Verse: Rainbow

 The Rainbow
Red, and orange, and yellow, and green: 
The rainbow’s seven colours have a bright shiny sheen.
Light blue, indigo, and violet all told. 
At the end of the rainbow is a pot of gold.

Paul King

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Here we go, to and fro,
over the rainbow bridge we go.
Treading softly, treading slow,
over the rainbow bridge we go.
Gathering light from sun and star,
gathering light from heaven afar,
Down to earth all things to greet,
sharing the light with all we meet.
Here we go, to and fro,
over the rainbow bridge we go.
Treading softly, treading slow,
over the rainbow bridge we go.

This can me a bridge game, like londan brige, but they go over it...instead of being trapped by it.

Butterfly Game

Butterfly Game

Dancing among the flowers with dainty painted wings
Flits the golden butterfly, joy to my heart she brings
Stopping only for a rest to sip the morning dew
Then flits and flutters off again
Butterfly, I can't catch you!

(Children sit in a circle with hands held up and cupped on top of head acting as flowers. Butterfly dances inside the circle, flitting in and out of the space between seated children. Butterfly stops behind one child in circle for a rest, bends, and sips dew by tickling a flower in the child's palms. Flower child jumps up and chases butterfly back to his place, then becomes the next butterfly. Repeat game with new butterfly.)

Five Garden Snails

Five garden snails
Sleeping in the sun,
Along comes a _(choose a color)_ bird
And flies away with one.

[Repeat as a count down.]


Ideas
This is a good finger-play for both colors and counting.

If you play with children in a line you can call the color of the kids shirt to be the bird and have everyone else crouch in a curled snail position on the ground.

Monkey Swing Game

Little monkeys swing in a tree
All hold hands and swing with me.

Swing up high and swing down low,
Swing in the tree, now don’t let go.
Swing, swing, swing, like I do
Swing like monkeys in the zoo!


You can do this all in a circle. And you can practive high and low (or switch it and say fast or slow).
You can ask different ways to swing and different body parts to swing.

Leap Frog

Leap frog, leap frog,
Easy as can be,
I'll leap with you,
And you leap with me.

Leap frog, leap frog,
On your lily pad.
You can leap father,
And you're so glad.


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This is great for a leap frog game.

Shape Song Moving

to the tune: Twinkle Twinkle little star

Put your circle in the air,
Hold it high and keep it there.
Now put it behind your back,
Then in front upon your lap.
Put it down upon your toes
And now please hold it on your nose.

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This is great to use for any shape: circle, square, triangle, star, etc.

Pass, Pass, Pass Song

to the tune of "Row, row, row the boat"

Pass, pass, pass the _______________
Pass it round and round.
Pass, pass, pass the _______________
Now place it on the ground.


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This is a great on to use for any item for a circle or group song/game.
Valentines: pass the heart
Halloween, pass the pumpkin
Winter: snowflake
Christmas: gift
generic: pass the ball or bean bag, etc.

The Turkey Strut: Hokey Pokey

"Hokey Pokey" adapted for Thanksgiving...

• You put your right wing in...
• You put your left wing in...
• You put your drumstick in (leg)
• You put your stuffing in... (tummy)
• You put your wattle in (head)
• You put your tail feathers in (backside)
• You put your turkey body in (whole self)

For playing in a circle.

The Witch on Halloween

to the tune "Farmer in the Dell"

The witch o Halloween, the witch on Halloween (stands in center of the circle)
Heigh-ho, let's trick-or-treat, with the witch on Halloween.


The Witch chooses a Goblin, the witch chooses a Goblin... (the witch pulls a person inside the circle)
Heigh-ho, let's trick or treat, the witch chooses a Goblin

1. The Goblin chooses a Bat... (pull another person inside the circle)
2. The Bat chooses a Cat...
3. The Cat chooses an Owl...
4. The Owl chooses a spider...
5. The Spider chooses a pumpkin...
6. The pumpkin chooses a scarecrow...
7. The Scarecrow chooses a ghost...

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This is a group circle song/game for Halloween.

Elephant Went Out to Play

One elephant went out to play (act like an elephant)
Upon a bright and sunny day
He had such enormous fun...
He called another elephant to come. (join hands and keep building as you repeat the song)

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This is a great group song to get them joining together and following someone. You really could use this with any animal too. I changed the words because I didn't like the playing on a spider web part.

Butterfly Landed On You: fingerplay game

One little butterfly flew away

On a very bright, warm summer day.

It flew up in the sky so blue,

And when it landed, it landed on you!


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You can use this to pick someone to do something or in a circle like duck duck goose, etc.

Bluebird, Bluebird

Bluebird, bluebird, in and out my window.

Bluebird, bluebird, in and out my window.

Bluebird, bluebird, in and out my window.

Oh, Johnny I'm so tired.

Take a little girl and tap her on the shoulder

Take a little girl and tap her on the shoulder

Take a little girl and tap her on the shoulder

Oh, Johnny I'm so tired. 

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Blue bird blue bird is a circle game. The children stand in a circle holding hands high up in arches (to form the "windows" in the song). One kid is the "Blue Bird" who flies in and out of the arches or "windows". During the second verse, the "bird" chooses a partner by patting him/her on the shoulder. The second child then follows holding the 1st child's shoulders while they pass through the "windows". Then game continues on until all the children make a chain and there are only 2 children left forming an arch (or "window"). They then become the first two bluebirds in the next round.

This song was originally posted at:

http://bussongs.com/songs/blue-bird-blue-bird.php

Reindeer Pokey

You put your antlers in. You put your antlers out.
You put you antlers in and you shake them all about.
You do the Reindeer Pokey and you turn yourself around.
That's what it's all about!
You put your hooves in....
You put your red nose in....
You put your fluffy tail in...
You put your reindeer body in...