*STONES HILL SONGS* is a growing resource of original songs for young children, self-published by experienced music teacher/ occupational therapist/ songwriter LIZ CAMPBELL. The goal is to stimulate real-time body-and-voice musical experience in classrooms. Demo-style presentation is simple and easy for teachers to look-listen-copy. They are not suitable as fancy backing tracks! SUBSCRIBE, "LIKE" and SHARE with other interested teachers. Let the SONG and DANCE continue!
*from STONES HILL STORIES*
This story has its song set to the famous 'Can-can' tune by Offenbach. Lie back, put your feet up, close your eyes and listen: story-telling with no pictures attached has countless benefits for children, developing acute listening skills; ability to sustain focus and attention; and imagination.
This tale tells how seeming disaster and undoing can be the very whirlwind needed to make us alive!
I recorded it back in 2004; today it seems truer than ever.
Explore the collection of Stones Hill songs-and -dances for children listed below - share them with people whom you know will use and enjoy them. Please acknowledge source and composer if piece is used for public performance - copyright Liz Campbell, Stones Hill songs. Feedback would also be appreciated - how the song works for you, how you may have used it: liz.jessam@gmail.com
Children love songs about insects, creepy crawlies and small intriguing creatures. As we sing about them, we can also teach the next generation to protect and value these essential organisms on this planet. Much has been written in the scientific world about the devastating impact humans have had on our environment, to our own detriment, with our thoughtless use of toxic insecticides, pesticides and other poisonous-cides. Most households have an array of chemical sprays and powders which are often used with gay abandon, a large pinch of ignorance and sometimes small and curious hands that should not be able to reach that shelf, but do.
The current plight of honey bees the world over lends urgency to this topic. I recommend (for interested adults) a brilliantly researched though deeply sobering book written back in the 1950s by Rachel Carson, addressing this very issue. More than ever, her message needs to be heard and heeded. 'Silent Spring' refers to the silence which descended in areas struck by death-en- masse of entire colonies of birds following indiscriminate campaigns by authorities on 'pests' and 'weeds'.
Dr.Seuss's fantastical story of the Lorax will invite re-reading countless times by young and old alike as it follows the crazy, doomed downward spiral that is the inevitable consequence of an economy of consumption. With each reading we hope for an alternative ending... there is always the last 'truffula seed' in this tale...
Em C D What about the insects and what about the bees? Em C D
Just a moment please while I fall down on my knees Em C D
And have a little sneeze (aatishoo!) and hold my nose and wheeze (do just this) Em D Em
And PUT AWAY THE BUG SPRAY PLEEEAAAZE! buzz buzz
Em C D
We need those insects and bees to farm Em C D
We need to hold back from doing them harm Em C D
The world is our web with place enough for all Em C D
Protect and respect both the great and the small Em D Em
And PUT AWAY THE BUG SPRAY PLEEEAAAZE! buzz buzz { optional extra line: Forget about the 5-G speed!!} this referring to the controversial introduction of super-fast wifi to the detriment of bee, bird and insect activity - a further subject..
This song has a refrain that you can play with endlessly between verses. It is something I learnt on an Orff Schulwerk music course from Sophia Lopez-Ibor who introduced this technique in another song. The principle is the same: it's about reading, reading animals left to right as we would words. We learn to read 4 in a row rhythmically, keeping the beat while fitting in words with different numbers of syllables.
Generally I repeat each set 4 times as this makes some musical sense (phrasing). You can then quickly switch and re-arrange the order for further fun. Then begin by removing one which becomes a silent space (called a rest in music). Then remove another... the play of syllables, sequences and rests are infinite, each one with its own rhythmic pattern. Sometimes it's useful to use a pointer, like a cursor, indicating each animal in turn, in time, as it's named.
Here are a few examples to get you going:
BUTTERFLY BEE CATERPILLAR SPIDER
X4
SPIDER CATERPILLAR BUTTERFLY BEE
X4
SPIDER BUTTERFLY BEE
X4
ETC. Play with it yourself by saying the words and sensing their natural rhythms before taking it to your classes. You can also have two different 'sentences' running together for two different groups. The overlay of rhythmic patterns from two groups is particularly mesmerizing.
A serious song about a sobering subject, but lots of fun to be had with the name patterns as well.
Explore the collection of Stones Hill songs-and -dances for children listed below - share them with people whom you know will use and enjoy them. Please acknowledge source and composer if piece is used for public performance - copyright Liz Campbell, Stones Hill songs. Feedback would also be appreciated - how the song works for you, how you may have used it: liz.jessam@gmail.com
This is an old folk song passed down by oral tradition over many generations. Its charm and simplicity have stood the test of time and to this day it evokes a magical unfolding of nature that captures any child's imagination. What makes it so special is the fact that all the elements are good and 'fine'.
The tune is well shaped and gently repetitive, lending itself to some improvised embellishment if the teacher so wishes. It's worth modulating up if possible to stretch both the voice and the ear. It can be sung gently, without hurry, using pause and 'rubato' as if telling a tale - which is exactly what it is doing. It is a song with a story.
The song gathers momentum, accumulating along the way. This practice using sequencing and memory is a well-loved as a classic children's game. The accompanying movements helps to reinforce the patterning and can be performed in dance-like fashion.
Several versions have been demonstrated to accompany 'the green grass growing all around' - the choice is up to the teacher depending on the age and ability of the group. I have used it with very young ages all the way up to 8/ 9 year olds.
All in the wood there was a tree
the finest tree you ever did see
the tree was in the ground
and the green grass grew all around, all around
the green grass grew all around
Now on this tree there was a branch
the finest branch you ever did see
the branch was on the tree....
Now on this branch there was a twig.....
Now on this twig there were some leaves....
Now in the leaves there was a nest....
Now in the nest there was an egg....
Now in the egg there was a bird....
Explore the collection of Stones Hill songs listed below - share them with people whom you know will use and enjoy them. Please acknowledge source and composer if piece is used for public performance - copyright Liz Campbell, Stones Hill songs. Feedback would also be appreciated - how the song works for you, how you may have used it: liz.jessam@gmail.com
Following a week of singing and dancing with children at Jujurha pre-school in Bulungula, this song emerged as a focus for dealing with the present plastic crisis that affects us all, everywhere. Effective management of our everyday waste requires the same attention as other basic daily
needs, and the children were quick to see how the eco-brick could be one solution towards helping address this. Made into a fun song, the task of pushing plastic scraps into the 2 liter bottles became surprisingly meaningful and satisfying, especially when done as a group initiative with a view to using the bricks for a building project for the school (never mind that it's a perfect activity for developing fine motor co-ordination, bilateral motor co-ordination, praxia and a host of other impressive developmental tasks for small digits).
Watch the following link to find out more about eco-brick activity in Makahanda:
This clear, informative sign was posted at Buccaneer's backpackers, Chintsa:
Any or all parts of the following song can be used in different combinations, depending on the ages of the children involved. The bottles were taken home to be used as a bin for plastic/ foil. And this is only the start as we find ourselves at the critical point where our daily toxic rubbish needs to be beaten into building blocks for our future (as swords too can be beaten into ploughshares) before it swamps our environment.
You pick-a-pick a bottle and you pick-a-pick a stick and you pick-a-pick-up rubbish and pick plastic and you stick it in the bottle and you stick it with your stick You push it and you stick it and you make a plastic brick (do this bit slowly, story-telling style, while introducing the bottle/stick/ plastic idea. Use drama to pick up plastic scraps and feed them into a bottle)
A plastic bottle eco-brick - it's a plastic bottle eco-brick A plastic bottle eco-brick - it's a plastic bottle eco-brick (this is simple version with no passing, make up rhythm patterns on bottle) Pass the bottle - pass the stick - make a little beat going tic-tic-tic Pass the bottle - pass the stick - make a little beat on the eco-brick (a passing game, and a useful way of distributing the bottles round a circle) The rubbish that we drop gets caught in the trees It blows in the wind and lands in the sea It tangles with the turtles, gets swallowed by the fish Lands up in the food on your your very own dish (lead this line by line, children copying your words and actions)
The video recording for this song is not intended as a backing track or for listening entertainment: it has been simply and clearly recorded so that teachers can learn it as easily as possible. It can be sung with no accompaniment except the bottles for percussion. Optional guitar can be added but is not essential.
Further songs that are useful with the bottle theme:
- 10 plastic bottles sitting on the floor (a la 10 green bottles sitting on a wall)
- Building up a house (part of the Stones Hill Song collection)
The song came about at Jujurha pre-school in Bulungula, in the Amathole district of the Wild Coast, South Africa. The school is one of the several community projects run by the Bulungula Incubator - a rural development NGO https://bulungulaincubator.org/
Explore the collection of Stones Hill songs-and -dances for children listed below - share them with people whom you know will use and enjoy them. Please acknowledge source and composer if piece is used for public performance - copyright Liz Campbell, Stones Hill songs. Feedback would also be appreciated - how the song works for you, how you may have used it: liz.jessam@gmail.com
This song celebrates the change of season, noticing changes that take place around us as winter moves into spring. We do children a great service, teaching them to pay attention to what's happening around them in nature, appreciating birdsong, bee activity, growth of trees, leaf and flowers.
Once again I sing it in my plain voice, encouraging teachers and class facilitators to do the same. There is much merit in unaccompanied singing, without flashy backing track. It trains and tunes the ear like nothing else so launch in boldly!
Start by playing with the word SPRING! Sprong, sprang, sprung, sproong, spreng.... each with its own gesture of hands and face (our primary communicating tools along with voice). Have fun, be dramatic.
I would teach the song line by line, letting the children echo after me to find the simple words and tune. They will pick it up quickly with its repetitive patterns and sequences.
Once established, stand up and add a little turn around dance for the la-di-da bit. Or work in partners, mirror the actions and do a little dance linking arms in each twosome. It all depends on the number and age of the children you have in a group. Do whatever works easiest!
Spring is sprung the grass is green
La di da di dadida dee
Birds are singing in the trees
La di da di dadida dee
Flowers grow for busy bees
La di da di dadida dee
Explore the collection of Stones Hill songs-and -dances for children listed below - share them with people whom you know will use and enjoy them. Please acknowledge source and composer if piece is used for public performance - copyright Liz Campbell, Stones Hill songs. Feedback would also be appreciated - how the song works for you, how you may have used it: liz.jessam@gmail.com
This song borrows part tune and part lyrics from an unknown source, perhaps familiar to some teachers. Here it's developed and gallops off in a slightly different direction, as songs often do over time.
It's best sung unaccompanied as presented in the demo-video, leaving the teacher free to set the pace, employ story-telling drama and lead the accompanying actions. Whether you do it sitting down or get up and run about in the middle is entirely up to you -you know your group best. Enjoy the sssshhhhh! quiet at the end!
There are ducks in the meadow and when everybody's out
All the ducks make their noises as they quack and flap about NOISE AND FLAPPING!
The farmer comes back home and says: WHAT'S ALL THIS NOISY RIOT?!
Gives feed, gives water, pats them all – and suddenly-shhhhhhh!! - it’s quiet....
There are horses in the meadow and when everybody’s out
All the horses make their noises as they gallop all about NEIGH AND GALLOP!
The farmer comes back home and says: WHAT'S ALL THIS NOISY RIOT?!
Gives feed, gives water, pats them all – and suddenly-shhhhhhh!! - it’s quiet.....
There are pigs in the meadow and when everybody’s out
All the pigs make their noises as they frolic all about...
There are cows in the meadow and when everybody’s out
All the cows make their noises as they plod and moo about...
Explore the collection of Stones Hill songs-and -dances for children listed below - share them with people whom you know will use and enjoy them. Please acknowledge source and composer if piece is used for public performance - copyright Liz Campbell, Stones Hill songs. Feedback would also be appreciated - how the song works for you, how you may have used it: liz.jessam@gmail.com
This song arose in a preschool class that had as its theme: farm animals. Animal life in many forms is the starting point for learning countless lessons from a very young age. Most children naturally love animals and many are lucky enough to keep pets at home.
Sadly a tendency of neglect, and even beating or abusing animals can creep in once the initial 'honeymoon' phase of the new pet is over. This is unfortunately topical in parts of South Africa where I live, and I hope this song cultivates in some children a compassionate awareness and respect towards the animals in their care.
Donkeys are particularly close to my heart as I have a resident team of 5 'rescue' donkeys who live with me..
Introduce the song with discussion on any of the above themes, appropriate to the age in your class. Use the simple actions to accompany the words. Teach it echo-style line by line after speaking it through initially in story-telling style. The tune is borrowed from other songs so may already be familiar to you. Have confidence in your own voice - no backing track is needed: you are the best voice that your children will want to hear!
C F C If I had a
donkey , I’d treat it like my friend G C G C
I’d stroke
it and I’d pat it, and love it to the end C G C G
I’ll give it
food and water, take care when it gets sick C F G C
And never
EVER EVER kick or hit him with a stick!
Puppy
dog -
kitten - pony
- chicken
Explore the collection of Stones Hill songs-and -dances for children listed below - share them with people whom you know will use and enjoy them. Please acknowledge source and composer if piece is used for public performance - copyright Liz Campbell, Stones Hill songs. Feedback would also be appreciated - how the song works for you, how you may have used it: liz.jessam@gmail.com
