Caitie is sharing tips for using the preschool song”Old MacDonald Had A Farm” 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. Our version of “Old MacDonald Had A Farm” is a fun cumulative song that asks the listener to connect the sound to the animal on the farm.
Try these ideas in the classroom or at home!
- Our cumulative version of this classic song is really fun to sing along to but can be a bit tricky for young learners. To help make it easier for students trying to follow along, use images of each animal and place them on the board as they are introduced in the song. That way, students can see what animal is next and they can focus more on making the animal sound.
- 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 altogether. Then they’ll be ready and confident to sing along and have fun with the animal sounds.
- Our version includes the farm animals pig, duck, horse, sheep, cow, and turkey, but there are many other animals that also can be found on farms. Try singing this song without the music and add in other animals.
- Try singing this song in a circle and let each student take a turn picking an animal to add to the song.
- You can also group your students together and assign them an animal. They can dress up as the animal or hold up a drawing to represent the group. Each group is responsible for making their animal’s sound in the song.
- This is a great song to sing during a theme about farms and farm animals. You can pair this song with other farm songs like The Farmer In The Dell, The Animals On The Farm, and Who Took The Cookie (On The Farm) version.
- You can also bring the song to life with our Old MacDonald Had A Farm – Dancing Farm Animals Craft!
- Make a fun farm sensory bin with some simple toys and sensory material. Put some sensory material, like corn kernels, into a large bin along with some farm toys or cutouts. Toy farm animals, toy tractors, and a painted cardboard box for a barn make great additions to a farm sensory bin. Allow your little ones to explore the bin and see what kind of imaginary play they can come up with! You can play the song in the background and encourage them to act it out with the items in the bin.
More resources for this song (1)
