Old MacDonald Had a Farm

These games will help to grow the brains of infants and toddlers. Whether it’s through singing, dancing, cuddling, rocking, talking, smelling, or tasting, you can encourage the pathways of their brains to make new connections.
MUSIC
A favorite song with young children is “Old MacDonald Had a Farm.”
They love to make the animal sounds.
Read the book Old MacDonald in the City to introduce the idea of different kinds of jobs Old MacDonald could have and the different sounds they would make.
Try singing the song using other ideas.

Old MacDonald had a cold, e,i,e,i,o
And with his cold he had a cough

Think of sounds you have with a cold.
Old MacDonald could also have a yard, a house, a candy store, etc.
Changing the words will develop vocabulary.

Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:
For building confidence: Let’s sing Old MacDonald together
For developing the idea: “If Old MacDonald had a candy store, what kind of candy would he have in the store?” Let’s sing about it.
For moving forward: Let’s sing "Old MacDonald Had a Car" and make up car sounds.”

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"Carnival of the Animals": By Camille Saint-Saens
This music tells the story about how the animals are having a carnival, and the guests are arriving. There's the majestic lion, the braying mules, the dancing elephant, and the graceful swan. There are also many other animals.

You probably will need to explain to the children what a carnival is.
I’ve selected two videos that you can show the children and then let them pretend they are the elephants and the swans as they listen to the music.
For your own personal interest, there are many, many videos of this delightful piece of music with poetry by Ogden Nash.
I urge you to expose your children and yourself to this lovely experience.

Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:
For building confidence: Show me how you walk like an elephant. Can you swim like a swan?
For developing the idea: What other animals do you think came to the Carnival? Let’s find out
For moving forward: If you had a carnival, who would you invite?

Products from Discount School Supply® that I recommend:
Naptime Classics - 4 CDs (LULLABIES)
Infant Poster Set - Set of 12 (BABYPIC)
Snuggle Me Tot Supporter (SNUGME)