Hippopotamus is a silly song written by one of our music therapists and showcases the silliness that can add a bit of fun to circle time, busy mornings, or used as a transition at school. Practice sounds, letter recognition, and music with this fun, playful song. Waiting in the doctor’s office, in line at carpool, finishing up dinner, this is also the perfect song to pass the time!

Supplies Needed

• Basket
• Various toys

Directions

1. Collect several toys and place them in a basket
2. Pick up each toy and see how many rhyming rhythms you can make from with each
3. Create your own Hippopotamus song with your new rhyming rhythm

As you work on this craft, listen to Hippopotamus

Conversation starters

• If your toys could talk, what would they say?
• What do you think animals say?
• If you could rename fruits, what would you call them?

Additional Song Goals:

• Hospital Setting: Participation and diversion through cognitive activity
• School Setting: Pre-reading skill development, including rhyming, identifying by naming, pointing and matching objects and pictures; Increase vocabulary usage of simple words; Look at requested object for 5-10 seconds; Attend to book / story

Additional Resources:

• A blog post about Hippopotamus
• A worksheet and visual aide for music therapists