"I Love Apples," "A Tisket A Tasket" or "I'm A Little Pumpkin" are all color songs kids love to sing. The kids can get up and move about to these songs or stay seated in their chairs to keep the energy level a bit lower. The color repetitive nature of the songs helps them learn; and flash cards, a storybook or cut-outs can be used with the song to reinforce the colors. Props the kids make, decorate or color all add to the song, such as a construction paper apple, pumpkin or basket made from craft materials. The idea is for the kids to hold up the items at the right time and match the color to the rhyme.
"Five Little Monkeys" and "Three Blind Mice" are energetic music games. The kids can dance and jump, pretend to be blind mice and bump into each other, and learn some number relations at the same time. Other games such as "Five Little Fishies" or "Five Little Ducks" are number and song games that can be used to learn finger counting. The children can create finger puppets for the characters and sing along, holding up the puppets on the fingers as they count up to five.
Every kid loves to sing the "Wheels on the Bus" and even parents know this familiar tune. Singing the rhymes while the kids act out each activity is a good way to reinforce relations to things. The motions of the wipers swishing or babies crying relate sounds to actions, and the entire song covers a range of things for the kids to play and learn. This is a good warm-up song or group playground song to bring the kids back into a group before going back inside to the classroom.
"Duck, Duck, Goose," "Musical Chairs," "London Bridge" or "Ring Around the Rosie" are classic games that involve movement and singing. The kids can have fun and let out some energy. Some of the songs have teaching lessons, while others are just to engage them in learning both rhyme and motions. These games promote social skills as all of them are interactive.