ESL game that also includes: Potato Song, Peas Pudding Song, Fish Song, Little Piggy Song, Teddy Bear Song, 1, 2 Buckle My Shoe Song, Crazy Song and Shadows (adjust to all ages)

Have the children form a line or semicircle or circle and put their hands out palms up.

See all the piano keys?

Play the hand piano as you sing an English song. Gently slap each hand in turn.

Almost all kids know the Alphabet Song, some know Old Mac Donald and most in Korea know There Was a Farmer had a Dog and Bingo was his Name -O.

As you slap each hand you come closer to the end of the song. The last hand slapped is the next person to sing.

They can sing any song as long as it is in English.

Songs are whole language acquisition. Kids may not know all of the words and grammar in the song but they sort it out in time. Songs are powerful ESL games.

A variation is to have the kids make fists (potatoes) with their hands. Then play the fist piano, as before, or let kids do this in pairs. I play the potato song like this:

Potato Song:

One potato, 2 potatoes, 3 potatoes, four.

Five potatoes, 6 potatoes, 7 potatoes, more!

Mommy (Umma) I'm still hungry (bae-gup-da in Korean)!

Repeat several times until they get tired of it and change the children you play with or pair off. Boys tend to get rough by pounding to hurt if you don't scold them when they start up. When they are bored you can change to.....

Peas Pudding Song:

Peas pudding hot, peas pudding cold, peas pudding in the pot 9 days old, some like it hot (dopta) some like it cold (chupta) some like it in the pot 9 days old.

The Peas Pudding song has pairs of kids slapping hands (no fists) and their challenge is to slap and sing as fast as they can. This game is universally loved.

These songs are very repetitive but kids acquire several useful words. It is best to write them on the board at first as a reinforcer or song guide if the children are at this reading level.

Most Kindergarten and Phonics level kids cannot read these songs. Keep that in mind.

Fish Song:

1 2 3 4 5, once I caught a fish alive.

6 7 8 9 10, then I let it go again.

Why did you let it go?

Because it bit my finger so.

Which finger did it bite?

This little finger on the right.

Now sketch a nasty pirana type fish with big teeth and a little finger dripping a drop of blood. Children like to copy the song and pictures on a sheet of paper and then color it.

I learned this song from my little brother who was in preschool in Scotland. It contains a lot of basic English that can be acted out with hand motions (caught, let go, bit).

This Little Piggy Song:

This little piggy went to market (she-jang in Korean. Your fingers walk to market.)

This little piggy stayed home (jip)

This little piggy had fried rice (bo-gum-bap. Or use fried egg.)

This little piggy had none (ob-soy-yo. Now pretend to be sad.)

And this little piggy ran wee wee wee wee all the way home (jip-eh).

(Now tickle under the arm.)

This song or game's appeal is the suspense and young children love it. Mom taught it to me more than 40 years ago. The piggies are the children's fingers or toes. Can teach to one or a group.

The next song is similar in its suspense.

The Teddy Bear (gome in Korean) Song:

Round and round the circle goes the teddy bear (make circles on the child's palm with your finger)

1 step (fingers step along the arm)

2 step

Tickley under there (tickle under the arm).

Children like to sketch the activities of the pigs and bear on a sheet of paper with the song. Teacher can give them a model sketch on the board. This reinforces the song vocabulary. I collect these sketches with written songs and we pass them out for review several times a month. Children like to compare their funny sketches.

1, 2 Buckle My Shoe Song

One two buckle my shoe (Look for shoe, belt, bag and hair buckles in the class room.)
Three four shut the door (Do it.)
Five six pick up sticks (I use actual sticks to demonstrate this.)
Seven eight lay them straight (Jik-jin in Korean or duk-ba-row.)
Nine ten a big fat hen (Uma chicken in Korean.)

When teaching this song we all sketch and color the shoe and buckle, door, sticks, and finally the mother chicken on a sheet of paper with the lyrics. Children like to compare the sketches and we show an egg coming out the hen's bottom. Teacher keeps the song sheets as kids often lose them. Singing these short songs is a great way to start a class and review material. They will never forget them.

Crazy Song
(Crazy because phrases are not connected, but children still like the rhyme and there are a lot of opposites in the vocabulary).

Up down all around, we are going to the town.
High and low, here we go, we are playing in the snow.
Warm and cool in the pool, hot or cold so I'm told.
Big and small, see the doll ? Some are short and some are tall.
Long and short in the fort, soon the ship will be in port.
Soft and hard, use a tissue, pound a card.
Log, dog, hog, bog, cog, god, jog.

Finish!

Print this song in large font with much space between lines, then photocopy. Next ask the children to sketch each thing in Crazy Song under each word. Teacher provides model sketches on the board. I also ask kids to write the Korean word under each important word. Keep these sheets in a folder and use them for review and for other classes. When we chant this song we use our hands and arms to act out things.

Bog is difficult to explain but you can say wet garden. Cog is a word that is rarely taught. When you sketch it the kids recognize immediately. To sketch a god use a halo and the kids catch on to this as meaning spirit or divinity.

Shadows

Shadows short and shadows tall,

Shadows any size at all,

Grow and grow but never stay,

When the sun has gone away.

When the sun is at my back

There's my shadow long and black,

Stretching out before my feet,

As I walk along the street.

When I turn and face the sun,

If I walk or if I run,

There's my shadow long and black,

Stretching out behind my back.

Note: Authors of the Shadows song: Naria Rindelli, words and Paul Janicek, music

Copyright Robin Tim Day