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Have you heard of the song Ickle Ockle? It is a really fun folk song… with like 20 different versions of it in cyberspace. I have seen it as Bickle Bockle, with do, without do, different wording…. yeah.
But, no matter how you sing it, it is a really fun folk song and my students really liked it.
I used it with second and third grade to introduce do. If you do it without do, you can use it with even younger students…. It’s really up to you!
Here is the most reliable version that I have found.
In my TPT product, I have slightly different wording, because I went with what was in my textbook series.
However you sing it, it is really fun. And thanks to testing, I have now been able to do about a million different activities with this one song… So, I hope you enjoy the ones down below:
Ickle Ockle Singing Game
First and foremost, we have to talk about the game. Full disclosure, I have not had a chance to play the game (yet!) because I have been in classrooms without enough space… but I have hopes for next week!
To play the game, everyone gets with a partner (except the person in the middle, who I call the shark). They walk with their partner in a circle. Everyone sings. At the end of the song, Everyone has to find a new partner, and whoever is without a partner goes to the middle.
So. Much. Fun.
Annnnd now some other other themed activities for this song…
Animal Movement
First off, let’s get moving! We will sing the song, and then I’ll have students come up with different animals that live in the ocean. We will move like each of these animals.
For example, one student might say jellyfish live in the ocean, so we will move like jellyfish. Then we might be sharks. Then we will be lobsters.
It’s an easy way to get kids moving, plus it allows the students to hear the song multiple times, which helps engrain it into their heads.
Flashcard Walk
I use Ickle Ockle to review sol, la, and mi and also introduce do. So we do this activity twice– first for sol, la, and mi, and second to include do.
I put flashcards all over the floor (I use the fish shaped ones from the Ickle Ockle pack on TPT). Students sing and walk to the steady beat. When the song stops, they stop. Whatever fish the are closest to, they sing. Then they go back to singing and walking.
Super fun– and it gets some of the wiggles out!
You can get sol-la-mi flashcards here or sol-mi-la-do flashcards here.
Flashcard Partner Walk
This is very similar to the last one.
Students hold a flashcard. As they sing the song, they walk around the room. When the song stops, they turn to the closest person and sing their flashcard. Then they go back to singing and walking.
Side note: To avoid having anyone crying because they didn’t have a partner, I tell them that if they are really far away from the other students, they can just read their own– but only once. This makes the activity waaaay less stressful.
Also read: Fun and Engaging Activities for Flashcards
Put it in Order
I love doing this as a review!
Write the rhythm or the melody on cards. Have students get into small groups and arrange the cards in the correct order!
(PS– Melody cards that match the music are included in my product!)
Worksheets
Wow, writing that feels like the fun is going away. Activity sheet? Does that sound less taboo?
Anyway, I promise, worksheets can be fun. No matter what people say.
I used three different ones with my students this week. First, we wrote the rhythm to the song under the words. Then we did a coloring sheet, where they had to match the solfege pattern to the notes on the staff (it was really a quiz, but they didn’t know that…), and then we created our own pattern and created a fish habitat with crayons!
Does that seem boring? No.
Coloring
Annnnd…. You could just do a fish themed coloring sheet or have students draw fish scenes. This is extra great if you are in their classrooms one day or if you have a sub.
Pair it with Aquarium
If you have read this post about creative movement with scarves, this post about Bizet scarf routine, this one about Blue Skies (AKA jazz), this one about Irish music, or pretty much any other lesson on this blog, you may have figured out that I looove listening lessons. I think that students have the ability to appreciate all different kinds of music, if we just give them the tools to be able to do so.
So when I was looking for an activity to accompany Ickle Ockle, so course I picked Aquarium from Saint-Saen’s Carnival of the Animals.
Now, there are a million different things that you could do with a listening lesson, but I chose to give them a piece of paper and have them draw what the music sounds like.
Between this activity, the fish coloring in, and the composition, I have all sorts of student work to put in the hallway!
Check out more ocean themed songs here.
Save the Fish Solfege Game
Another fun way to practice solfa is with the Save the Fish game.
This is a digital game on Google Slides in which students “save the fish” from each of the predators by picking the correct solfege pattern on the screen.
I like to do this as a whole group activity where I have it on the screen and students show me a one or two on their hands to indicate what they think the right answer is. I can quickly write down who is correct (informal observation!), and then we sing it together.
These also share a few facts about the predators, which the kids have been loving! Who knew that sharks have no bones? (Me. I did. Thank you, Shark Week.)
Click here to purchase Save the Fish on TPT!
Instruments
And of course, you can play instruments. Steady beat, playing an accompaniment (or the melody!) on xylophones… etc. I like to use my ocean drums and castanets (because they look like clams!).
Also read: Breezes are Blowing
Have you use the song Ickle Ockle in your classroom? What activity did you use? Let us know in the comments!
Happy teaching!
