Instead of story time, this past month I performed a ukulele sing-along for my moms group. It was pretty well-attended, and there were a good number of kids ranging in age from a few months old to four years old. Below is my set list from the performance, along with the chords for each song in the key in which I played it.
Hello, How Are You?
- Tune: Skip to My Lou
- Key: C
- Chords: C, G7
The Wheels on the Bus
- Key: D
- Chords: D, A7
- Notes: For the first time ever, Little Miss Muffet did all the motions to this song!
Bumpin' Up and Down in My Little Red Wagon
- Key: F
- Chords: F, C7
The Itsy Bitsy Spider
- Key: A
- Chords: A, E7
You Are My Sunshine
- Key: C
- Chords: C, F, Am, G7
- Notes: This is the song during which all the children old enough to walk got up and left the pavilion and headed for the playground. Apparently this is not that much of a favorite after all.
Butterfly Gals
- Tune: Buffalo Gals; also available on Spotify.
- Key: C
- Chords: C, G7
- Notes: We acted this one out, and most of the kids did at least half of the motions. I was originally going to play this in G, but at the last minute decided to play it in a key I am more comfortable in.
Aikendrum
- Tune: Available on Spotify.
- Key: A
- Chords: A, E7
- Notes: I did this as a cumulative song, since I knew most of the kids wouldn't know it and wanted them to have enough repetitions of each verse that they could learn it quickly and start to sing along. Not all of the kids were into it, but the oldest among them were definitely with me until the end.
ABCs / Twinkle Twinkle Little Star / Baa Baa Black Sheep
- Key: G
- Chords: G, C, D7
- Notes: One of the moms signed the alphabet and Twinkle Twinkle for her daughter, which I loved.
Chickadee
- Tune: Available on Spotify.
- Key: C
- Chords: C, F, G7
- Notes: This didn't work for me on ukulele, and had this not been a ukulele sing-along, I'd have preferred to sing it a cappella. One of the kids and his mom were really into it, but I had pretty much lost the other kids by this point.