Hayride

by Teresa Jennings

If you're looking for light autumnal fare, you've found it! This simple country ditty should be singable by just about anyone. If you don't want to break into a round with younger students just yet, no problem. Let them sing it in unison.

Though we are fond of the guitars, fiddle, and dobro on the recording, this song would work with just piano as well. For fun, add some non-pitched percussion of your own, such as spoons, tambourine, or washboard.

Let kids pantomime the motions of being on a hayride. Put their chairs in rows as if they were in the back of a hay wagon. As they ride along/sing along, have them move up and down as if they were on a bumpy road. In performance, create a "hay wagon" out of a big cardboard box. Paint it, add "wheels," and have a kid or two dress up as a horse to dance along in front of it (not actually pulling of course, unless you can figure that one out).

Text is taken from Music K-8 magazine.