The Hokey Pokey is an action song for young children that has been popular since the 1950s with some questionable beginnings. The copyrighted song, since 1950, is held by Larry La Prese (1940-1996) . Today, the song is known around the world, and is a staple for preschool, daycare, school and home settings with young children. The following article provides some alternative ways to sing the Hokey Pokey to correlate with the theme of the classroom, or for instance a birthday party.
The Hokey Pokey Lyrics
First, the description and lyrics of the classic song should be provided before discussing alternative ways to sing it. The participating singers of the Hokey Pokey (click song title to view on you tube) stand in a circle and act out the words with their body parts:
You put your right hand in
You put your right hand out,
You put your right hand in, and you shake it all about,
You do the hokey pokey, and you turn yourself around
That what it's all about!
The song continues with different body parts that the teacher or leader can choose. In addition, the children can provide ideas. Some fun and different ones are your bottom, your teeth, your hair and of course, your whole self.
Hokey Pokey for Animal Themes
Depending on the theme, the Hokey Pokey can be sung with an animal in mind. For instance, at Easter, the children can pretend they are bunnies. Thus, the lyrics would follow with the different parts of the animal, such as:
You put your long ears in, you put your long ears out
You put your long ears in, and you hop all about
You do the Bunny Pokey and you hop yourself around
That's what it's all about!
This idea can be extended to include any animal. If a preschool has a lesson plan on bees, then the Hokey Pokey can have the following lyrics:
You put your antennae in, you put your antennae out
You put your antennae in, and you buzz all about
You do the honeybee pokey, and you buzz yourself around
That's what it's all about!
Hokey Pokey for Birthday Parties
Often birthday party themes follow television or movie characters. One alternative way to sing hokey pokey is to make character sticks, for instance print off pictures of Dora the Explorer to equal the amount of children participating at the birthday party. Tape or glue the picture onto a large popsicle stick then give one to each child. In a circle, sing the following lyrics and allow the children to have Dora move to the lyrics:
You put Dora up, you put Dora down
You put Dora up, and you shake her all around
You do the Dora Pokey, and you turn yourself around
That's what it's all about!
You put Dora to your head
You put Dora to your toe
You put Dora to you head
And you wobble to and fro
You do the Dora Pokey and you turn yourself around
That's what it's all about!
The characters can simply be used to sing and act the regular lyrics to Hokey Pokey as well.
The Hokey Pokey at Halloween
Another way to sing the Hokey Pokey is to sing about costumes that are being worn, such as a Halloween theme Party. Some ideas are:
- mask
- cape
- wand
- makeup
- wig
- costume
The Hokey Pokey and Musical Instruments
With a group of young children, musical instruments can become a loud event. One idea to help monitor the playing is to sing this version of the hokey pokey and whoever has the matching instrument to the lyrics being sung by the teacher will stand up and play.
You play your drum up high
You play your drum down low
You play your drum up high
And now very slow
You do the Music Pokey
And you turn yourself around
That's what it's all about!
The Hokey Pokey for Learning Concepts
Finally, the hokey pokey can be sung to help toddlers and preschool children learn concepts, such as colors and shapes by placing stickers on children's shoes, hands, knees and so on.
The Hokey Pokey is a children's action song that is enjoyed by all ages and can easily be altered to include a variety of themes.
Christine Moore - Early Childhood Educator, Preschool/Daycare Resources, Online Workshop Instructor, ECE, BGS
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