Mr. Alligator here is part of a set of animal puppets I received as a Christmas present a few years ago. (I owe my family members big time for helping me grow my music therapy instrument and prop collection when I first started my career!) They are quite an eclectic bunch (the puppets, not my family members) and don’t have a whole lot in common, so I’ve struggled in the past with coming up for good uses with them.
Here they are in their little drawer: a lamb, parrot, rabbit, bear, mouse, and alligator. See what I mean when I said eclectic? They all live in different environments, so I couldn’t do a “forest” or “jungle” song…or could I?
That’s when I got the idea to combine all of those different environments into 1 song, using one of my personal favorites as a template. Here’s my animal puppet version of “In the Jungle” — which can easily be adapted to include any puppets or stuffed animals you have lying around!
In the jungle, the mighty jungle
The parrot sings tonight,
In the jungle, the mighty jungle
The parrot sings tonight.
In the jungle, the mighty jungle
The parrot sings tonight,
In the jungle, the mighty jungle
The parrot sings tonight.
In the swamp, the mighty swamp
The alligator sings tonight,
In the swamp, the mighty swamp
The alligator sings tonight.
In the forest, the might forest
The bear sings tonight,
In the forest, the might forest
The bear sings tonight.
In the farm, the mighty farm
The lamb sings tonight,
In the farm, the mighty farm
The lamb sings tonight.
In the backyard, the mighty backyard
The rabbit sings tonight,
In the backyard, the mighty backyard
The rabbit sings tonight.
In the house, the mighty house
The cat sings tonight,
In the house, the mighty house
The cat sings tonight.
My students get such a kick out of making their puppet “sing” when it’s his or her turn during the song…but probably not as the kick my pup Sadie got out of Mr. Bear:
I can get away with a gratuitous picture of my dog because this post is animal-related, right? Ha! I’m curious: how do you get musical with puppets and animals? I’m looking for more ways to incorporate them, just because they are always such a hit. Do share!
So cute, Rachel! I always look forward to your blog posts – you are so creative. :)
I have very similar animal puppets – in fact, I’m pretty sure I have the same alligator. Mine were purchased from the dollar store, but I’ve recently seen some in the $1 section at Michael’s.
I’ve used the puppets with well-known songs like “Down on Grandpa’s Farm” & “Old McDonald.” I’ve also used it with a song I learned from a MT graduate class called “Let’s Sing a Song About a Horse, Horse, Horse.” Laurie Berkner also has a cute song called “Farm Song” that could work with some of the animals! Also, “When Ducks Get Up in the Morning (they always say good day)” – that one would be really cute!
Also, Laurie Berkner has a version of “Wimoweh” on one of her CDs that gave me an idea for a movement song. Have children lay down & “sleep” during the lyrics “In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight.” Then the “Wimoweh” section will be fast & upbeat for the children to dance to! Then they will have to follow the music for cues for sleeping or dancing. Super cute!
Thanks for all the great ideas, Kristen! You’ve given me lots of songs to check out. I LOVE the LBB “Wimoweh” movement idea — how fun! I’m gonna try it this afternoon, actually :)
I use “Where, Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone” with my dog puppet to work on prepositional words (behind, in front, under, over, top, bottom, etc). It’s fun because the animal can be moved “behind” the child and can then sing to him/her from behind. Giving them this actual visual is great and seems to help. Additionally, I use my frog one with “um-ah went the little green frog one day” and “5 Green and Speckled Frogs.” I also have a bear and recently picked up a new animal bath glove at a garage sale that I plan to use (it’s also a bear). Gotta be resourceful! :)
Nice, Jessica! I’ve done a similar prepositional activity with puppets, but I never thought to use that song and change the words to match whichever animal I’m using. I have a little frog “glove” with fuzzy frogs that attach with velcro to each finger that I use for “5 Green & Speckled Frogs”. Definitely agree with the importance of resourcefulness!
I like to do animal song mash-ups. So I might start doing “Down on Grandpa’s” farm about a dog (for example) then switch to the “If I Could Talk Like A…” song and do both per puppet/animal. Works great with kids who have a delayed response and need more time to process.
Hilarious! I use puppets when I use Laurie Berkner’s song “Pig on Your Head”, which is also a PERFECT song to incorporate kids names! They love it!!