Minnie & I love singing together, especially when it's bath time, but there are some days which feel longer than others, & by bath time my brain needs a little inspiration! So I came up with the idea of an Underwater Song Sack! We used a bath net & filled it with items suitable for water play with each one representing a favourite song or Nursery Rhyme.
I'm a big fan of song sacks, & have used them in many settings with young children. They've always been very popular & loved by all ages, Minnie used to love them as a baby too! Basically, a 'song sack' is a bag filled with objects/toys that relate to different songs. Children are then invited to remove an object from the bag & it's always lovely to see their expressions as they delve into the song sack & eagerly link the object to a well-known song/nursery rhyme. They then get to hold the object as we sing the song together as a group.
For our Underwater Song Sack, we collected a number of small toys & objects from around the house. Here are some of the items we've used & the songs they could represent
Toy Boat
:: The big ship sails on the ally-ally-oh
:: Row, Row, Row Your Boat
:: A Sailor Went to Sea, Sea, Sea
:: The Pirate Song
Toy Fish
:: 1,2,3,4,5 Once I Caught a Fish Alive
Small Watering Can
:: Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary
:: I'm a Little Flower
:: This is the Way We Plant Our Seeds
:: The Seeds Grow (The Gardener Plants the Seeds)
We used the watering can to create rain too!
:: I Hear Thunder
:: Dr Foster
Shells
:: Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary
:: Five Little Seashells, Lying on the Shore.
Toy Frog
:: 5 Little Speckled Frogs
Rubber Ducks
:: 5 Little Ducks Went Swimming One Day
:: There's a Little White Duck Sitting in the Water
Toy Spider
:: Incy Wincy Spider
Small Tractor or any Farm Animal
:: Old McDonald had a Farm
Toy Rabbit
:: Little Peter Rabbit
:: Sleeping Bunnies
:: Do your ears hang low
Toy Bus
:: The Wheels on the Bus
Toy Sheep
:: Ba Ba Black Sheep
:: Old McDonald had a Farm
Toy Horse
:: Ride a Cock Horse
Toy Dog
:: B.I.N.G.O
:: How Much is that Doggy in the Window
Teapot
:: I'm a Little Teapot
:: Polly Put the Kettle On
Toy Figure (we used Bob the Builder)
:: Heads, Shoulders, Knees & Toes
:: Bob the Builder
:: I am Special
Toy Lion
:: Down in the Jungle
:: Walking Through the Jungle
:: I'm a Lion
Toy Cow
:: The Cows on the Farm Go Moo, moo, moo.
:: Billy the Bull
:: Old McDonald had a Farm
:: There was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly
Bottle of Bubbles
:: The Bubble Song (one little, two little, three little bubbles)
Frying Pan
:: Five Fat Sausages
:: Mix a Pancake, stir a pancake, pop it in a pan.
Bath time is a great time to share songs together in a relaxed space, with plenty of opportunity for fun, & splashing!
This Song Sack is also ideal to explore outdoors in a paddling pool on a sunny day, or during any other water play, & of course the items from the song sack can spark plenty of imaginative play too.
A few weeks ago we had Old McDonald sharing a cup of tea with five little speckled frogs!!
Any item can be used in an underwater song sack (as long as they're waterproof & safe) & items can be swapped or added so a wide range of songs can be explored.
Do you sing together at bath time? What songs would you add to a song sack?