Summer
songs There-Z
There
I was just a-swimming in the sea
There’s
a tiny caterpillar
There
was a bee-i-ee-i-ee
There
was a little turtle
Tommy
and the apples
Under
the sea
We
have planted in our garden
We sail and we sail and we stop!
Whales
can’t wink
Winding
the Maypole
Zip-a-dee-doo-dah
Also
see:
Down in the grass, curled up in
a heap
She sailed away on a lovely summer’s day
Last updated: 5/22/2023
9:39 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 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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for any re-use or distribution, you must make clear to others the
licence terms of this work
·
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.
|
There I
was just a-swimming in the sea O
A seaside song. |
d
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There I was just a-swimming in the sea, Singing, do wah diddy diddy dum diddy dee. All of the sudden there’s a dolphin next to me, Singing, do wah diddy diddy dum diddy dee. She swam fast, (She
swam fast,) She dove deep, (She
dove deep,) She swam fast, dove deep, Hey this dolphin’s pretty neat! Singing, do wah diddy diddy dum diddy dee, Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy dee. There I was just a-swimming in the sea, Singing, do wah diddy diddy dum diddy dee. All of the sudden there’s a crab next to me, Singing, do wah diddy diddy dum diddy dee. He nipped hard, (He
nipped hard,) He dug deep, (He
dug deep,) He nipped hard, dug deep, Hey this crab is pretty neat! Singing, do wah diddy diddy dum diddy dee, Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy dee. There I was just a-swimming in the sea, Singing, do wah diddy diddy dum diddy dee. All of the sudden there’s a whale next to me Singing, do wah diddy diddy dum diddy dee. She breached hard, (She breached hard,) She dove deep, (She
dove deep,) She breached hard, she dove deep, Hey this whale is pretty neat! Singing, do wah diddy diddy dum diddy dee, Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy dee. There I was just a-swimming in the sea, Singing, do wah diddy diddy dum diddy dee. All of the sudden there’s a shark next to me, Singing, do wah diddy diddy dum diddy dee. He swam fast, (He
swam fast,) He dove deep, (He
dove deep,) He swam fast, he dove deep, Hey this shark is pretty neat! Singing, do wah diddy diddy dum diddy dee, Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy dee. There I was just a-swimming in the sea, Singing, do wah diddy diddy dum diddy dee. All of the sudden there’s a seahorse next to me, Singing, do wah diddy diddy dum diddy dee. He swam left, (He
swam left,) He swam right, (He
swam right,) He swam left, swam right, Hey this seahorse is outta sight! Singing, do wah diddy diddy dum diddy dee, Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy dee. There I was just a-swimming in the sea, Singing, do wah diddy diddy dum diddy dee. All of the sudden there’s a mermaid next to me, Singing, do wah diddy diddy dum diddy dee. She had a tail, (She
had a tail,) And curly hair, (And
curly hair,) She had a tail, and curly hair, It was hard not to stare, Singing, do wah diddy diddy dum diddy dee, Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy dee. X3 |
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Learn about the life cycle of the
butterfly. This song is by Sue Nicolls from the book ‘Bobby Shaftoe clap you
hands’ to the tune of ‘She’ll be coming round the mountain’. 1. Move forefinger like a caterpillar 2. Make hands open and close. 3.
Roll hands round each other, 4. Cross thumbs and make hands flap. 5. Do all
above. |
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There’s a tiny caterpillar on a leaf, wiggle wiggle , There’s a tiny caterpillar on a leaf, wiggle wiggle, There’s a tiny caterpillar, tiny caterpillar, There’s a tiny caterpillar on a leaf, wiggle wiggle. He will eat the leaves around him ‘til he’s full, munch munch, He will eat the leaves around him ‘‘til he’s full, munch munch, He will eat the leaves around, eat the leaves around He will eat the leaves around him ‘til he’s full, munch munch. A cocoon is what he’s spinning for his home, spin spin , A cocoon is what he’s spinning for his home, spin spin, A cocoon is what he’s spinning, cocoon is what he’s spinning,
A cocoon is what he’s spinning for his home, spin spin. Then he’ll be a butterfly and fly away, flap flap Then he’ll be a butterfly and fly away, flap flap Then he’ll be a butterfly, be a butterfly, Then he’ll be a butterfly and fly away, flap flap. So that tiny caterpillar went like this Wiggle
wiggle, munch munch, spin spin, flap flap, So that tiny caterpillar went like this Wiggle
wiggle, munch munch, spin spin, flap flap, So that tiny caterpillar, that tiny caterpillar So that tiny caterpillar went like this Wiggle
wiggle, munch munch, spin spin, flap flap. munch
munch. |
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There
was a bee-i-ee-i-ee 🔊
A campfire song and community
sing-a-long. A good opportunity to learn how not
to get stung; A good opportunity to learn how not to get
stung; pretend to be a flower, the bee will approach, look you over and think ‘That's not a flower!’ and will buzz
off. Being aggressive and waving your
arms around just makes the bee think you want to hurt it. |
There was a bee-i-ee-i-ee,
Sat on a wall-i-all-i-all,
And he could buzz-i-uzz-i-uzz,
And that was all-i-all-i-all.
There came a boy-i-oy-i-oy,
Who had a stick-i-ick-i-ick,
He hit that bee-i-ee-i-ee,
An awful lick-i-ick-i-ick.
So then that bee-i-ee-i-ee,
Began to sting-i-ing-i-ing,
And stung that boy-i-oy-i-oy,
Like anything i-ing-i-ing,
And then that boy-i-oy-i-oy,
Began yell-i-ell-i-ell,
And told that bee-i-e-i-e,
To go to buzz-i-uzz-i-ell.
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|
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This is a cumulative action song
and great fun as the movements get progressively harder to perform. Each time
the song is sung. |
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There was a little turtle. He lived in a box. He swam in the puddles. He climbed on the rocks. He snapped at the mosquito. He snapped at the flea. He snapped at the minnow. And he snapped at me! He caught the mosquito. He caught the flea. He caught the minnow. But he didn't catch me! |
Make hand
into a fist with thumb out. Cover turtle with the other hand. Place one
hand on top of the other and make thumbs ‘swim’. Hands make
a climbing motion Snap thumb and finger x3s. Snap at self. Grab three times. Shake finger from side to
side and point to self. |
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Tommy
and the apples O
Children ‘scrumping’ for apples
used to be a common sight in the countryside in days gone by. This cheerful song was collected in
both Yorkshire and Gloucestershire in the UK but also Quebec in Canada: http://www.vwml.org/roudnumber/8723# It was recorded by Cyril Tawney on his CD
‘Children’s songs from Devon and Cornwall. The first verse of this song could be used for different movements:
skipping, jumping, hopping etc. Children could use their own names, change
the season or what was seen on the journey. |
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As Tommy went walking one fine summer’s day. Some rosy cheeked apples he saw on his way, Saw on his way, saw on his way, Some rosy cheeked apples he saw on his way. Those apples were ripe and so pleasant to see, They seemed to say, "Tommy, come climb up the tree, "Climb up the tree, climb up the tree." They seemed to say, "Tommy, come climb up the tree." So Tommy climbed up; from the bough he did fall, And down came the apples, poor Tommy and all, Tommy and all, Tommy and all, And down came poor Tommy, the apples and all. His face was all scratched and he felt very sore. He promised he'd never steal apples no more, Apples no more, apples no more, He promised he'd never steal apples no more. |
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Under
the water 🔊
Heed the
call of the deep and free our seas of plastic waste. What can
we do to make our oceans fit for life on Earth? How
can I help save our seas? - Save Our Seas Foundation Apart
from plastic waste we need to be concerned about human and other forms of
waste poisoning our coastlines; it is paticularly a problem around the South
West peninsula in the U.K. Words and
music by Dany Rosevear. Accompanied by Alan Rosevear. Can be
played as a movement or hand play. Use percussion to make a sound ‘scenario’
to the rhythm of the tune. Sand
blocks, triangles, tambourines and drums would work well. Verse 1. Place palm on top of the back of the other hand. With thumbs
out and turning move hands like fish swimming. Make swimming motions. Imitate
sea creaturessuch as eels, octopus, turtles. etc Move hands downwards. Verse 2. Hands scuttle like crabs. Wave seaweed hands from side to
side. Hand to mouth. Hands in prayer. Hands on heart. Make fish and other sea
creatures movements as before. Move hands downwards. |
|
Under the water, little fish are gliding, Glistening, gleaming, slipping and
a-sliding, Come with me, underneath the sea, Where strange and wondrous creatures swim,
swimming free, In the deep, deep blue sea, In the deep, deep blue sea. Out in the rock pools, sandy crabs are
crawling, Seaweed is drifting, hear the ocean calling, Save our seas, say, “NO!” to plastic waste, Help our fishy friends to be wild, free and
safe, In the deep, deep blue sea, In the deep, deep blue sea. |
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We have planted in our garden O
There are all sorts of pests ready
to consume our carefully tended garden produce. This is a Czech folk song
from Children’s Songs from Other Lands by C. K. Offer, W. Paxton & Co
Ltd. This version came from BBC radio’s
Music Time Summer 1973. The first verse also appeared in Time and Tune Autumn
1965. |
|
We have planted in our
garden beans and peas and pickling cabbage; Came our neighbour's
greedy chickens and scratched them all up. Get you home you greedy
chicks, or we’ll chase you off with sticks! Shoo! Shoo! Shoo! We have planted in our
garden lots of maize and mangel wurzels; From the churchyard
rats of all kinds came and ate them all up. Get you home you
thieving rats, or we’ll buy a dozen cats. Shoo! Shoo! Shoo! |
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A nursery action song for the summer
– best played outside. Place hands on hips with elbows pointing out like sails, then move
with feet apart from side to side. The other actions: jump, twirl, wiggle, hide (peek-a-boo!) should be self
evident! |
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We sail and we sail and we stop! We sail and we sail and we stop! We sail and we sail and we sail and we sail And we sail and we sail and we stop! We jump and we jump and we stop! We jump and we jump and we stop! We jump and we jump and we jump and we jump And we jump and we jump and we stop! We twirl… We wiggle… We hide and we hide and we (peek-a-boo!)... |
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Whales
can’t wink 🔊
A summer ocean
hand play to celebrate what each of us, big or small, can or can’t do! Baby seal
will learn that we all have different abilities suited to our particular
needs and should be proud of each achievement as we make it. Some can
and some can’t ‘wink’ but there are so many other things we can do. And of course we can always try! Make a list of things children, seals and
whales can do, include the wonderful whale song, swimming and spouting! Watch
a baby seal wink here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwPVEvuuFxQ
I swim
most mornings in the local pool and the gentle motion of the breast stroke
and the presence of other swimmers often provides inspiration for a new song.
This one in particular! 1. With hands spread show the size of each whale. 2. Make swimming and
spouting movements then wave hands across body. 3. Cross forefingers and flap
to make seal tail. 4. Touch forehead, wink if you can! |
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Mother whale, brother whale, Another whale and me, Were swimming and a-spouting In the deep blue sea. A baby seal then tagged along And chuckled, “Me, oh my! Whales can’t wink, wink or blink, I wonder, why oh why?! Makes you think, not one wink, However hard they try!” |
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Winding
the Maypole 🔊
One for early Summer. I remember
well my younger sister being crowned as the May Queen at her infant school. |
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Here we gaily sing As we blossom bring, Merry voices ring As we dance along the way; ’Tis a time of joy For each girl and boy, As we wind the Maypole today. In and out we go, Keeping step just so, And all honour show To our chosen one today. On the village green We will crown our queen As we wind the Maypole today. |
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The ultimate ‘feel good’ summer
song. Words and music by Ray Gilbert and Allie Wrubel with lyrics from the
Walt Disney 1946 animated film ‘Song of the South’. Find out more at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah . |
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Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay, My, oh my, what a wonderful day! Plenty of sunshine headin' my way, Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay. Mister Bluebird's on my shoulder. It's the truth, it's actual, Ev'rything is satisfactual. Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay, Wonderful feeling, wonderful day! Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay, My, oh my, what a wonderful day! Plenty of sunshine headin' my way, Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay. |
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