Counting Time: Umbrellas

by | Listen & Learn Music, Uncategorized

Rain, rain, go away! I’ve been singing that tune an awful lot this month, which means I’ve also spent a good amount of time counting umbrellas with my students. Of course I’d rather be counting things like suns, sunglasses, and flowers, but I’m just happy to be through with snowflakes, jackets, and mittens. I’ll take what I can get!

Counting time, it’s counting time,
So let’s all sing this simple rhyme.
Ten little umbrellas, in a row,
Now let’s count them nice and slow:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
6, 7, 8, 9, 10.
Again!
1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
6, 7, 8, 9, 10.

How many umbrellas?
Ten little umbrellas,
All lined up in a row.

I think I probably have ten umbrellas between my car, house, and office at school. You’ll never know when you’ll need one next!

Ten Little…Eggs!

by | Uncategorized

I know we just counted bunnies yesterday, but I had to share this cute book with you that just happens to feature counting, as well. It’s called Ten Little Eggs by Jean Marzollo, and the best thing about this book is the 3-D colored eggs on each page. As the story progresses, a bird hatches from each egg…take a look:

This continues until there are no eggs left, just birds.


I made up a simple little tune to go along with this story, but really anything will do. All of the verses rhyme, which makes it nice and simple. This is the perfect book for my kiddos who are working on counting, because the objects being counted are pretty and tactile.

Oh, and about those bunnies we were counting yesterday…they must read my blog, because yesterday when I looked out my office window, I saw five of them sitting neatly in a row on my lawn. I tried to get a picture of them, but they scampered off too soon. I did manage to get two of them, though:


Too cute! Sometimes I feel like I live in a Disney movie, because my yard is always full of birds, bunnies, and all kinds of other cute little animals :)

Counting Time: Bunnies

by | Listen & Learn Music


Easter is on its way, which means we’ve been singing about all things related. Bunnies are an especially hot topic, and that is what we’re counting today. Here we go!

Counting time, it’s counting time,
So let’s all sing this simple rhyme.
Ten little bunnies in a row,
Now let’s count them nice and slow:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.
Again!
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.

How many bunnies?
Ten little bunnies.
All lined up in a row!

What songs or activities do you use around Easter? I know that at many schools, celebrating certain holidays is not allowed…good thing there are plenty of spring songs out there if this is the case! I have a great book I’ll share with you tomorrow, so make sure you stop by and check it out. Have a fantastic day!

Ten Little Shamrocks

by | Listen & Learn Music, Uncategorized

St. Patrick’s Day is just around the corner, so today I thought we’d count shamrocks. If you’re a regular here at Listen & Learn, you should be very familiar with this tune by now. But if you’re new, welcome! Won’t take you long to catch on to this simple tune. It’s counting time, so off we go:

Counting time, it’s counting time,
So let’s all sing this simple rhyme.
Ten little shamrocks in a row,
Now let’s count them nice and slow.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.
Again!
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.

How many shamrocks?
Ten little shamrocks.
All lined up in a row.

My husband and I will be in Chicago over the weekend for his company’s awards banquet, which means we’ll also be able to catch the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. It should be a fun day! In the meantime, this is quite a busy week and I have lots to do, so goodbye for now :)

Ten Little Hearts

by | Listen & Learn Music

It’s almost time for Valentine’s Day, so I have a few love-ly songs on tap just for this occasion. The first one is part of my monthly “Counting Time” series, which features the same basic song, with a different seasonal item to count. This month, we are counting hearts, of course!

Counting time, it’s counting time,
So let’s all sing this simple rhyme.
Ten little hearts in a row,
Now let’s count them nice and slow!

1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
6, 7, 8, 9, 10.
Again.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
6, 7, 8, 9, 10.

How many hearts?
Ten little hearts.
All lined up in a row.

If you’re an educator or parent, you already know that children love repetition and familiarity. Even though I sing this song every week (introducing new items each month), my students never get tired of pointing to each item while counting aloud with me. And for those who are just learning to count, or are working on the use of their pointer finger, it is great reinforcement.

It’s a dreary day here in central Illinois, but I’ll take a thunderstorm over negative temperatures any day! Only a few more weeks until lovely, lovely spring, and you better believe I’ll have a whole slew of songs to go right along with it. But until then, have a wonderful day and see you tomorrow.