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This popular
traditional song has been sung with countless
generations, has many variations, and has even
been published in picture book format. There are
numerous versions of this song, including I had a
Bird. Read more about that, and about the
benefits of using this song on my Sing With Our
Kids website.
This is the way I learned the
song out of a folk song book years ago. Most versions have a
long “I” in fiddle-I fee. But that’s traditional songs for you–
they grow and change, and all that matters is that they are
sung!
Because of the repetition and
accumulative lyrics, it engages children of all ages. I sing it
as a felt board song, and have included patterns on the
lyrics download. Here are some other ways you can
adapt this song for your child or group of children:
| ACTIVITIES: |
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Give each
child a different felt animal (you may have duplicates,
depending on the size of your group) and let them place them
on the board as they are introduces in the song.
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If you have
a good selection of puppets, you can give each child one and
have them make the animal song as it is sung. This encourages
the children to listen and focus, as they must wait for their
turns.
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Share one
of the many versions of this song in picture book format. The
title is often listed as Fiddle-I-Fee, so if you search for
books under that title, you’ll find multiple versions on the
Internet, and usually at least one at your local library.
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Print out
pictures of the animals and hand them to children. The child
or children holding each picture will make the animal sound
when it comes up in the song. Of course some children will get
more chances to make the sound, so you might just use three or
four animals and then have the children exchange them, getting
a new animal and a different number of times to make that
sound. This song is great for building listening skills!
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Modify the
animals to fit your curriculum or theme, such as pets, or zoo
animals. You can also change the words from “bought me a __”
to “I had a __” or “I saw a__”
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Bought Me A Cat
I bought me a cat, the cat pleased
me,
I fed my cat under yonder tree
 And
the cat went fiddley-fee, fiddley-fee
I bought me a hen, the hen pleased me,
I fed my hen under yonder tree
And
the hen went chipsy-chopsy
The cat went fiddely-fee, fiddley-fee
I bought me a duck, the duck pleased me
I fed my duck under yonder tree
And
the duck went slishy-sloshy,
The hen went chipsy-chopsy
The cat went fiddely-fee, fiddley-fee
I bought me a goose, the goose pleased me
I fed my goose under yonder tree
And
the duck went quaaack
The duck went slishy-sloshy,
The hen went chipsy-chopsy
The cat went fiddely-fee, fiddley-fee
I bought me a dog the dog pleased me
I fed my dog under yonder tree
The
dog went boo!
The goose went quaaack
The duck went slishy-sloshy,
The hen went chipsy-chopsy
The cat went fiddely-fee, fiddley-fee
I bought me a cow the cow pleased me
I fed my cow under yonder tree
The
cow went mooo
The dog went boo!
The goose went quaaack
The duck went slishy-sloshy,
The hen went chipsy-chopsy
The cat went fiddely-fee, fiddley-fee
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August
2014 Song of the Month