Sometimes during extended programming at schools, I have the opportunity to link into a focus topic for the week. One focus topic in the summer was the OCEAN! For some of my first and second grade students, I gave the old Raffi classic “Down By The Bay” a make-over! Since the original included a great list of animals and fun rhyming lyrics like “did you ever see a FLY wearing a TIE?”, I kept the general structure and just added in my own animal list. I created a slideshow that included the new lyrics, and I loved it when some of the students shouted out the names of the animals they saw as they appeared in the song.
“Down By The Beach”
Down by the beach,
Where the ocean waves roll.
Out in the sun,
We’ll have some fun.
Look all around,
What do you see?
I see a shark at the waterpark
Down by the beach.
I see a dolphin miniature golfing
Down by the beach.
Other verses included: lobster in a helicopter, whale with a yellow pail, turtle wearing something purple, owl wrapped up in a towel, etc.
Free download: Down By the Beach Visual PDF
Wade is a board-certified music therapist and one of the directors at Spectrum Creative Arts. He completed additional training programs in Orff-Schulwerk, Neurologic Music Therapy, and Performance Wellness. As a songwriter and creative writer, Wade has authored several music resource books for music therapy and music education.