I’m In the Mood for Music (traditional)
Self-regulation, body awareness, literacy (leaving out words), greeting song
Lyrics:
I’m in the mood for music, hey how ‘bout you? (3x)
Hey, hey, what do you say, I’m in the mood for that today,
Hey, hey, what do you say, I’m in the mood for that.
Comments:
This is a good song for beginning a class. It is open-ended in that you can be in the mood for clapping, tapping, stomping, even poison ivy (scratching yourself!). If you stop singing and just tap a rhythm, children will come up with different tapping and clapping ideas and sequences, and you can have the class try out each others’ ideas.
You could also be in the mood for different body parts (tapping them): I’m in the mood for shoulders, hey how ‘bout you? I’m in the mood for bellies, hey how ‘bout you?…
You could be in the mood for different movements that are in your class’s movement vocabulary: I’m in the mood for wipers on the bus, scissors, alligators, etc.
Leave out the word “music” and let children sing it. “I’m going to leave out the word “music” and you’re going to sing it instead of me. With five-year-olds, switch it around and have them leave out the word “music” so that it is silent. This is a great self-regulation technique, as it will be hard for some to resist singing it.
If the children are energized, do it as a stand up song, and use some of the ideas from Elephant In My Shoe (elsewhere on this webpage).
