Caitie is sharing tips for using the preschool song “Old MacDonald” in the classroom and at home for lots of fun learning with little ones. She has lots of great ideas! And she’ll lead us through the song using gestures – an excellent way to introduce a song to children. “Old MacDonald” is a classic children’s song that teaches farm animals and the sounds they make.
Try these ideas in the classroom or at home!
- This version is a bit different than the traditional song – we hear a few wrong animal sounds too! Encourage your students to shake their heads when they hear the wrong animal sound and nod when they hear the right one.
- Before you sing the song, go over all the farm animals using flashcards. Ask your students what sound that animal makes and practice making the sounds all together. Then they’ll be ready and confident to sing along and have fun with the animal sounds.
- You can also explore other animals and their sounds using the format from the song. Try singing it without the music and adding in any animal you like. For example, a monkey! Ask your students, “what does a monkey say?” and then offer a few different animal sounds. Have your students shake their head if it isn’t a sound a monkey makes until they hear the correct sound. Then they can nod their head yes and continue with the song.
- This song is also helpful as a precursor for learning phonics. Once your students are familiar with the phrase “What does ___ say?”, you can use that phrase to review the sounds of the letters of the alphabet. “What does ‘a’ say? A…A… apple! What does ‘b’ say? B…B…banana.”
More resources for this song (1)
