Singing

games Singing Games and Rhymes

for Middle Years (Age 7 – 11)
“Our children consider themselves too old to play as soon as they leave the kindergarten. We should not
leave it at that. Let us encourage even the older ones: they should not be ashamed of enjoying it. The
longer the childhood, the more harmonious and joyful the adult’s life will be”
Zoltán Kodály

Zulu welcome song

Sing the melody with the actions on every even bar as follows:
1st beat: Tap right knee/tap left knee
2nd beat: Click fingers in right hands/click fingers in left hand
3rd beat: Clap own hands
4th beat: Clap hands with a partner (an imaginary partner whilst learning the game)

Clapping game without guided formation:

In the odd bars take four steps looking out for a partner and in the even bars perform the body percussion pattern
shown above clapping hands with partner on the fourth beat.

If it is obvious that someone doesn’t have a partner, make a three, or even a four, but try to include everyone.

Everyone holds hands and one child, the

train driver, is in the centre. She can go in
and out only when the arches are up.
Everyone sings the song and lifts the
arches at “climbing up the mountain” and
down again at “going down again”. The
train driver should be in and out of the
arches but out by the end to tap someoen on the shoulder – the chosen child becomes the new driver and the first
child a carriage. This continutes until the train is so long that someone doesn’t’ get out of the circle.

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 Everyone stands in a circle and
turns to face a partner:
How d’you do = Shake right hands
with partner / How are you = shake
left hands
I am fine and dandy = do a full turn
with partner
Move along sing a song = walk past
partner waving goodbye to first
partner and hello to new partner
Fine as = tap knees twice / cotton =
clap hands / candy = tap hands
with partner twice.

One child in centre of a circle

bounces the ball to a steady beat
during line one.

During lines two and three Child in
centre passes to someone in the
circle who passes it back to the
centre – it is then passed to another
in the circle – they change places
(1/2/3 change places). Repeat for
4/5/6 and 7/8/9 – on the number 10 the ball is passed to a child in the circle who becomes the new leader in the
centre.

The children sit in a circle. Every

child should place his right hand
on top of the person on his right’s
left hand. One child has a ball in
his right hand. It is passed round
the circle clockwise, each person in
turn placing it into the right hand
of the person on his left on each
beat of the song. The right hand
moves and the left hand is static.
When the song is known well, no
one is allowed to catch
the ball on the word “OUT”
If a child can see that the ball will
be passed to him on OUT he
should pull his hand away. If any
child takes his hand away at the
wrong time, he is also out. Anyone
who is out sits in the middle of the circle until someone else makes a mistake. Then he is free to play again.

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 Played in pairs:
Double = tap right shoulder
then left shoulder
This = tap partner’s hands
That = tap own knees.

Play in canon in group of

four. Two facing each other
start and then the other two facing each other come in after two beats. For more advanced work have groups of six.

Make a frozen statue which

changes shape only in the
rests – when the song is well
known move to the ball
game.

Keep a beat internally and pass a ball on the rests

Stand in a small circle – one child has a ball. The ball is passed to another child during the rests in the song.

Children stand in a rows, one in front of

the other – holding hands e.g.
____________________
____________________
____________________
____________________
____________________

On every rest the children turn 90

degrees right and hold hands with the
line running the other way.

A flea goes in the grid and Jenny has to try to catch him. Both have to be careful not to be caught
by the ever changing grid.

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 Hand clapping game in pairs

One person, A, is the beat keeper and throughout the whole game maintains a steady beat by holding hands
vertically right above left with a big gap in the middle and bringing right hand down to tap left hand on the beat.
The other person, B, follows the actions as shown above:
The three stave lines represent the position of the clapping for person B.
The top line – clap above the hands of person A
The middle line = clap in between the hands of person A
The bottom line = clap below the hands of person A

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Line one: B claps below and above the hands of person A to a steady beat throughout.

Line two: B claps below, between, below to the rhythm shown above

Line three: With right hand B taps own left hand and then circles right hand between A’s hands before
tapping own hand again. This is performed to the rhythm shown above.

Line four: B claps below, between and above as shown above. The words are vocalised accordingly i.e. low,
middle and high

Circle game with everyone numbered

1/2/1/2/ etc around the circle.
Everyone has a stick in their right
hand.
The stick is passed on the beat and
then changed from right to left hand
on the next beat.
On the word SUGAR the rhythm is
tapped with partner (1’s turn right and
2’s turn left)

Dance of the hours - Ponchielli

Everyone stands in a circle and has a pair of chopsticks. The children should be numbered 1 2 1 2 etc all the way
around a circle. Everyone has a stick in each hand. Then perform the following pattern A
On beats 2 and 3: Tap left stick with stick in right hand and then the stick in left hand of partner on the right (repeat
six times
Tap knee with sticks/click sticks together - Repeat three times then tap once more.
On repeat of pattern A – tap
2nd section; Melody one 4 beats: One’s step in front of the two’s to move on one place right
Melody two 4 beats; two’s step in front of one’s to move on one place left
Look at each other - then pick up the rhythm titi ta – titi – ta etc
Repeat A but with the rhythm ti ti ta (Own stick twice then right or left)

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 Games for older students:
“We don’t stop playing because we grow old;
we grow old because we stop playing:
George Bernard Shaw

Clapping game with a partner

Odd bars: (performed to
crotchet beat)clap right hand
together with partner: Clap
own hands together : Clap left
hands together with partner:
Clap own hands together.
Even bars: (Performed as
quavers): Clap own hands, tap
right shoulder, tap left
shoulder, clap own hands, tap
right shoulder, tap left
shoulder, tap right knee, tap
left knee

Perform in groups of four A

C D
B

A and B start and C and D enter after four beats.

Stand in groups of four.

Each person should
perform the actions in the
following way – it would
be an idea to practice in
pairs – each pair facing
should try the game
whilst the other pair
simply hold hands up in front of them.

Tap right shoulder, left shoulder, right knee, left knee (te te te te)
Clap own hands, clap hands of person on left, clap own hands, clap hands with partner facing, clap own hands, clap
hands of person on right. Keep this pattern throughout the song.
Try in canon with one pair across the other pair. Sing the song in canon after two bars.

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 Stick passing: Everyone has two
sticks. The sticks are passed in the
following manner: (to quaver/1/8th
notes)
Tap sticks on floor/click sticks
together twice
Pass right stick in front of person on
right and left stick in front of person
on left
Pick up sticks then click twice
So the grouping of quavers/1/8th notes will be 123, 12, 123

The stick game can be prepared by the following clapping patterns Tap knees, clap twice, click fingers right
then left , tap knees and clap twice.

Change the clapping pattern and have one group perform 3 2 3 , another group performs 2 3 3 and the third
group perform 2 3 3

Everyone sings the song but where a

word ends clap hands. Repeat but at
the end of a two syllable word tap
knees and a one syllable word a clap
as before.

Now everyone should sing only one

syllable – but add a tap/click as
before.

Try as a pair taking turns to sing one syllable each adding the click or clap as before.

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