Using Song Baskets with Toddlers

Raise your hand if you find yourself casually singing throughout your day with children, bonus points if you turn songs into directions! Guilty!! I think the most common use of this is the “Clean Up” song that we all know and probably use daily. Sing it with me now: Clean up, clean up, everybody everywhere, everybody do your share!

There is a reason we see children respond so quickly when you turn things into songs. Using music for direction giving or teaching fires both sides of the brain. If you use common tunes, like using Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star but change the words to what you are teaching, children are able to focus on the words sung instead of learning a complicated new tune. In the educational world, this has been refereed to as Piggyback Songs. Kids love and actually crave repetition especially in music! I love creating an environment where music is appreciated but also used as a teaching skill. Enter song baskets!

My nanny charges love music. My Spotify stats will prove this fact! The kids both have favorites that we listen to over and over. Because they are so familiar with a handful of songs, I thought it would be fun to create a few song baskets with their favorites.

What’s a Song Basket?

A song basket contains small objects that pertain to the song you want to highlight, like farm animals for Old McDonald, along with the lyrics sheet and any other objects needed to create a scene appropriate to the song.

How are Song Baskets Used?

In a classroom setting you might find baskets on a shelf where children are free to set up the scene and sing the song together. A teacher might also use a song basket during circle time to introduce a new song or topic.

In the home, a song basket is a wonderful addition to a playroom shelf or used during story time.

What Type of Song Makes a Good Song Basket?

I would say that any song that uses repetition makes a perfect basket! Songs that have animals, counting, or a story make the best baskets in my opinion.

What Skills Can Be Taught with a Song Basket?

The sky is the limit! My charges are really into 5 Little Ducks (hence why its in the printable!)which is the perfect example of a counting song using a repeating pattern of removing ducks and bringing them back. You’ll also find a color song and animal noises song in this printable!

Here’s an example of a 5 Green and Speckled Frogs song basket being used. Since we have sang the song over and over, the kids are able to set up the scene to act out independently.

Let me share the three baskets available in today’s FREE printable! Each song has a scene sheet, lyric sheet, and all the figures needed.

Since my charges are younger, I laminated the lyrics onto the scene sheet since they are mostly for me at this point! The lyric sheets are a wonderful tool for readers to use.

This is a new to me song called Have You Ever Seen a Blue Frog? Sung to the tune of Have You Ever Seen a Lassie, it is one of those piggy back color songs that kids love to sing over and over! Anytime you can add motions like hopping to a song it’s a winner for my friends!

Like I said, we are big fans of 5 Little Ducks. It has to be all the quacking!

If you’re tired of singing Old McDonald, may I suggest Cows in the Barn. Sung to the tune of The Wheels on the Bus (another GREAT song basket selection!) you will make all the animal noises you could ever want and more! These pieces would also work with Old McD.