- To teach body parts I like to use "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes". It makes it more fun and engaging for the child. I also like "Rain is Falling All Around" (found at this link) to work on basic body parts. (This song is on lds.org in the children's song book.)
- "Old MacDonald had a Farm" is great for the kids that are working on basic words or signs. I like to play with a farm puzzle
or farm
toys when singing it so that the child has a visual for the words.
- Any song with repetition is great for children who are just learning first words. "Row, Row, Row your Boat", "Five Little Speckled Frogs", "Five Little Monkeys Swinging in the Tree", etc. Kids love to sing and be sung to. After singing the song through once with the child (doing actions if you want), start singing and pause when you get to a part of the repetition
"Row, row, [pause], row your boat. Gently down the stream merrily, merrily, [pause] merrily, merrily. Life is but a [pause] dream."
"Five little speckled [pause] frogs sat on a speckled [pause] log eating the most delicious bugs. One jumped into the [pause] pool where it was nice and [pause] cool. Now there are [pause] four green speckled [pause] frogs."
Give the child a chance to fill in the word (even an approximation is great) or request that you continue by using vocalizations or signs ("please" or "more"). You can do this with any of your favorite repetitive children's songs.
