also The Wheels on the Bus, if nobody's mentioned that yet, and of course Ring a Ring a Rosie (or Ring Around the Rosie for you people). We say "A-tishoo a-tishoo" where you say "Ashes, ashes". Another nice one for tiny kids (at least, mine likes it) goes like this, to the tune of Frere Jacques: "Walking walking / walking walking / hop hop hop / hop hop hop / running running running / running running running / now we stop / now we stop." Actions self-explanitory, I hope.
Itsy Bitsy, yo.
Do you know "Round and round the garden"?
Hold his hand, palm up and draw a circle with your hand while saying, "Round and round the garden, goes the teddy bear".
Then, "One step, two step" as you walk your finger up his arm, and then,
"Tickle you under there!"
It's a hit with our kids. :)
A vote for Incy-Wincy (Eensy-weensy?) from me too ... but again it's probably the UK/Australian influence.
The bumblebee song was great ... totally encouraged creativity!
Everything else I can think of has been covered here ...
I grew up in southern Indiana, and it's Itsy Bitsy here, but I've heard Eensy Weensy as well.
Well, now I am wracking my brain to figure out if we sang itsy-bitsy or eensy-weensy. I think it was itsy-bitsy when we lived in the Chicago suburbs but then eensy-weensy down in Georgia? But I just don't know. I've definitely heard it both ways.
The only songs with actions I can think of are from my Girl Scout days. There was one involving a canoeing motion that had a refrain of "dola, dola, dola." Anyone? And then there was "Barges", which always made me very sad on the last night of camp (dork!).
My nephew and I love singing 'wind the bobbin up' over skype. So cute when he points.
Oh and I'm an "Insey Wincy" and from UK but then I'm very late on this and you've figured it out already!
One more vote for Itsy bitsy over here in central NJ.
Itsy Bitsy, even though my mom (mum) is British. Also, I distinctly remember growing up with Baa Baa Black Sheep. And now that I have a newborn I realize I need to relearn the words to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and all the rest. I could look them up, but I'm too lazy so usually end up singing "the itsy bitsy spider went up the water spout..." and then humming the rest. Or, I make up my own: "Go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep, Drew, right now. Mommy's tired, oh so tired..." sung to the tune of any nursery rhyme!
Itsy Bitsy from this Maryland Girl.
I didn't read everyone else's comments, but if no one else mentioned, have you heard of "Where is thumbkin"? It's kind of cheesy, but we are talking kids here, so it's all good. I googled it not all that long ago, so I know it can be found with hand instructions and all. My mom used to do it with me when I was a kid and I loved it.
We do "I'm bringing home a baby bumblebee" all the time - it's usually the only song I can think of when immediate entertainment is needed! But just now I thought of the Hokey Pokey!
How about "A B C D Goldfish?" I know there are hand motions to that one although I can only remember the motions to the last line.
Oh, and sweet baby ellbee, your father and I have never ever even heard of the Baby Bumblebee Song, let alone attempted to teach it to you. We had other ways to mess with you when you were a child and frankly see no reason to stop now. You're so hosed. Come to think of it, we did wonder what you were doing in the corner of your room giggling gleefully and smashing an unseen creature.
Eensy Weensy/Incy Wincy in London, England. When I moved here at age six it was of of the many things that sent my school mates into gales of laughter.
And how about Open Shut Them for a great little hand motion song?
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