A new hello song!
Yes, after roughly 10 years of doing the same hello song, I decided to throw caution to the window and try a new hello song.
It was a hit.
As is often the way, I took an existing song and simplified it a bit. The original hello song is, of course, from Christine at the Maribyrnong Library in Australia. I tweaked the lyrics slightly to come up with this:
Hello, Hello! / Can you clap your hands? / Hello, Hello! / Can you clap your hands? Can you reach up high? Can you reach down low? Can you clap your hands, and say hello?
Then we stomped our feet and waved our hands and it was a grand old time!
Remember – you are the boss of your storytime. You can change and adapt any songs or rhymes to make them more accessible or appropriate for your voice, your style, your space, your group size, the age of your kiddos, and any other factors. What works in one setting might not work in another, so don’t be afraid to make your storytime your own!
Here’s what else we did today:
Hello Song: Hello, Hello!
Wake Up Song: When Cows Get Up in the Morning
Book One: Old MacDonald Had a Truck
Hand Songs / Rhymes: Rolly Polly / I’ll Take You Driving in My Car (one of my kiddos had a brand new race car toy, so we sang about going for a drive in a race car)
Book Two: The Bus Stop
Movement Songs: Zoom Zoom Zoom / The Elevator Song
Cool-Down Song: Old MacDonald Had a Farm (to put away all the animal puppets)
Goodbye Song: Goodbye, Goodbye! (to the tune of Hello, Hello)