Bird Songs and Activities Your Students Will Love
If you’re sick of winging your spring music lessons, then read on. Today, I’m sharing lots of bird songs and music activities that you can use in your elementary lessons. From rhythmic practice games to songs and movement breaks, this list will save you lots of time. Plus, the many bird songs and games will surely keep your young students engaged and tweeting with excitement!
Ok, I promise – no more puns! Let’s dive in.
Each spring, I plan a lesson for my Kindergarten and 1st graders that is all about birds. My list is quite long, so I’ll just share a few of my favorite bird music activities with you today.
Bird Songs
First, let’s start with fun songs about birds. Maybe you’re interested in adding some bird songs to your list or you’re just beginning one now. Well, here’s a great list of bird songs to start with for your lessons.
- Here Comes a Bluebird
- Six Little Ducks
- Little Robin Red Breast
- My Little Robin
- Cuckoo
- Listen to the Mockingbird
- Jennie Jenkins
- I Had a Little Rooster
- Sing a Song of Sixpence
- Chicken on a Fencepost
- Shanghai Chicken
- Two Little Blackbirds (Chant)
- Ah, Poor Bird
- Rockin’ Robin
- Blackbird
Types of Activities
With any of these songs, you can always just stick to teaching students the melody. However, some bird songs may be easy to pair up with a specific activity. Here’s a list of the many different activities you can add to the song:
- Play instruments
- Perform body percussion
- Perform specific dance moves
- Use scarf or a parachute activity
- Add a passing game – like a bean bag or other prop
- Practice rhythmic/melodic reading
- Practice a specific musical element – like tempo, form, dynamics, etc.
Examples
For example, I love using the song “Rockin’ Robin” in my bird music lessons. First, students try out some body percussion while they get to know the song, and many students will tell me that it sounds familiar already. Here’s an adorable YouTube video that I use from Music with Ms. Robyn.
Then we’re ready to add the parachute. Here’s a simple routine that I use:
- A Section/Verse: Walk to the right (8 slow beats); walk to the left (8 slow beats)
- B Section/Refrain: Bring parachute up and down 2x (16 slow beats)
- Bridge/Interlude: Stand still and rotate parachute left and right to the beat
But other years, I’ve used rhythmic instruments instead. I had hand drums play on the A section. Egg shakers played during the refrain when they heard “tweet” or “tweedle-lee-dee-dee.”
Now, let’s take a look at another bird song for music class. “Two Little Blackbirds” is a chant that I like using for teaching dynamics. I have two little black bird/raven finger puppets that I use to represent Jack and Jill. The kids love it! Learn more about the presentation I use with my K-1 students here: Two Little Blackbirds. It has several other bird songs in it also.
Interested in using puppets for this bird chant, this is what I use (these are affiliate links – you pay the same price): Folkmanis Mini Raven Finger Puppet. I somehow got a hold of 2 bird puppets, so I tied a little bow around one bird’s head to show Jill and put a bowtie on Jack.
Well, talking about puppets, I love using the song “Jennie Jenkins” with John Feierabend’s book version. Plus, yes, bird puppets! I recently purchased a puppet set for the song from West Music. My young students just loved the song and the beautiful bird puppets! I used this presentation for teaching the song’s lyrics and different colors and for adding instruments to each part. Learn more about it: Jennie Jenkins Folk Song with Instruments.
You can also download a free mp3 version of the song at GIA Publications’ website. Just keep scrolling down to find it.
Of course, roosters can fall into this bird song category too. I just love “My Little Rooster” and “I Had a Little Rooster.” If you’ve never heard these songs, definitely check them out. My students love them and get a big kick out these recordings:
Both songs add more animals after the first rooster. I use it with my kindergarten classes, and they love playing a percussion instrument to represent each animal mentioned. You can try this one out for yourself if you’d like: Instrument Activity for “I Had a Little Rooster”
Bird Activities
Next, we’re flying onto some bird music activities to incorporate in your lesson. Here’s two YouTube rhythm play along videos that I love using:
The Carnival of the Animals has 3 bird pieces that can be used for any type of movement activity.
- “Hens and Roosters” – explore articulation (staccato and accents); use hen or chicken puppet to help understand the pecking and crowing
- “Aviary” – compare with “Elephants” as a pitch lesson – high vs. low
- “Cuckoo” – encourages careful listening; use in a dynamics lesson
Finally, the last activity for your bird music lesson is to tie in children’s literature. Here’s a few of my favorites that I have used in my classroom. (Full disclosure: these are affiliate links, but you pay the same price).
- Jennie Jenkins – John Feierabend
- Baby Bird’s First Nest – Frank Asch
- Who is Singing? – Janet Halfmann
- The Little Book of Woodland Bird Songs – Andrea Pinnington (she also has other versions in her bird series)
- This is the Nest That Robin Built – Denise Fleming
So what are your favorite bird songs or music activities? Leave a comment below or email me (beth@bethsmusicclassroom.com).
Want more spring music or another bird activity? Click here for a lesson on Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks.
