“Bodies 1-2-3” by Peter and Ellen Allard from the CD “Sing It! Say It! Stamp It! Sway It!”
Vol. 2 available on iTunes
Sometimes you want a very simple, very easy movement song that children can follow easily and doesn’t require a lot of explanation. And one that children will have fun with! That’s “Bodies 1-2-3,” which is one of my standbys.
Is there any young child out there who doesn’t like to wiggle? The minute I say, “This is a song about wiggling,” I can see them getting excited. In the song’s verses, we wiggle our fingers, bend our knees, sway our arms, blink our eyes, march our legs, shrug our shoulders, and make up our own dances! That’s a lot of movement for one relatively short song!
And what else is a guaranteed child-pleaser? How about stopping and freezing? Each verse ends with the clear auditory signal, “Stop!” They’re listening carefully because they love to freeze in a silly position!
I love to notice and compliment children on the dances they invent at the end of the song. It’s a great opportunity to reinforce their creative thinking skills.
“Bodies 1-2-3” is one of those songs that brings everything you want in a movement song together. Try it and it’ll soon be one of your standbys too!