When it’s springtime, I love to pull out weather related songs for rainy, windy, stormy days. The Rain on the Rooftop is a song I learned during my internship and I have continued to use it since! You’ll need a gather drum, frame drums, or one paddle drum to share depending on the self-regulation and physical abilities of your clients or students. This song works well for almost any age group, which is always a plus.
Rain on the Rooftop [Tune of Wheels on the Bus, but in a minor key]
The rain on the rooftop goes tap, tap, tap [tap index fingers on drum]
Tap, tap, tap
Tap, tap tap
The rain on the rooftop goes tap, tap, tap
On a stormy day
* The wind on the rooftop goes whoosh, whoosh, whoosh [rub hands on drum]
* The branches on the window go scratch, scratch, scratch [use nails to scratch drum]
* The thunder on the rooftop goes boom, boom, boom [use fists to pound drum]
Repeat the song as many times as needed for the group to imitate the actions if that’s your goal, ask them “what happens next” if you are working on sequencing, give choices after running through it once, etc to meet the goals of your group! Sometimes it’s fun to hide scarves under the drum or pull them out next as a natural transition into singing a song about rainbows that come out after storms.
Let us know how you use this song and have fun drumming!