La La La... Sing to Your Baby!

Music, rhythm, and rhyme are important building blocks to literacy, so it’s time to crank up the music and get singing! Don’t be shy! Your little one loves your voice and thinks you are better than Beyonce, so have fun, move your body and belt it out like a rock star!

You can sing anything from popular music (maybe skip the rap with cuss words :), show tunes (if that’s your thing), songs you remember from childhood (Nostalgia at it’s best) or make up your own songs to narrarate your day! No matter how silly, you can rest assured you are helping your baby connect letters and sounds, which is an important first lesson for your little learning sponge.

Here are some of our favorite go to songs that you may have heard in story time or baby play time, so you can sing them at home!

OPEN AND SHUT THEM:

Open and Shut them. Open and shut them. (Open and close hands in front of you)

Give a little clap (clap clap)

Open and Shut them. Open and shut them.

Fold them in your lap (lap, lap)

Creep them crawl them. Creep them crawl them. (Crawl fingers on tummy up to chin)

Right up to your chin (chin chin)

Open up your little mouth, but…

Do not let them in (hide them be behind your back).

TICK TOCK:

Tick Tock. Tick Tock. I’m a little Coo Coo Clock (Rock your body)

Tick Tock. Tick Tock. Now, I’m striking one o’clock!

COO COO (Put your arms up or bounce baby in the air)

Tick Tock. Tick Tock. I’m a little Coo Coo Clock (Rock your body)

Tick Tock. Tick Tock. Now, I’m striking Two o’clock! COO COO. COO COO.

…Three o’clock COO COO. COO COO. COO COO.

ROW, ROW, ROW YOUR BOAT:

Row, Row, Row Your Boat gently down the STREAM (Act out rowing a boat)

Merrily Merrily Merrily Merrily Life is but a dream.

Row, Row, Row Your Boat gently down the RIVER

If you see a polor bear, don’t forget to SHIVER (shake your body)

Row, Row, Row Your Boat gently down the CREEK

If you see a crocodile, don’t forget to SHREEK! (AHH)

Row, Row, Row Your Boat gently down the STREAM

If you see a dinosaur don’t forget to SCREAM (AHH)

THE WHEELS ON THE BUS: The wheels on the bus go round & round (roll hands) Round and round. Round and round The wheels on the bus go round and round… All through the town!

The doors on the bus go open and shut (clap hands) Open and shut. Open and shut.

The doors on the bus go open and shut… All through the town!

The wipers on the bus go swish, swish, swish (sway hands)

Swish, swish, swish. Swish, swish, swish. The wipers on the bus go swish, swish, swish… All through the town!

The babies on the bus go up & down (bump babies up/down) Up and down. Up and down. The babies on the bus go up and down All through the town!

The mommies/daddies, say I love you I love you I love you The mommies/daddies, say I love you… All through the town!

HEAD, SHOULDERS, KNEES, & TOES: Head, shoulders, knees & toes… knees & toes

Head, shoulders, knees & toes… knees & toes Eyes and Ears and Mouth and Nose

Head, shoulders, knees & toes… knees & toes

GRAND OLD DUKE:

(Place baby on your knees facing you) The grand old duke of York, he had ten thousand men, he marched them up to the top of the hill (ride baby up on your knees) and marched them down again (ride baby down on your knees) And, when they were up, they were up (up again) And, when they were down, they were down (down again) And, when they were only half way up, they were neither up nor down. (go up and down at a fast pace)