Songs To Sing While You Play

Songs draw us in. They keep us listening, engaged and participating. This makes them perfect for food play where kids may need a little extra hook to keep them interacting with food they may be hesitant about.One of my favorite past posts on Learn To Love Food was, '5 Reasons to Sing While You Play With Your Food,' and I used to include a song with most activities. I haven't been putting a song with every activity lately, so I thought I'd share some songs that work in pretty much all food play activities. I've linked each song name to a video on YouTube so you can hear the melodies, if you don't know them.1. I Like To Eat, Eat, Eat, Apples And BananasThis is such a simple, repetitive fun song. Change the foods from apples and bananas to whatever foods you're eating or exploring. You can also change the verb, 'eating'. We may not be eating foods in food play, we may be touching or tasting them, or rolling or crumbling them. Have fun switching up the words!2. This Is The Way We Go To SchoolSince each little verse of this song starts with, 'This is the way,' you can sing and show just about any action with this song. I like to use it for actions associated with eating and often use this song to sing about touching, tasting or chewing. For example: 'This is the way we chew our food' or 'This is the way I taste my apple.' Get descriptive and use the song to sing about whatever you're doing!3. The Farmer In The DellThis song is kind of odd when I listen to the real version again...but it's awesome for filling in words of whatever you're doing. It's basically a song talking about where people (or animals) are and what they're doing. The perfect song for filling in where foods are and all we're doing in food play. For example: "The broccoli's on the plate. The broccoli's on the plate. Hi ho the derry-o, the broccoli's on the plate."I also use this same 'Farmer In the Dell' tune to sing about the senses to get ready for food play using phrases like, "I use my nose to smell," and, "I use my tongue to taste,' as the verses.The possibilities are truly endless when you start filling in lyrics to familiar tunes. If you need a bit more inspiration here is a wonderful post with lots of other ideas for songs, books and rhymes you could incorporate into food play activities!Happy singing and happy food play!