Punchanlla Little Fellow ?

Children stand in a circle. Use a selection rhyme to choose a child to stand in the middle of the circle.

The children in the circle join hands and turn around the child in the centre in a clockwise direction.

As they turn they sing -

" What can you do Punchanella little fella ?

What can you do Punchanella little one ? "

The child in the centre performs an action anything the want - jumping, dancing,

turning around etc. ..............

As this child performs the chosen action they sing -

"I can do this Punchanella little fella.

I can do this Punchanella little ones."

The circle stops turning and, when the middle child has finished his/her action and rhyme, they perform the child's chosen action and sing -

" We can do that Punchanella little fella.

We can do that Punchanella little one"

The big ship sails through the eelie ally oh.

THE BIG SHIP SAILS THROUGH THE EELIE-ALLY-OH

The big ship sails through the eelie-ally-oh
The eelie-ally-oh, the eelie-ally-oh
Oh, the big ship sails through the eelie-ally-oh
On the last day of September.

The captain said it will never, never do
Never, never do, never, never do
The captain said it will never, never do
On the last day of September.

The big ship sank to the bottom of the sea
The bottom of the sea, the bottom of the sea
The big ship sank to the bottom of the sea
On the last day of September.

We all dip our heads in the deep blue sea
The deep blue sea, the deep blue sea.
We all dip our heads in the deep blue sea.
On the last day of September.

Game Instructions

The children make a line holding hands, the last one
puts his hand against a tree or against a wall to form an
arch. While singing, the line passes under the arch.The
last in line will be crossed around at this point because
the line will continue to snake around. They'll then go
under an arch formed by the arms of the second to last
child who is making an arch with the last child. They
continue this pattern until everyone's arms are crossed
and the first and last children's hands can join.

They then break off and make a circle and sing the
second verse while shaking their head "no". During the
third verse they crouch and straighten several times.
During the last verse they bend the heads forward as
low as possible.

Fishes in the Sea

The players stand in a circle.

They are alternately named Cod, Haddock, Plaice and Salmon.

One player is chosen to be the Fisherman.

This person is "it" and stands in the middle of the circle.

When a fish name is called, all the players in that category move around the outside of the circle in a clockwise direction until they reach their places again. They are instructed on how to move with various directions. For example, Cod – high tide, Sharks – coral reef, Plaice – tide turns and so on.

High tide – move quickly.
Low tide – move slowly.
Tide turns – change direction.
Fisherman about – crouch down low to avoid the nets.
Sharks – walk backwards.
Coral reef – jump.

The last person back to their place becomes the Fisherman.


There are variations of this game ( see clock in the tower for one). I played soup as a child when we were alternately named vegetables and when the word soup was called everyone moved around. Another option is Fruit Salad.

Ring a Ring of Roses

Children stand in a circle and join hands. They walk round in a clockwise direction, saying the rhyme. As they say the words 'fall down' they all fall o the floor.

Ring a ring of roses
A pocket full of poses
Atishoo ! Atishoo !
We all fall down.

Clock in the tower

Clock in the Tower

Children stand in a circle. Each is given a number 1 2 3 or4 ( Depending on the number of children this may rise to 5 or 6 )
One child stands in the middle as the clock. The clock says:

' The Clock in the tower stikes the hour........ '

They then clap their hands to the chosen number. Children of that number set off running around the circle and back to their place and into the middle to touch the clock. First to touch the clock becomes the clock.

There was a Princess long ago

Sleeping Princess

Rules:

This is a singing game with actions.
Everyone forms a circle. One person is the princess and this person stands in the middle of the circle whilst the others hold hands and turn around her. They sing the following words and do these actions ….

There was a princess, – long ago, long ago long ago
There was a princess - long ago, long long ago.
(Princess stands in the middle)

She lived in a big high tower, big high tower, big high tower.
She lived in a big high tower - long, long ago.

(Circle lift arms up to show walls of the tower)

A witch came in to see here there, to see her there, to see her there.
A witch came in to see her there – long, long ago.

(One person leaves the circle and goes into the middle with the princess)

She pricked her little finger so, finger so, finger so.
She pricked her little finger so - long, long ago.

(Witch takes the princess hand and pricks it, then joins back into the circle.)

She fell asleep for a hundred years, hundred years, hundred years.
She fell asleep for a hundred years - long, long ago.

(Princess lies down and sleeps)

The trees grew all around her there, around her there, around her there.
The trees grew all around her there - long, long ago.

(Circle closes in on princess and hold arms up and other like branches)

A handsome prince came riding by, riding by, riding by.
A handsome prince came riding by - long, long ago.

(One person 'rides' around the outside of the circle)

He chopped the trees down one by one, one by one, one by one.
He chopped the trees down one by one - long, long ago.

(Prince chops through the trees and goes to princess)

He kissed her hand to wake her, wake her, wake her.
He kissed her hand to wake her – long, long ago.

(Prince kisses princess who gets up)

There was a happy wedding day, wedding day, wedding day.
There was a happy wedding day - long, long ago.

(Prince and princess dance in middle of circle)

Best way to choose the participants is to use a selection rhyme before play begins.

B I N G O

-Circle Game One child is 'it' in the centre of the circle.
-Chidren sing the rhyme and clap.
-As the B I N G O begins the child in the centre points to each child in turn.
-A different child for each separate word or letter. The last child to be pointed to as the song
finishes is 'it'.
( played this with 2A in January and they enjoyed it. Played very loudly !

Another time with a third year clas we had some time to spare. We sang the song but children remained in theier seats. They were pointed at as above and the last chid to be pointed to came out to the front joined hands with the first child and then the song was repeated. For some wierd reason they did not find the game boring. They began to change seats hoping that the 'finger' would land on them. All children enjoy
the song: Year 1 to Year 3)

There was a farmer had a dog
His name was Bobby Bingo
B - I - N - G - O
B - I - N - G - O
B - I - N - G - O
His name was Bobby Bingo.

In And Out The Dusty Bluebells

In And Out The Dusty Bluebells

In and out the dusty bluebells
In and out the dusty bluebells
In and out the dusty bluebells
I am the master.

Tipper ipper apper on my shoulder
Tipper ipper apper on my shoulder
Tipper ipper apper on my shoulder
I am the master.

This is a circle game. Children stand in a circle hands joined and held up to form an arch. A selected child weaves in and out the 'arches' as the first verse is sung. At the end of the first verse the chid stops and begins to pat the shoulders of the nearest chid to him/her as the second verse is sung. At the end of the first verse the new leader and the first child form a snake and set out weaving in and out of the arches. The song continues with the snake getting longer and longer until the circle is too small to continue.