The Animal Cleanup Song

With a made-up song, each verse names a piece of equipment and an animal, and children put that equipment away moving like the animal. It builds rhythm, animal imitation and a cleanup habit.

How to play

1. Teach the song to a simple tune: “Hoops, hoops, who will put them away? The bunnies will, hopping all the way!” (2 min).
2. Sing the verse while everyone gathers hoops, hopping like bunnies to the bin (2 min).
3. Second verse: “Balls, balls… the penguins will, waddling all the way!” (2 min).
4. Add verses for the rest of the equipment: slow elephants for sticks, butterflies for scarves, bears on all fours for cones (3 min).
5. Last verse: “Everything's put away, who will sit today? The boys and girls, quiet as can stay!” and sit down (1 min).

Rules

• Only pick up what the song says.
• When the song stops, we stop.
• Each thing goes in its bin.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: the child is in charge of a bin, receiving items and placing them inside.
• Hearing impairment: show a picture of the animal and the item for each verse.
• Autism: always keep the same verses in the same order.

Learning goals

• Match movement to the rhythm of a song.
• Imitate animal movements.
• Build the habit of cleaning up.

Equipment for a class of 25

• Class equipment
• Bins: 4

Teacher tip

Keep bins in a fixed place with a photo of the equipment taped on. Singing the same song daily means they'll eventually start cleaning up at the first line.

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