Songs about colour
Buck-eye
Jim
Down
came a lady
Down
on grandpa’s farm
Here
goes the red bird
If
you are wearing red
Jenny
Jenkins
Mary
wore her red dress
Orange
is a carrot
Roll
that brown jug down to town
What
are you wearing?
Walk
along John
There are also several songs
about colour in Seasonal songs
Leaves
are falling
Mrs
White had a fright
Yellow
the bracken
Cançó dels colors
/ Green, green, green
Last updated: 10/25/2016
4:31 PM
The songs below are part of ‘Away we
go’ Round and about compiled, adapted and
illustrated by Dany Rosevear
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To listen to music from these
songs click on O
To watch the
author sing a song click on the title at:
© Dany Rosevear 2008 All rights reserved
You
are free to copy, distribute, display and perform these works under the
following conditions:
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you must give the original author credit
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you may not use this work for commercial purposes
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any of these can be waived if you get permission from the copyright holder
Your
fair use and other rights are no way affected by the above.
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Buckeye Jim O
Make up your own colourful verses as there are already many versions
of this song from the U.S.A., the most well known by Burl Ives. Lomax
collected a version in the 1950s and you can find out more about its various
forms at: http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=53713
Roud number 10059. |
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Way up yonder above the
moon, A blue jay nests in a
silver spoon. Chorus Buckeye Jim, you can't go. Weave and spin, you can't
go, Buck-eyed Jim. Way up yonder above the
sky, Blue jay rests in a green
bird's eye. Way up yonder in the quiet
of night, A black bird sang in the
pink moonlight. Way down yonder in a
hollow log, A redbird danced with a
green bullfrog. Way up yonder on a
shooting star, A bullfrog jumped, but he
jumped too far. If you don’t have wings,
you can’t fly, But you can dream if you
darn well try. |
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This song is adapted from a
spiritual. You will need to change the words as below to accommodate the
gender of the child. Children join hands in a circle and move clockwise.
One chid stands in the middle as the others circle round. At the end of the song this
child points to another in the circle and substitutes the colour the that child’s clothing for the word ‘blue’. The first
child moves out of the ring and circles anticlockwise while the chosen child
stays in the centre as the song begins again. Eventually all the children
will be outside holding hands and walking anticlockwise round the last child
and shout out the colour of his clothing. |
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Down came a lady, Down came two, Down came old Daniel's wife And she was dressed in blue. Down came a young man, Down came two, Down came old Daniel's friend And he was dressed in blue. |
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Down on grandpa’s farm O
This song has its roots in
the Argentinian song: ‘Mi
Chacra’ Pretend to drive during the chorus
and make animal noises for each of the verses. |
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Chorus We're on our way, we're on our way, On our way to Grandpa's farm. We're on our way, we're on our way, On our way to Grandpa's farm. Down on Grandpa's farm there is a black and white
cow. Down on Grandpa's farm there is a black and white
cow. The cow, it makes a sound like this: Moo! Moo! The cow, it makes a sound like this: Moo! Moo! Down on Grandpa's farm there is a little red hen… The hen, it makes a sound like this: Cluck! Cluck!... Down on Grandpa's farm there is a fat pink pig… The pig, it makes a sound like this: Oink! : Oink!.. Down on Grandpa's farm there is a little white
sheep… The sheep, it makes a sound like this: Baa! Baa!… Down on Grandpa's farm there is a big brown horse… The horse, it makes a sound like this: Neigh!
Neigh!... Down on Grandpa's farm there is a little yellow
duck… The duck, it makes a sound like this: Quack! Quack!… |
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A circle game from Illinois.
It has been adapted from ‘Take a little girl’ to ‘Take a little friend’ and
‘hip-sip-si-da’ to ‘hip-si-dip-sa’ to make it easier to sing! Make a circle, join raised
hands to make ‘windows’; a ‘red bird’ stands in the centre. The ‘red bird’
weaves in and out of the circle’s windows as it moves round in the opposite
direction. On ‘Take a little friend…’ this
The game continues with the new child as the ‘red bird’. The colour of the bird could
match the dominant colour of the child’s clothing. |
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Here goes the red bird
thru the window, Thru the window, thru the
window. Here goes the red bird
thru the window, Hilum, diddle-um dee. Take a little friend go,
hip-si-dip-sa, Hip-si-dip-sa, hip-si-dip-sa, Take a little friend go,
hip-si-dip-sa, Hilum, diddle-um dee. |
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If you are wearing red 🔊
Look carefully at and
recognise the colours of items of clothing. Remember to identify and
help those that might be colour blind. Actions should be obvious but
younger children might need to be shown a picture of / or a cello and how it
is played. Those not wearing white will be unable to resist joining in the
last verse! |
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If you are wearing red,
shake your head, If you are wearing red,
shake your head, If you are wearing red, Then please shake your
head, If you are wearing red,
shake your head. …..blue, touch your
shoe... …..black, pat your back... …..brown, turn around... …..yellow, play a cello….. ……pink, give me a wink…. ……green, bow to the
queen…. ……white, give me a
fright…. |
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A classic American
child’s folk song and a lovely song to sing when learning colour names. Find
fascinating notes about the traditional significance of certain colours at: http://www.alabamafolklife.org/content/history-behind-songs white for death, green for grief, red for joy, black for mourning,
blue for sailors and constancy. Find info on
this as a game at: http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=48821 and http://www.fresnostate.edu/folklore/ballads/R453.html Traditionally
it is played as a line song with two lines facing each other. The lines take
turns to move forward then back singing the first couplet. The other line
thinks of a rhyme and moves forward and back with the reply. It also works
well as a car game on a long journey – there are an infinite number of
colours! |
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Oh, will you wear red, oh
my dear, oh my dear? Will you wear red Jenny
Jenkins? I won’t wear red, it’s the
colour of my head, I’ll buy me a twirly whirly, sooky looky,
Sally Katy, Double lolly,
roll-the-find-me. Roll, Jenny Jenkins roll. Oh, will you wear blue... I won’t wear blue, it’s
the colour of my shoe... Oh, will you wear
yellow... I won’t wear yellow, my
fine young fellow... Oh, will you wear green... I won’t wear green, I’m
ashamed to be seen... Oh, will you wear
orange... Orange I won’t wear, and
it rhymes so there! ... Oh, what will you wear... Now what do you care if I
just go bare... More ideas Pink – I’d rather drink
ink Brown – it’s all around
the town Grey – on such a sunny day White – for the colour is
too bright |
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Encourage each child to name
a colour and item of clothing they are wearing. It is also a great way to learn
the names of other children in the group. |
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Mary wore her red dress, Red dress, red dress, Mary wore her red dress, All day long. Ethan wore his blue jumper, Blue jumper, blue jumper, Ethan wore his blue jumper, All day long. Daisy wore her purple wellies, Purple wellies, purple wellies, Daisy wore her purple wellies, All day long. |
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Orange is a carrot O
A song that is easy to adapt
to your topic of the day. I have added a last verse to draw the ideas
together. There are lots of lovely
ideas for bookmaking to be found online. I love this video of a master
bookmaker: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHiY0iwPJQE
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Orange is a carrot, Yellow is a pear, Purple is a plum, Brown is a bear, Green is the grass, Blue is the sky, Black is a witch’s cat, And red is cherry pie! Grey is a rain cloud, Pink is a rose, White is a snowman With a long carrot nose! Open up your eyes, Look around with me; The world is rainbow
coloured For everyone to see! |
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A traditional North American
song made popular by Mike Seeger. It is a wonderful song for encouraging creative thinking. The nouns, adjectives,
verbs and place names can all be changed. The stranger the better! |
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Roll that brown jug down
to town. Roll that brown jug down
to town. Roll that brown jug down
to town. So early in the morning. Roll that blue ball down to
town. Roll that blue ball down
to town. Roll that blue ball down
to town. So early in the morning. Ride that red bike up to
school. Ride that red bike up to
school. Ride that red bike up to
school. So early in the morning. Walk that black dog home
again. Walk that black dog home
again. Walk that black dog home
again. So early in the morning. |
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This is a modern
song written by music educationist Hap Palmer http://www.happalmer.com/Files/About%20Hap.html
. You can also
hear it sung on a CD by Mike Whitla.. This song can
also be used for identifying articles of clothing e.g. If you're wearing a shirt,
stand up. Skip in a
circle each time the chorus plays and finish sitting down ready to follow the
instructions. The children will find all sorts of colours on themselves and
may well be joining in
for each verse – the more exercise the better! |
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What are you wearing, what
are you wearing, What are you wearing
today, today? What are you wearing, what
are you wearing, What are you wearing
today? If you are wearing red -
stand up, If you are wearing red -
nod your head, If you are wearing red -
turn around, If you are wearing red -
sit right down. blue – touch your shoe green- jump like a jumping
bean yellow – play a cello pink – give a wink black – pat you back white – fly like a bird in
the night clothes – touch your nose |
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From “American Folk Songs for
Children” by Ruth Crawford Seeger. Originally in “The American Play-Party
Song” by B. A. Botkin. One named child walks round the room as the others clap and sing. At
the end of the second line that child calls out a colour and those wearing
the colour join the line, hold hands and walk round with ‘John’. This
continues with new colours called until every child has joined the line. |
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Come on guys, hush your
talking, All join hands and let’s
go walking. Walk along John with your red
clothes follow on. Walk along John with your
red clothes follow on. Come on guys, hush your
squawking, All join hands and let’s
go walking. Walk along John with your
blue clothes follow on. Walk along John with your
blue clothes follow on. |
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