Jazzy 3 Bears

As a Girl Scout, I learned a jazz version of the three bears.  It was a version of the one performed by the Page Cavanaugh Trio. (Be sure & watch their performance.)  During my recent Teddy Bear theme, the preschoolers along with the assisted living residents, created a modification of this song.  We used it to listen for cues of when to play, to discuss sizes, and to use our high, middle and low voices.  I located wonderful cut outs on-line and laminated them.

The first week we told the story with the cut outs and the actions I learned in scouts.  Here’s a little taste of the song without all the cha-chas.  We took it slower than I do in the video.

Week two we divided the seniors and preschoolers into three groups – Papa, Mama, and Baby Bears.  Each group had a different instrument set – drums, egghead shakers, rhythm sticks.  The groups sang along performing the cha-chas only playing their instruments when we got to their character.  Everyone played the ending from the line of “And that is the story of …” with lots of rumble play at the end.

The following weeks, we talked about the size of the bears matching them to my paddle drums. While the residents continued to play different instruments for the characters, the preschoolers were all given a mallet and played the drum with matching bear for all the character as I held the drum and passed by them.

We had a lot of fun.  Please feel free to comment how you might use this song.