Autumn
songs T
The
Autumn leaves have fallen down
The
Autumn wind
The
baker is calling
The
country farmer’s vainglory / Harvest home
The
farmer gathers his hay today
The
farmer sows his seeds
The
frisky little squirrel
The
golden boat
The hayride
road
The
journey of the leaves
The
little princess
The
Little Red Hen
The
loaf of bread
The
miller’s song
The
North Wind
The
scarecrow
The
tree in the wood
There
was an owl
There
were three little owls
Three
little oak leaves
Tick
tock change the clocks
Also
find:
The leaves had a wonderful frolic
Last updated: 7/31/2023
9:59 AM
The songs below are part of ‘Away we
go’ compiled, adapted and
illustrated by Dany Rosevear
Return to the ‘Singing games for children’ home page
To listen to music from these
songs click on 🔊
To watch the
author sing a song click on the title at:
© Dany Rosevear 2013 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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for any re-use or distribution, you must make clear to others the
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any of these can be waived if you get permission from the copyright
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Your
fair use and other rights are no way affected by the above.
|
The
Autumn leaves have fallen down O
Once the leaves have fallen off the
trees there is a lot of work to do. Make the actions suggested by the words. |
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The autumn leaves have fallen down, Fallen down, fallen down; The wind it came and blew them round, And blew them all around. We’ll find a brush and start to sweep, Start to sweep, start to sweep, We’ll pile them into a great big heap, Into a great big heap. The bonfire’s lit and burns them away, Burns them away, burns them away; And now they’re gone we’ll dance and play, We’ll dance and we will play. |
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The Autumn wind 🔊
The wind sings
to the leaves, the birds and mother. From ‘Songs of
a Little Child's Day’ with words by Emilie Poulsson and music by Eleanor
Smith. Music arranged by Dany Rosevear. Can easily be dramatized as a movement activity. |
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With whistle and shout, The wind hurried out And called to the leaves on the trees: "Come down from the bough, I'll dance with you now, And whirl you as fast as you please!" The wind sang aloud Where birds in a crowd Were ling'ring before their long flight; "Away, little friends, Till wintertime ends; There may be a snowstorm tonight." The wind gave a roar, And shook the house door. "I hear you!" the good mother said: "Bring cold or bring storm, My children are warm, Tucked under thick blankets in bed!" |
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The baker is calling 🔊
The baker is
calling - a song for Autumn and the Harvest festival. It’s time to get
baking, bread, pies, cakes, scones, buns, even a Harvest loaf. Words by Anne
Mendoza and set to a German tune. From ‘Sociable songs Book 1’ published by
OUP. Arranged and adapted by Dany Rosevear. |
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“Buy your loaves this morning!” Hear
the baker calling, Some
are small and some immense, And
all have good ingredients: Eggs and butter, sugar and salt,
milk and flour, Then baked gently for an hour, Open up the oven door. Mmmh! “Buy
your cakes this morning!”... “Buy
your pies this morning!”... |
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The country farmer’s vainglory /
Harvest home 🔊
This baroque
song was written by John Dryden, with music composed by Henry Purcell in
1611. It can be found in the gentleman’s magazine
1894: https://archive.org/stream/gentlemansmagaz43unkngoog/gentlemansmagaz43unkngoog_djvu.txt Find out more
at: http://www.fresnostate.edu/folklore/ballads/CeCo376.html It was customary
to deck the last ‘harvest load’ with boughs of oak and ash, sometimes men
were sent to ring the church bell or hand bells were rung on the wagon. Find
the last verse in: https://archive.org/details/englishfolkrhyme00nortuoft
. |
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Our oats they are hoed, and our barley's reaped, Our hay it is mowed, and our hovels heaped; Harvest home! Harvest home! We'll merrily roar out our harvest home, Harvest home! Harvest home! We'll merrily roar out our Harvest home! We cheated the parson, we’ll cheat him again; For why should the Vicar have one in ten? One in ten, one in ten, For why should the Vicar have one in ten? For staying while dinner is cold and hot, And pudding and dumplings are burnt to pot; Burnt to pot, burnt to pot! Till pudding and dumplings are burnt to pot. The boughs they do shake and the bells do ring, So merrily comes our harvest in, Our harvest in, our harvest in. So merrily comes our harvest in. |
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An action game for harvest time by
Wendy Bird. 1. Mime swaying hay, cutting it down and putting it together and
shaking it dry. 2. Mime picking up apples and eating them. 3. Mime swaying corn, stretching arms up high, cutting it down and
gathering it together. |
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The farmer gathers his hay today, It’s harvest time. The farmer gathers his hay today, It’s harvest time. He cuts it down and stacks it high, Gives it a shake, then leaves it to dry. The farmer gathers his hay today, It’s harvest time. The farmer gathers his apples today, It’s harvest time. The farmer gathers his apples today, It’s harvest time. Red and rosy, juicy and sweet, Lots of apples for us to eat. The farmer gathers his apples today, It’s harvest time. The farmer gathers his corn today, It’s harvest time. The farmer gathers his corn today, It’s harvest time. It grows up high , turns golden brown, And then he comes to cut it down. The farmer gathers his corn today, It’s harvest time. |
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A singing game for harvest time. A small group of children (the seeds) and a farmer stand in the centre
of a circle. The children in the circle make
actions to suit the words and each time ‘Oats, beans and barley-O ’is
sung they stamp feet and turn round. The seeds grow slowly as the farmer goes about his work. As the
‘sheaves’ verse is sung the circle holds hands and walk in with hands raised
high and then out again. Children all clap in time to the music on the last
verse. |
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The farmer sows his seeds, The farmer sows his seeds, Oats, beans and barley-O The farmer sows his seeds. The wind begins to blow... The rain begins to fall... The sun begins to shine... The wheat begins to grow… The plants grow big and tall... The farmer cuts the corn... The binds the sheaves... And now the harvest’s in.... |
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The frisky little squirrel 🔊
Keep busy and
reap the rewards. Learn about simple directions. A hand play that
could easily be adapted as an action game. Verse 1. Make squirrel with tail by crossing hands at wrist. Gather
nuts. Place hands behind back. Rub arms. Thumb up. 2. Hold one hand up like a
tree and make finger of the other hand upwards. Move finger downwards. Move
finger in a circle, then up and down. 3. Repeat. |
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Oh, the frisky little squirrel, He gathers nuts and seeds. He hides them for the winter months, So he’ll have all he needs! Oh up, up, up he goes And down, down, down he comes. He runs around, climbs up and down, His work is never done. Oh up, up, up he goes And down, down, down he comes. He runs around, climbs up and down, His work is never done. |
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The golden boat 🔊
What might a
leaf be, use your imagination. Written by the word master Homer H. Harbour to
a German melody, here slightly adapted; it can be found in the Concord series
‘140 Folk-songs’ published 1921. |
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Down the river, swiftly sailing Comes a lovely golden boat; Light it drifts, as any feather On the rushing stream afloat. Not a mast or sail to guide it On the yellow deck are seen, ‘Tis a ship of tiny fairies Taking home their Fairy Queen. Now I’ll tell you that my river Was a gutter stream that rolled, And my boat, a leaf of Maple That the frost had turned to Gold. |
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The hayride road 🔊
The words of
this delightful harvest time song by MaryLee
Sunseri,© 2003, harks back to an older pastoral age when singing in
the fields and on wagons cheered the agrarian communities and made the hard
work easier to bear. The ‘Turkey in the Straw’ music will be familiar to many. Find out more about Mary Lee Sunseri’s music at: http://www.maryleemusic.com/uploads/3/9/4/3/3943366/mother_goose_melodies_lyrics.pdf |
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Oh! We went on a hayride by early mornin’ light! We were bumpin’ to the left, we were bumpin’ to
the right! We were bouncin’ up and down on the hayride road, And we left mighty early when the rooster crowed: Chorus: Cock-a-doodle-doo!
Cock-a-doodle-doo! Cock-a-doodle-doo! Cock-a-doodle-doo! Bouncin’ up and down on the hayride road, And we left mighty early when the rooster crowed! Oh, the hayride stopped at the old fishin’ hole So we hopped off the wagon with our fishing poles!
We were catchin’ ‘em big! We were catchin’ ‘em
small But we threw ‘em all back when the rooster called:
Chorus Then the hayride stopped at the big cow barn! So we milked the cows and we fed ‘em corn! And we played with the piggies in the little pig
pen, But the rooster crowed, it was time to go again! Chorus Oh, the hayride stopped by the old apple tree And we picked all the apples that we could see! We were thinkin’ of cookin’ up a big apple pie, But the rooster crowed and it was time to say
“Goodbye!” Chorus Well, the hayride dropped us at our front door, But we begged and we begged, “Can we go some
more?” Well, my Ma said, “Yep!” and my Pa said “Yes!” Then the rooster crowed and I know you know the
rest! Chorus x2 |
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The journey of the leaves 🔊
A song written
by Homer H. Harbour to a German folk tune from the book ‘140 folk-songs’
published1922. Here it is adapted by Dany Rosevear. It could easily be dramatized as a hand play or
movement activity. |
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"Come away," sang the river To the leaves on a tree; "Let me take you on a journey If the world you would see." So the leaves gently falling From the tree on the shore, Flowed away on the river To come home never more. |
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The little princess 🔊
It’s berry
picking time and time to move with the temptation of the outdoors, fresh air
and nature in all its Autumn glory. Words adapted
from an old rhyme. Tune adapted
from a theme by Beethoven, (mea culpa, roll over Beethoven). ‘A child’s
book of song’ by Robert Foresman published 1928. |
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Very still sat the little princess, Sewing on her silken seam; She looked out from the great bow window, Saw the leaves that grew so green. In her sleeve she has stuck her needle, Dropped her seam beside her chair! She’s away to the merry greenwood, Berries bright to gather there! |
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The Little
Red Hen 🔊
A story song
adapted by Louise B. Scott with music
by Lucille F. Wood; from ‘Singing fun’ 1954. Arranged and adapted by
Dany Rosevear. A song made for dramatizing; sit children in a
circle with a small number taking turns to be the farmyard animals. The
children in the circle could enhance the performance with percussion. |
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"Who will plant this wheat?" "Not I," said the dog. "Not I," said the cat. "Not I," said the pig. "Then I will," said the Little Red Hen. And she did! "Who will cut this wheat?"… "Who will thresh this wheat?"… "Who will go to the mill?"… "Who will bake this bread?"… "Who will eat this bread?" "I will," said the dog. "I will," said the cat. "I will," said the pig. "Then I will," said the Little Red Hen. They
would not help a single bit, So the Little Red Hen ate all of it! |
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The loaf of bread 🔊
This harvest time
song was originally written by P. Lancourt but very little can be found about
its origins. I have adapted
the words to make them more gender neutral and to make the verses shorter.
The tune is an arrangement by Dany Rosevear. To shorten the song even more
some verses can be combined instead of singing the chorus between each verse. It was suggested to me that this could be done as a
hand play. An alternative would be dramatic play in a circle
game with children acting out roles in the centre or taking turns round the
ring to dramatise jobs; the circle skips round during the chorus. |
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My mother called to me, And this is what she said, "Go down to the store, And buy a loaf of bread.” Chorus: I danced off so happily, As happy as could be, To buy a loaf of bread, For mother and me! The storekeeper listened, And this is what was said, “We’ll go to the baker, And fetch that loaf of bread.” We talked to the baker, And this is what was said, “The miller has the flour, To bake the loaf of bread.” We went to the miller, In a windmill oh so neat, “Go down to the farmer, And there you’ll find the wheat.” We came to the farmer, A-milking a brown cow, Who sent us to the blacksmith, For to get a plough. The farmer ploughed the field, The wheat it grew so high, It was taken to the miller, When the grain was nice and dry. The miller ground the wheat, Ground it up so fine, And put it in a strong sack, All sewed about with twine, Chorus While the baker made the dough, We went to get the coal A miner dug it out Of a dark and spooky hole. The dough was kneaded well, The coal was glowing red, The dough went in the oven, And out came crusty bread. Chorus The storekeeper wrapped it, And gave it straight to me, I took it home to mother, And we had it for our tea! |
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The miller’s song 🔊
Written by Sandra Kerr and John
Faulkner for the wonderful BBC TV programme ‘Bagpuss’. I was rewatching it with my grandkids who were spellbound by the
series and was reintroduced to this delightful Harvest song. |
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Ploughman, ploughman, plough me a field, Turn me an acre of land. Ploughman, ploughman, harrow the ground, Drill in the seed and roll it down For the year will turn and the spring come round And the seed will grow. Shine the sun and rain the rain, Fall the shivery snow, Frost and hail and wind again, As the year will go. Farmer, farmer, the field is ripe, Tall and straight they stand. Farmer, farmer, it's time to reap, Time to combine, the corn to keep, The straw will blow and the chaff will leap, And the grain will fall. Shine the sun and rain the rain, Fall the shivery snow, Fog and sleet and hail again, As the year will go. Miller, miller, take up the grain, Pour it out like sand. Miller, miller, open the rill, To turn the wheel and work the mill, Grind the grain to flour and fill The sacks below. Shine the sun and rain the rain, Fall the shivery snow, Hail and wind and sleet again, As the year will go. Baker, baker, the flour is here, Soft and fine and bland. Baker, baker, get out of bed, Put that silly old hat on your head, Bake me a loaf of golden bread And then I'll go Blow the wind and rain the rain, Fall the shivery snow, Soon the sun will shine again As the year will go. |
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The North Wind 🔊
The wind sets
the leaves a-frollicking. A beautiful
Autumn poem possibly from the Waldorf tradition but with no named author. Set to music by Dany Rosevear. Free movement with floating scarves in Autumn
colours would enhance this lovely rhyme. |
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The North Wind came along one day, So strong and full of fun; He called the leaves down from the trees And said, “Run, children, run!” They came in red or yellow dress, In shaded green and brown, And all the short November days He chased them round the town. They ran in crowds, they ran alone, They hid behind the trees, The north winds laughing found them there And called “No stopping please” But when he saw them tired out And huddled in a heap, He softly said, “Goodnight my dears, Now let us go to sleep.” |
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The scarecrow 🔊
Nothing can
beat the ‘Dingle Dangle Scarecrow’ as a scarecrow action rhyme for young
children but this is a simple spooky version that is appropriate for coming
season. Have fun making the scariest smiles! Music by Dany Rosevear. Make dangleing arms flap in the wind. Hands wave off
birds. Grin. |
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The scarecrow stands with hanging hands, Beside the farmer's stile. He scares the jay and crow away With just a painted smile. |
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Several
versions of this cumulative song were collected by Cecil Sharp in the
Southern Appalachians at the beginning of the 20th century. This is
a simple version for younger children. |
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All in a wood there grew a tree, The finest tree you ever did see, The tree was in the wood, And the green leaves grew all around,
around, around, And the green leaves grew all around. And on this tree there was a branch, The finest branch you ever did see, The branch was on the tree, The tree was in the wood, And the green leaves… And on this branch there was a nest, The finest nest you ever did see, The nest was on the branch, The branch was on the tree, The tree was in the wood, And the green leaves … And in this nest there was an egg, The finest egg you ever did see, The egg was on the nest, The nest was on the branch, The branch was on the tree, The tree was in the wood, And the green leaves … And on this egg there was a bird, The finest bird you ever did see, The bird was on the egg, The egg was on the nest, The nest was on the branch, The branch was on the tree, The tree was in the wood, And the green leaves … |
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There was an owl 🔊
A traditional nursery rhyme and hand play. I have written a new second verse as the original is not very suitable
for today’s young! Second verse rewritten by Dany Rosevear who also added the
music. 1. Flap elbow wings, show hand tree, place thumb and forefinger round
eyes. Make beak with two forefingers, flap elbow wings. 2. Walk fingers up arm. Place hands to ears and make an ugly face.
Make toad jump on the palm of the other hand. |
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There was an Owl lived in an oak, Whiskey, whaskey, weedle! And all the words he ever spoke, Were, “Fiddle, faddle, feedle!” One day I walked along that road, Whiskey, whaskey, weedle! And there I heard an ugly toad Sing, “Fiddle, faddle, feedle!” |
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There were three little owls 🔊
A song sometimes sung at the Autumn Harvest You can listen to Cal
Stewart born 1856 singing it here. It is not clear if he wrote it himself as there are other versions of
the same song to be found on the internet.
My version below is very close to his one. |
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There were three little owls, a-singing in
the barn, Rinky, dinky, doo, dum day; All huddled up together, just to keep each
other warm, Rinky, dinky, doo, dum day. And the song they sang, I will sing for
you, It’s a song that begins, and it ends “Too,
hoo!” And a very, very pretty little song ‘tis
too, Rinky, dinky, doo, dum day. They were three little owls, a-singing in
the barn, Rinky, dinky, doo, dum day; And the owls eat mice and the mice eat
corn. Rinky, dinky, doo, dum day. And the moon it shone in the sky so bright, That it made the whole world look quite
bright, And owls, as you know, only sing at night. Rinky, dinky, doo, dum day. There were three little mice, a-playing in
the barn, Rinky, dinky, doo, dum day; Though they knew what they were doing, was
very, very wrong, Rinky, dinky, doo, dum day. For the old mouse said, little mice beware, When the owls come a-singin’ “Too, hoo!”
take care, For the song that they sing is nothing but
a snare, Rinky, dinky, doo, dum day. Now those three little mice, thought they’d
have a lark, Rinky, dinky, doo, dum day; So they crept out softly, just as soon as
it was dark, Rinky, dinky, doo, dum day. And the song of the owls, sounded oh so
nice, Closer and closer crept the three little
mice, When the owls came and gobbled them, up in
a trice, Rinky, dinky, doo, dum day. Now those three little owls, flew back up
in the barn, Rinky, dinky, doo, dum day; And said those little mice, made us feel so
nice and warm, Rinky, dinky, doo, dum day. Then they all went singing, “Too, wit, too,
woo!” Now I don’t think much of this song, do
you? Well the only thing about it, is it’s
perfectly true, Rinky, dinky, doo, dum day. |
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Three little oak leaves 🔊
Everything in
nature has its uses! It might be
hot, the sun is shining but there’s already leaves beginning to show their
Autumn colours on the trees. Music by Dany Rosevear |
|
Three little oak leaves, red, yellow and gold Were happy when the weather turned cold. One said, “I’ll make a coat for an elf So he will be able to warm himself.” One said, “I’ll make a home for a bug So that she will be all safe and snug.” One said, “I’ll cover a seed in the ground ‘Til spring, it will be very safe and sound.” Three little oak leaves, red, yellow and gold Were happy when the weather turned cold. |
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Remembering what happens
when the clocks change is not easy; this song should help you. Explain the
words ‘clockwise’ and ‘anticlockwise’. Illustrate by moving the clock’s
minute hand. How many minutes are passed when moving this hand forward or
back one hour.
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Hold hands and stand in a circle.
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Tick tock, tick tock! Remember, remember, retain and recall, The clocks turn back one hour in the Autumn
or Fall, The mornings are lighter, the afternoon’s
dark, REMEMBER! Spring forwards, Fall back, Rise up with the lark. Tick tock, tick tock! Remember, remember, it’s a difficult thing, The clocks are turned forward one hour in
the Spring, The mornings are darker, the afternoon’s
light, REMEMBER! Spring forwards, Fall back, Then you’ll get it right. |
Stamp round clockwise. Walk anticlockwise. Skip round. Stop. Move into the circle and then back. Bend knees then stretch up high. Move as before but walk anticlockwise and then
clockwise. |
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