Well, it’s been quite a while since my last pram jam post – things have been a little wild! And speaking of things that can be a little wild, I’m going to draw the longest of bows to link that word to today’s theme:
Animals.
People generally like animals (you know, lovely people like you and me) but children are absolutely amazed and fascinated by them – if sometimes just a little scared too! And when they come across one they’ve never seen before they have a million questions just bursting to get out! Or, if they are the age of our pram jam audience, maybe just a pointing finger and one gurgled question: “what dat?!”
To answer this question and maybe a few more, our animal board books are a great place to start. There are so many options, too: there are A to Z books; counting books; lift-the-flap and touch-and-feel books. Plus all the books that make use of our love of animals to explain other things, like: feelings, behaviour (good and bad); getting to sleep: even eating your vegies! Here are some selections:
For animal rhymes it’s hard to go past the classic “Old MacDonald” – make sure you make all the right noises as you sing along.
OLD MACDONALD HAD A FARM
Old MacDonald had a farm E-I-E-I-O
And on his farm he had a cow E-I-E-I-O
With a “moo, moo” here And a “moo, moo” there
Here a “moo”, there a “moo” Everywhere a “moo, moo”
Old MacDonald had a farm E-I-E-I-O
a chicken – “cluck, cluck”; a sheep – “baa, baa”; a dog – “woof, woof”; a horse – “neigh, neigh”; a pig – “oink, oink”
This next rhyme is one I like to do at our pram jam sessions at Success each week and it can get very tricky – sometimes even we amazing adults can’t get it right! In the chorus of the rhyme we spell out the letters of the dog’s name, “B-I-N-G-O” and each time we repeat it we replace a letter with a “clap!”
B – I – N – G – O !
There was a farmer who had a dog,
And Bingo was his name-o.
B-I-N-G-O B-I-N-G-O B-I-N-G-O
And Bingo was his name-o.
There was a farmer who had a dog,
And Bingo was his name-o.
(clap)-I-N-G-O, (clap)-I-N-G-O, (clap)-I-N-G-O
And Bingo was his name-o.
(clap)-(clap)-N-G-O
(clap)-(clap)-(clap)-G-O
(clap)-(clap)-(clap)-(clap)-O
(clap)-(clap)-(clap)-(clap)-(clap)
Tip – you don’t have to add the claps in order, after a few goes add them randomly; it increases the complexity and is a great learning challenge.
If you have a favourite animal book or rhyme, please share it with us. Until next time …
