Little P was 16 months. We had some play scarves that Little P wasn’t all that into for a while now.
Then I happened on someone who suggested using scarves for music activities on Facebook. She was even kind enough to send me a video how it looked like when done with kids! Unfortunately, that video is no longer available but I found something similar.
Exploring the concept of Direction with – “Scarves Up and Down and Around”
I knew immediately this was something I wanted to do with Little P.
Music is great for language learning and he is recently very into songs with lyrics. Words. Repetitively so.
But I needed it in Mandarin…
We are doing One Parent One Language (OPOL) … sort of. So I am the parent who will speak Mandarin with Little P 100% of the time.
To save time, I googled to see if I can find any songs about scarves originally in Chinese already. But I didn’t manage to find any. And so I translated the lyrics of Johnette Downing’s Scarves Up and Down and Around to Chinese.
丝巾上下转圈圈
丝巾轻柔的飘呀飘，左右左
丝巾轻柔的飘呀飘，左右左上下再转圈圈, 上下转圈圈
上下，上下, 上下转圈圈丝巾轻柔的飘呀飘;
把他丢上空，抓住！丝巾轻柔的飘呀飘;
把他丢上空，抓住！上下再转圈圈, 上下转圈圈
上下，上下, 上下转圈圈把他丢上空，看它飘下落地
把他丢上空，看它飘下落地上下再转圈圈, 上下转圈圈
lyrics originally in english by johnette downing
上下，上下, 上下转圈圈
Note, I am not a professional translator by any means so this translation is the best I can come up with.
But my intention was purely to create a fun environment for Little P where using the Chinese language is a normal and everyday occurrence. So I’m not too fixated about getting the translation perfect. Good enough is good enough. :P
Little P was somewhat amused by this new activity. And in his spare time, has been observed to throw his play scarves around. So that’s great!
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Here are more songs about scarves or that can be sang with scarves that I have identified.
Little P is 30 months old currently and in the last 3 months he played with scarves more than he ever did. This is because he attends a weekly music class where the teacher has them dance with scarves every alternate lesson.
And with the June holidays just starting, I guess I can always introduced these other two songs I found.
Song 2: Wave your scarf up and down – with Chinese translation for Bilingual Kids
But if you’re thinking, I’m too busy to learn a new tune, this variation is one that you can easily adapt and sing to the tune of London Bridge is Falling Down.
I’ve also translated the lyrics here:
丝巾挥动起来上，下
丝巾挥动起来上，下，上，下，上，下，
丝巾挥动起来上，下。 挥动你手中的丝巾。
丝巾挥动起来左，右，左，右，左，右，
丝巾挥动起来左，右 。挥动你手中的丝巾。
丝巾挥动起快快，慢，快快，慢，快快，慢
丝巾挥动起快快，慢 。 挥动你手中的丝巾。
丝巾挥动起转圈圈，转圈圈，转圈圈，
丝巾挥动起转圈圈 。挥动你手中的丝巾。
丝巾挥动起说再见，说再见，说再见，
丝巾挥动起说再见。再见丝巾。
Song 3: I put my scarf on my head – with Chinese translation for Bilingual Kids
This song incorporates the identification of body parts.
The original song in English rhymes so I prefer to sing it to Little P in English. But for fun I tried translating it to Chinese, although in this case, a direct translation would sound nonsensical and not rhyme at the same time so… I rewrote the parts that rhyme to just reference colours since Little P likes talking about colour anyway.
我把丝巾放在头上
我把丝巾放在头上，我变红了还是绿了？
头上盖着丝巾，我眨眨眼，
让后我把丝巾抛上天，一，二，三！
我把丝巾放膝盖上， 膝盖变红了还是绿了？
丝巾盖着膝盖，我眨眨眼，
让后我把丝巾抛上天，一，二，三！
我把丝巾放在脚上，我的脚变红了还是绿了？
脚上盖着丝巾，我眨眨眼，
让后我把丝巾抛上天，一，二，三！
我把丝巾放在肚子上，肚子变红了还是绿了？
丝巾盖着肚子，我眨眨眼，
让后我把丝巾抛上天，一，二，三！
我把丝巾放在面前，我的脸变红了还是绿了？
脸隔着丝巾，我眨眨眼，
让后我把丝巾抛上天，一，二，三！
That’s all I have for this post on songs to dance to with scarves. I couldn’t find similar songs in Mandarin, which is why I translated them for my own use. Haha.
You can download a printable pdf of my translated lyrics of the 3 songs here.
And if you found them useful with your little one, then that’s really cool. ;)
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