Rhythmic chants & songs for toddler

May 5, 2020 8:50 PM

Our nineteen month-old really loves jump rope chants, and songs or even poems with a similar fast and highly rhythmic sound. For example, two of her favorites are Engine, Engine Number 9 (though our version is different) and Moses Supposes from Singin’ in the Rain. What else ya got?

We know Miss Mary Mack, Teddy Bear Teddy Bear and some of the other more common ones, but please feel free to assume our ignorance of anything else!

posted by lieber hair to Grab Bag (19 answers total)

The Rain in Spain? That's a tango, maybe bit slower tempo than you are looking for, but wordplay like Moses Supposes.
posted by JonJacky at 8:55 PM on May 5, 2020

The Lady 👩 with the Alligator 🐊 Purse 👜
posted by roger ackroyd at 10:16 PM on May 5, 2020 [2 favorites]

Are 5 Little Monkeys and Open Shut Them too common?
posted by bananacabana at 10:19 PM on May 5, 2020

Stella Ella Ola
Flea Fly Mosquito
Six white horses on a rainbow
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
posted by nouvelle-personne at 10:30 PM on May 5, 2020

Miss Lucy had a steamboat?
posted by inexorably_forward at 10:43 PM on May 5, 2020 [1 favorite]

75% of what my toddler granddaughter wants to listen to is some version of Baby Shark. (I know. But she LOVES it and asks for it, by name, and has daily, for MONTHS. Ugh.) Pinkfong anything makes her happy. They do a lot of variations on children's songs, rhymes, and camp songs. She'll also ask for Scooby Doo cartoons and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse by name, and I'm convinced it's because of the music. At 17 months, she's more music/dance/beat-focused than I remember my kids ever being.

She also really has a thing for both Old McDonald and BINGO, and again, I think it's the rhythm to them that makes them attractive.

I'm trying to convince her Beethoven's Wig and the ilk are her new favorites... my kids loves them, but she's still a bit young, I think.
posted by stormyteal at 12:14 AM on May 6, 2020

the rooster crows has a bunch of them.
posted by brujita at 1:12 AM on May 6, 2020

there's a worm* at the bottom of the garden
and his name is Wiggly Woo
there's a worm at the bottom of the garden
and all that he can do
is wiggle all night
and wiggle all day -
the people who live round here all saaaay...

there's a worm at the bottom of the garden
and his name is Wiggly
Wig-Wig-Wiggly
Wig-Wig-Wiggly-Woooooo

* not everyone appreciates Mr Tumble, click at your own risk

my kids also use to enjoy A Sailor Went to Sea-Sea-Sea, very easy to add your own variations to this one
posted by rd45 at 2:18 AM on May 6, 2020

Three little fishies!
posted by lollusc at 3:33 AM on May 6, 2020

My 18 month old loves Sarasponda (we do it faster than this) and A Ram Sam Sam (literall hundreds of examples and variations for this one).
posted by Knicke at 4:02 AM on May 6, 2020

Miss Sue from Alabama
Down By The Bay (where the watermelons grow)
posted by 8603 at 4:23 AM on May 6, 2020

Llama Llama, Ludacris style

Also Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven has great rhythm and is fun to read fast! Never too soon to start on the classics.
posted by trig at 4:26 AM on May 6, 2020

Wikipedia’s entry on Skipping Rope Rhymes has several.
posted by sciencegeek at 4:43 AM on May 6, 2020

If my Twitter feed is anything to go off of, many little kids enjoy the Hamilton soundtrack for this reason. There's mild language in the opening number, but it's super rhythmic and fast and catchy!
posted by coppermoss at 5:38 AM on May 6, 2020

The Dr. Seuss book Fox in Socks has a lot of these. There's also a cool rap version on youtube.
posted by FencingGal at 6:13 AM on May 6, 2020 [2 favorites]

Via FencingGal's link, the same Dr. Seuss books over Dr. Dre beats project has Green Eggs and Ham.
posted by spamandkimchi at 7:48 AM on May 6, 2020

Shimmy Shimmy Koko Bop, AKA Down, Down, Baby. The original version, the version performed by Tom Hanks in the movie Big, and the Nelly version. All delightful in their own ways. Mix and match parts of each as appropriate.
posted by cilantro at 8:03 AM on May 6, 2020

OK, I was a weird kid, but for those purposes I loved the "patter songs" of Gilbert and Sullivan. E.g., "I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General," "When I Was a Lad, I Served a Term," "My Eyes Are Fully Open to My Awful Situation," etc. The melodies can be completely omitted, as they're often just a bunch of repeated notes. The point is to get the words in the right rhythm, as fast as you can. And the words are delightfully silly, especially when you're stretching for a rhyme.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 4:33 PM on May 6, 2020 [3 favorites]

Danny Kaye was great at "patter". She might be a bit young for some of it, but here's a famous example on youtube.
posted by gudrun at 12:03 PM on May 8, 2020 [1 favorite]