Spider Songs for Preschool Music & Active Movement
Last week our preschool music class theme was Spiders. It's one of my favorite October themes every year! Our music class combines songs and movement to teach basic music concepts like pitch and listening skills while letting our preschoolers sing, run, and play!
We also have toddlers or older kids join us too...just adapt the activities for your group's abilities!
I'm sharing my lesson plans here in case anyone else wants some ideas for Music Time!
Themes we've already done for our music class are Moon & Space, Dinosaurs, Ocean, and Leaves!
This lesson is already tested--we had a great time! This is a 40-minute class, and includes transition and movement time. :)
Theme: Spiders
Gathering Activity: Play with musical instrument toys.
Hello Song: Hello Song:
Hello *kid's name*
Hello *kid's name*
Hello *kid's name*
We're glad you're here today!
to the tune of "Goodnight, Ladies."
Hello *kid's name*
Hello *kid's name*
Hello *kid's name*
We're glad you're here today!
to the tune of "Goodnight, Ladies."
Warm-up Song: When I Sing La, La, La by Janeen Brady with sock puppets. Check out my Moon & Space Music Time post for more background on this song! We like to open our mouths really big like the puppet when we sing, lift the puppets high for high notes, and lower the puppets low near the floor for low notes.
Action Song: There's a Spider on the Floor by The Kiboomers. Before we sang we talked about where we find spiders and what locations we like to see them in. Then we made wiggly spiders with our fingers, and let them crawl around to all the places and body parts mentioned in the song.
Instrument: Rhythm Sticks. We sang "I Wish I Were An Eensy Weensy Spider" to the tune of "If You're Happy and You Know It" using the rhythm sticks for the claps. Afterward, we always "play" our rhythm sticks however we want to--it's adorable to see the different ways the kids play their sticks!
Instrument: Shaker Eggs: I'm not sure why, but we always do a shaker egg song after a rhythm stick song! Of course, we talked about how spiders lay eggs, and how sometimes those eggs are even laid in the fall and wait until spring to hatch! This week we used "Shake! (Your Shaker Egg)" by We Kids Rock.
Instrument: Bells: I absolutely love the Preschool Prodigies music curriculum, and pull their bells out whenever I can! This time I wanted to try letting the kids play a song they knew! So first we sang Incy Wincy Spider with Maple Leaf Learning to review the words. Then we pulled out the C, D, and E bells--we had the C's play whenever we sang "eency," the D's play whenever we sang "up," and the E's play whenever we sang "climbed" and "down." There are other notes we could have them play, but this was perfect for our first bell playing project!
Parachute Fun: We absolutely adore parachute games and songs! I already wrote up our spider-themed, rhyming, singing parachute song and game in lots of detail HERE!
The Spider Game: We play some version of this every week--the kids LOVE it! Start out by choosing one or two "spiders." Everyone else will sit with the parachute on their laps and their feet under the parachute. The spiders crawl around under the parachute "catching" kids by touching their feet. Once they're "caught" the kids become a spider too! We played this about five times in a row--it works out because each time only takes about 30 seconds and everyone wants a turn to be the first "spider!"
Finally, we practiced lifting the parachute high above our heads, pulling it down to our ankles, lifting it high again, and then sliding our bodies inside it while sitting on the parachute. The parachute mushrooms over our heads and forms a cool "trap" -- just like a trap-door spider!
Parachute Fun: We absolutely adore parachute games and songs! I already wrote up our spider-themed, rhyming, singing parachute song and game in lots of detail HERE!
The Spider Game: We play some version of this every week--the kids LOVE it! Start out by choosing one or two "spiders." Everyone else will sit with the parachute on their laps and their feet under the parachute. The spiders crawl around under the parachute "catching" kids by touching their feet. Once they're "caught" the kids become a spider too! We played this about five times in a row--it works out because each time only takes about 30 seconds and everyone wants a turn to be the first "spider!"
Finally, we practiced lifting the parachute high above our heads, pulling it down to our ankles, lifting it high again, and then sliding our bodies inside it while sitting on the parachute. The parachute mushrooms over our heads and forms a cool "trap" -- just like a trap-door spider!
Walk Around (the Moon) by Music With Nancy: I love ending our parachute time with this! We sadly did not have time for it this week... and it is the first time in over a month that we haven't been able to do it! I am adamant about ending on time!
Goodbye Song: I'm doing the same tune for this as the Hello Song, just singing "Goodbye *name*."
I know I've mentioned this before, but it's related so I'll tell you again! If you're looking for a music curriculum that teaches all the music basics like pitch, rhythm, and even reading notes I have a program that I 100% recommend! Here's my affiliate link: Preschool Prodigies is absolutely "open and go!" AND your kids learn a musical instrument (bells) through the program! We are actually using this as well, and ALL my kids LOVE it (this includes my preschoolers, elementary kiddos, and my middleschooler)!! In addition to the bells curriculum for preschoolers, they have lessons for recorder, ukulele, and more! I am super excited about this program and am sharing it with everyone I know! I simply have not seen any other system as fun and effective for teaching music.
I hope all of this is helpful for you! Let me know if you use any of it in your Music Time!!
Happy Educating,
Carla
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