Monday Music & Movement: {Shake, Shake, Baby}

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Today’s song is a piggyback of the catchy chorus of Nelly’s “Country Grammar”, which has a chorus based on the children’s rhyme “Down Down Baby”. Here’s a link to a clean version of if you’ve never heard it…please try not to judge my 15 year old self that loved the catchy melody!

Whenever I have an earworm, I figure it’s a decent melody to piggyback new lyrics. That’s how today’s Monday Music & Movement came about. This song addresses goals of body identification, self-regulation, following directions, and gross motor goals (bilateral movement of harms, meeting, and crossing at midline). During the song, children will stop/go, watch and listen to you to move shakers in different ways, and receptively identify body parts.

Here are the lyrics:

[Sung to melody]
Shake, Shake, Baby
Shake down the rollercoaster (swoop arms as if on a rollercoaster)
Up high baby, shake them way up high (reach!!)

Roll and roll and roll and stop (pause)
Roll them way up high (above heads)
Roll and roll and roll and stop
Roll them way down low (by the floor)

[chant]
Let’s get the rhythm on the head, head (2x)
Let’s get the rhythm on the …. etc.

Continue the chant with whatever body parts you are working on identifying. Repeat song 2-3x with repeated body parts for younger children to really learn them or with different parts if you have been working on body identification before.

This is a seemingly simple therapeutic music intervention, but as a music therapists you can address so many goals with this fun instrument song. We hope you can adapt and use it with your clients or children!