The Power of Parenting

Wednesday, 20 May 2020

Sleeping Bunnies

Age Range: 19 months to 5 years

This is a traditional game that toddlers and preschoolers will love to play again and again. As you sing the song, they will pretend to be baby rabbits sleeping and then jump around actively when they “wake up”. Let this activity be part of the Comfort, Play & Teach™ time you spend together!

See the little bunnies, sleeping until noon.
Can we wake them with a merry tune?
Oh, so still…. Are they ill?
Wake up sleeping bunnies, hop, hop, hop!
Wake up sleeping bunnies, hop, hop, hop!
Wake up sleeping bunnies, hop and stop!

Ask the children to lie down on the floor in their own space, pretending to sleep. Sing the Sleeping Bunnies song. When you sing “Wake up sleeping bunnies, hop, hop, hop!” the children should move into a standing position and jump up and down until you say the word “stop”. Jump with them to encourage their participation. Once the children have heard this song a few times, they will quickly go into the role of bunny rabbits and anticipate the upcoming jumping!

Enjoy this more with Comfort, Play & Teach™:

Comfort:A game like this gives children an opportunity to participate in a group activity and to laugh and play together. It enables them to develop positive social skills and feel a sense of belonging.

Play:Pretending to be animals is an excellent way for children to stretch their imaginations and move their bodies in different ways. It also helps them to represent their knowledge about animals through creative movement.

Teach:Substitute different animals for bunnies, encouraging them to stomp like elephants, slither like snakes, gallop like horses or float like butterflies. Use musical instruments to suggest the different actions (i.e. drum for stomping elephant, maraca for slithering snake, tone block for galloping horse and finger cymbals for butterfly). Ask children for their own ideas!