Sing the song, keeping a steady beat with the actions:

Line 1 – tap knees to the beat, there are 8 beats in total. (x2)
Line 2 – Clap hands to the beat. 4 claps in an upward motion followed by 4 claps in a downward motion to reflect the rise and fall of the melody. (x2)

Teach as call and response and then sing the song through with the children using the actions to keep a steady beat. Explore singing this song at different speeds, gradually getting faster and faster!

Each action is performed twice (tap shoulders twice, then knees twice etc). However, line two is slightly different – raise each arm individually and then lower individually to cover the 4 beats for that line.

Keep the beat with actions

Sing/chant at a faster or slower tempo

Children: Yes I’ve got my… speaking/singing/thinking/loud/quiet/high/low whispering voice

This vocal warm-up should be delivered as call and response – children listen and then respond by copying the way the teacher has used their voice. Repeat for high voice, low voice, whispering voice and finish on with singing voice each time. Children can suggest other fun ways to use their voice e.g. a robot voice.

Differentiate between a speaking and singing voice

Experiment with the voice and create different sounds

Using the puppet, encourage each child to sing back to you ‘My name is…’ Sing along with children who are unsure or lacking confidence and celebrate each child to build confidence in singing alone. Singing doesn’t have to be particularly loud or clear at this stage and should be enjoyable. Begin by giving the children a choice of whether to sing or not. Encourage each child to sing to the puppet or toy.

Keep the beat with actions

Sing with some understanding of pitch (higher and lower)

Sing/chant individually and/or as part of a group

Bee puppet/ball/beanbag

Choose a leader to be the first bumblebee – the leader should move to a beat going around the room/circle. During the rests (silent beats) at the end of each short phrase, a child is tapped on the shoulder and joins the line of bees.

Choose some children to be trees and while the rhyme is repeated, the rest of the children can fly around the trees like bees.

Keep the beat with actions.

Sing/chant individually and/or as part of a group

Bee puppet

Sitting in a circle, an object is passed round in time with the beat. A child is chosen to be the caterpillar who crawls around in the circle until ‘Hide away in your cocoon’ when they curl up and hide their face. At the end of the rhyme, the caterpillar has to find the object. If they find it, they can be rewarded by being given an extra turn or they choose another caterpillar. If not, the person holding the object takes the turn.

Alternatively, all children do actions to each line while repeating it verbally. At the last line, when they are curled up, they wait for the teacher to say ‘butterflies’ at which point the children get up and fly round the room like butterflies.
When the children know the rhyme well, try changing the tempo and dynamics.

Keep the beat with actions

Sing/chant individually and/or as part of a group

Sing/chant with a louder or quieter voice

Sing/chant at a faster or slower tempo

Repeat with same actions used for ‘Hello Everyone’.