Articles about 'Songs by Theme'
October 22nd, 2012
"Ging Gang Goolie" was written by Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of the Boy Scouts, for the 1st World Scout Jamboree in 1920. Kids from 34 countries attended the event.
The song is gibberish on purpose so that kids all over the world who speak different languages can sing along and not feel like the song is...
October 11th, 2012
Hello!
Bread and Butter can be used as a Hello or Goodbye Song. You clap along as you chant.
You can find the lyrics below with 2 videos showing how to chant and clap to the song. In the first video it’s used as a Hello Song and in the second video it’s used as a...
August 9th, 2012
Sumer is icumen in is possibly the oldest canon in print (circa 1226 a.d.) It was written in Middle English. You can read the original here, followed by a translation into modern English and a lovely YouTube rendition by two girls.
Sumer is icumen in
Sumer is icumen in, Lhude sing cuccu! ...
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May 18th, 2012
Ooh La! Ooh La! is an animated video by the band They Might Be Giants. It’s about Double Dutch jump roping
Double Dutch jump roping is done with two long jump ropes turning inwards at the same time.
The phrase Double Dutch is old slang meaning “to talk nonsense”. It may be a coincidence, but the...
May 7th, 2012
The French Song, Alphabet des Scouts (Scouts Alphabet) is perfect to help you learn how to pronounce the names of the letters in French. You can hear it at the link above and read along with the French lyrics. There are also English and Spanish translations of the song.
Enjoy!
Mama Lisa
January 11th, 2012
I’m currently reading a series of books that takes place in Botswana called The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith.
When reading the first book, you quickly come upon the term "Mma" (pronounced "ma") used before a woman’s name and "Rra" (pronounced "ra" with a rolling "r") used before a man’s name. I...
December 10th, 2011
Nyango M. Nambangi sent us this Cameroonian song from her childhood in Africa. It’s a lovely song to sing with children and they can even dance while singing! Like many African songs, it’s a call and response song.
In the recording below, Nyango explains how to sing and dance to the song. Then she sings...
November 28th, 2011
Vivian wrote asking about the song "Moja Numba"….
Hello,
I have heard a song called Moja Numba, which I believe is Swahili. It was recorded by M’EarthTones. I contacted them, but even they weren’t able to tell me the origin. I’d like to know what the words are and what they mean.
Thank you for your help.
Vivian Caputo
If...
November 28th, 2011
Virginia emailed me looking for help with a song about a lonesome China boy or girl. She wrote….
I have been trying to find a song my Aunt used to sing called Lonesome China Girl…
Lonesome China boy on a street in old Shanghai
Feeling kinda blue, what were they to do , Oh Gee, Oh Me...
November 19th, 2011
Roger wrote asking for help. Here’s what he emailed us:
Dear Lisa,
I am trying to find information about a song which I believe to be Bulgarian.
I starts:
Todora todorke vecheya la lisi…
Obviously I’m not sure about spelling. Do you know it?
Thanks for any info,
Roger
If anyone can help with the original lyrics of this song and/or a translation,...
November 11th, 2011
Nancy Silverrod, a Librarian, wrote to me about a variation of the rhyme Miss Lucy Had a Baby called Miss Lulu. She was wondering if it has a connection to Susan B. Anthony and her alligator purse! Susan B Anthony was a leader in the women’s suffrage movement.
Here’s what Nancy wrote:
There are numerous variations...
November 3rd, 2011
A teacher in Spain has taken a well-known Spanish kids song called Saco una manita and turned it into a Hello Song. You can hear her version below. After the video you’ll find the Spanish lyrics with an English translation. Enjoy! –Mama Lisa
Saco una manita (Buenos días) (Spanish)
Saco...
October 17th, 2011
There’s a jump rope rhyme about Lincoln Beachey (1887 – 1915) one of the earliest aviators. He was the first to do many stunts while flying… until one fateful day in 1915 when his plane lost its wings while flying upside-down. He ended up landing in the San Francisco Bay and drowning.
Children soon started...
July 25th, 2011
Have you ever heard of Safety Songs? If you grew up in New York in the 1940’s, like our correspondent Richard Stark, I bet you have. In the New York City school system, teachers would teach them to kids. Richard remembers growing up singing them.
The Safety Songs that Richard grew up with were written by...
June 30th, 2011
Here’s a song about helping kids know what to do if they get lost. We believe it was popular in the 1940’s…
Remember Your Name and Address Remember your name and address And telephone number, too ...
January 23rd, 2011
Sheila wrote from North Carolina asking about a circle dance song:
I sang this in kindergarten 55 years ago. I don’t know the correct spelling of these words, but this is what the refrain sounded like…
Mumbo, hot-toe, mata relay, relay
Mumbo, hot-toe mata relay relay roan.
It was a circle dance with one child in the middle,...
October 18th, 2010
Here’s a song the kids sing on the bus to and from school… a true Bus Song!
And the lyrics are…
I know a song that gets on everybody’s nerves…
Repeat the line ad infinitum! (Or until you’re thrown off the bus!)
Enjoy (or not)!
Mama Lisa
July 1st, 2010
“Pizza Pizza Daddy-O” is a cool circle dance game. Below are the lyrics to one version… many exist and you can add your own lines.
The kids stand in a circle and one child goes in the middle. The child in the middle is the one whose name they say in the...
July 1st, 2010
Micki Friedmann Grant wrote:
Hey all – anyone know what this song is – I believe it’s a cumulative song, in German, and all I have is the nouns which accumulate! “schwarzer bar,” “blaues meer,” “bucherschrank,” “wasserfall,” “stolzer hahn,” “junger herr,” “eisenbahn,” “fledermaus,” “gummi ball.” I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to find this song again! Anybody...
April 26th, 2010
In Thread the Needle Games, the players stand in two rows across from each other. They hold hands in an arch with the person across from them. Players go under the arch and join the end of the line once they’re through the arch. Sometimes they’re played while singing a song. ...
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