Christmas! Songs And Music Fun!
It is time. All the pumpkins and harvest decorations have been put away and are quickly being replaced by snowmen, christmas lights, and stockings! It’s time to celebrate the holidays with bells and Christmas carols!
So, let’s talk about fun Christmas themed songs for use in early childhood music! Here are some of my favorites!
1. Little Jingle Mouse – Give the little ones bells and let them play along to this dynamic and fun chant!
I heard a little jingle, right outside my house.
It was the little jingle, of a tiny jingle mouse!
He jingled to the ceiling, he jingled to the floor.
He jingled till he fell asleep, and then began to snore! (make mouse snore sounds)
I heard a great big jingle, right outside my door.
It was the great big jingle, of a giant dinosaur!
He jingled to the ceiling, he jingled to the floor.
He jingled till he fell asleep, and then began to snore! (make dinosaur snore sounds)
I like to then sing and play “Jingle Bells” with the children. We sing it first and then change our voices and bodies to sing it like a mouse and then again like a dinosaur! We then finish with one more verse as boys and girls singing with their singing voices. I have been unable to find where the Little Jingle Mouse song originated with lyrics. There are many versions piggy-backed on other children’s songs, but I prefer to just chant the song.
2. Reindeer Pokey – That’s right, the hokey pokey, sung with reindeer body parts. I have to tell you, the little ones LOVE this song. “You put your antlers in, you put your antlers out…” Hoofs, bushy tail, red nose, antlers…Use your hands as antlers and your bushy tail. It’s bound to be a hit, especially in the groups that are ready for Christmas break already!
3. Let’s Make Cookies – I wrote this fun song to use in December! The kids will have fun making pretend cookies with this song! Ingredients for success: lummi sticks to act as mixers, rollers, and cookie cutters. They also use the sticks to play a cymbal as the timer goes off on the pretend stove. They enjoy checking to see if the cookies are done yet. They never are! They want to hit that cymbal again! CLICK FOR THE SHEET MUSIC AND INTERVENTION GUIDE!
4. Green and Red Instrument Improvisation – Check out the picture above! The RED pitched bells and boomwhackers are the note C. The GREEN pitched bells and boomwhackers are the note F. These are perfect for playing in either the key of C or F. When I do this, I improvise vocally with sounds for Christmas words. For example: “ba-ba-ba-ba-bells” or “ca-ca-ca-ca-Christmas” while playing the guitar along. It also works well with a xylophone set to the pentatonic you are playing in. For example: F pentatonic – F-G-A-C-D
5. Let’s All Play The Drums – Pa-Rum-Pum-Pum-Pum – Using the tune of the Little Drummer Boy to encourage pattern playing and repeating on drums. Sometimes I hold only one drum and have the children all play when I come to them. Other times everyone will get a sound shape or other small drum so they can play the drums along with me. Encouraging pattern repeating for the known “Pa-Rum-Pum-Pum-Pum” rhythm to made up variations of these words.
6. I’m So Excited – A Song Story for children that sings about the excitement that the Christmas season brings! Reindeer, Santa, lights, cookies and more! A great song for bell play as well! Enjoy!
Thanks for checking out our ideas! Please share your Christmas themed songs and experiences as well as how these worked for you!
