This page is a collection of resources for preschool teachers and children’s librarians who want to enhance group time / storytime, plus “Ukulele School” – all the tools you need to get started on playing ukulele.

• If you’re scared to sing in front of people, or convinced you’ll never play an instrument, read Music and the Growth Based Mindset.
• Learn the Benefits of Music for early learning and share those with parents!
• Find New Songs to Sing:
  • my favorite songs,
  • resources for finding more great songs,
  • ukulele / guitar chords for children’s songs (you can find more chords at Storytime Ukulele)
  • a collection of classic kids’ songs that share tunes (e.g. there are at least five songs each to the tunes of Wheels on the Bus and Mary had a Little Lamb).
  • Baby Songs: Here is a handout of lyrics, ukulele chords for baby songs, and posters of lyrics you can print (they’re 11×17 but can be printed smaller).
• Learn how I plan a group time. And check out these lesson plans, which have rhymes, songs, and books for a full school year’s worth of group times:
  • 1st year toddlers: lesson plan
  • 2nd year toddlers: lesson plan (with ukelele chords), handout for families
  • Preschool: lesson plan (with chords), handout for families
• Enhance group time with parachute play and stretchy band play. These can be a great part of a a rhythm curriculum for kids.
• Learn about books that sing
  • And if you’d like to add other new books to your group-time, check out my recommended children’s books (or find STEM book recommendations on my other site).

Ukulele School for Preschool Teachers

If you are interested in adding an instrument to your skills, ukulele is so easy to learn! If you don’t believe me, watch this video that will take you from knowing nothing to playing your first song in just ten minutes!!

If you’re ready to seriously take on learning it, this beginner ukulele tutorial video covers everything you need to know. It’s an hour long video, but it’s not meant to watch in one sitting! You can work with it for weeks – play a segment, learn a little, practice a lot, and then come back for the next segment.

If instead of the comprehensive video, you want your learning broken up into chunks, check out these posts. I think it would be pretty do-able to work through one post a week – review the video, learn the songs, take them to a class or story-time and test them out! The next week, go to the next post and learn a couple more songs to introduce that week.

• getting started on ukulele (from choosing one through playing your first songs),
• learning your first two chord songs, using C and F – Row Your Boat, Brother John
• playing C7 and F – Skip to my Lou, Mulberry Bush, More We Get Together, etc.
• C and G – Open Shut Them, Ring Around the Rosie, Clean Up
• C and G7 – London Bridge, Looby Loo, Peekaboo
• C, F, G7 – Twinkle, ABC, You are My Sunshine, Happy Bday, and more
• C, F, G – If You’re Happy, Teapot, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Teddy Bear
• D7, C, G – Old McDonald, Thumbkin, Coming Round the Mountain,
• More Chords and Songs: Dm – Muffin Man; D and A7 – Bingo, A and E7 – Speckled Frogs, Em and B7 – Ants Go Marching, Am Over in the Meadow, Shake My Sillies Out
• Resources for Continuing to Learn Ukulele
• Playing with a 4 chord progression
• Singalong Songs on Ukulele – a collection of fun singalongs for all ages (variety of skill levels)
• You can find sheet music (including chords) for lots of songs on the Super Simple website: https://supersimple.com/?s=sheet+music&terms=free-printables

Photo by Jelleke Vanooteghem on Unsplash