This month’s song is Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed. The board book by Eileen Christelow is a favorite of mine as well.
Have you noticed a trend? All of my favorite songs involve gestures, pretend play, and a book!
That is because singing isn’t just about singing; it is about playing!
“Music has a power that goes beyond words. The pleasure of sharing music builds connections between parent and child as sounds and rhythms surround the child in a world of sensations and feelings. Music also offers a joyful and rewarding learning experience and nurtures a child’s imagination and creativity.”
“Beyond Twinkle, Twinkle: Using Music with Infants and Toddlers” from Zero to Three, August 8, 2016.
Five Little Monkeys is no different. I love using this song to cover a wide range of play activities. It’s hard to get bored with this song.
Babies. Love. Phones!
Props: phones, dolls, doctor kit
This is a good song to use when playing with a phone. Let’s sing a song about what the phone is for—making a phone call! I like to play pretend with a baby doll using a play doctor’s kit. There is no shortage of pretend phones on the market, but…
I have an issue with 99% of play phones, though. Sometimes, all the bells and whistles added to the phone to make it appealing to toddlers (lights and sounds) make it so distracting that playing pretend phone with it is impossible. You’re trying to model putting it to your ear and saying “hello,” and they’re fixated on mashing the button to make the lights start blinking.
If you are trying to teach them that this object represents a real object (phone), you need it to look like and act like a real phone. I prefer to play pretend with a phone with minimal lights, sounds, and colors. Black or grey with buttons and no farm animals or color games.
Because we have important work to do. This monkey is about to bump his head, and we will need to call the doctor!
Bonus: When you sing, “No more monkeys,” be sure to wag your little finger dramatically back and forth in a way that is impossible not to imitate.
Developmental skills that could be included:
- Jumping in place
- Counting monkeys
- Repeating phrases
- Identifying body parts, your head
- Identifying “mama”
- Playing pretend with the doctor’s props
- Playing pretend with the phone
- Pretend to go to sleep
- Pretend to fall and be hurt
- Read the book
There is so much pretending goodness jam-packed into this song!!!
Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed
Five little monkeys jumping on the bed,
One fell off and bumped his head.
Mama called the doctor, and the doctor said,
“No more monkeys jumping on the bed!”
(Repeat as you count down from five monkeys to no more monkeys.)
Looking for more “Five Little Monkeys” fun? Michigan State University MSU Child and Family Extension offers a family book sheet for download and might just be what you are looking for.
Michigan State University MSU Child and Family Extension “Five Little Monkeys Family Book Sheet” can be accessed at https://www.canr.msu.edu/resources/five-little-monkeys-family-book-sheet
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