2.15.2011

Old MacDonald Had a Farm

I shared this activity with some friends and they seemed to like it so I'm posting it here. I'm going to definitely get back to posting these now that I have learned about YouTube. :-)

In case you don't know the song here is a video that is very good. It has it's own visuals. Notice how he is using the same voice for the words of the song and the animal noises?



The activities: all appropriate for ages 2-7, but in increasing difficulty

1. Sing the song with the video. This would be the most basic activity.

2. Sing the song without the video, but have the grownup make up the animals used in the song.

3. Sing the song together, but prompt the child to make up their own animals. If they want to sing Piggies every single time (like my daughter did for 3 months) then you are going to just have to sing Piggies 3,000 times. Keep taking turns for the grownups to choose other animals. Then one day, your little one will make up a new animal! It will be very exciting, but instead of stopping and having a parade, just keep singing. I also accept non-animal answers, especially from 2 and 3 year olds. The other day in the car my daughter saw snow on the farm, and clouds on the farm, and trees on the farm. Not sure what sound something makes? Just make something up. Your little one won't know the difference!

4. Have the child find pictures to cut out of animals, or draw animals, or color animals from a coloring book. Use those for your own visual aides when singing the song. An older child could pre-plan the sequence used for the song.


Here are 4 different ways to have fun with this very classic song. I hope this gets you singing!

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