In this song the kids pretend they are sleeping bunnies then wake up and hop around. It has a build in resting period (the “still” part) and then action, the hopping. The big finish – “stop” sets the limits in the song and gets everyone to freeze.
How shall we wake them? With a merry tune.
Oh so still
are they ill?
Wake up little bunnies hop, hop, hop
Wake up little bunnies hop, hop, hop
Wake up little bunnies hop and stop!
Then I do a whole bunch of animals with this song – like:
– see the sleeping snakes – hiss, hiss, hiss.
– see the sleeping elephants – swing your trunk…swing and stop.
– see the sleeping dinosaurs (this is often a request from kids) – roar, roar, roar.
Taking Poetic Yogic Liscence
We are taking Yogic liscence to go ahead with the song even though it doesn’t rhyme. The possibilities are endless for the animals you can do. I have done a whole lesson plan with kids from ages 1 1/2 – 5 with this song. Even older kids like it when there is the variety. Try one animal each class as part of a warm-up routine.
The kids give lots of animal ideas and I like to challenge myself to make them work.
Some times when the “stop” comes and everyone is frozen I walk around the room observing the poses everyone has frozen in and commenting on each one. This gives a little more time for them to hold the pose and keep themselves under control. It is also a great time to connect with each child, look them in the eye, and give them a compliment.
Or why not ask everyone to “stop” in a yoga pose at the end. Anything is possible.
“We live in a world we have imagined.”
Tulshi Sen, author, Ancient Secrets of Success for Todays World, p. 146
Imagination is the most powerful tool you can use for teaching pre-schoolers.
When we activate our imaginations and feel the freedom to change things and make things up we can really have a lot of fun doing it.
Aruna Kathy Humphrys
www.YoungYogaMasters.com
© K. Humphrys
