It's Raining Cats and Dogs
A fun song for preschoolers and young singers age 3-8
It's Raining Cats and Dogs is a great story-telling song with the opportunity to work on expressive singing.
Enjoy "It's Raining Cats and Dogs" using the printed music, lyrics, teaching strategies, printable teaching aids and audio tracks.
View sample score
See Also (rhythm video below)
Fun Concert Repertoire
It’s Raining Cats and Dogs is a fun concert song for younger students. Add actions to the song to help students remember the lyrics and to create visual interest in the concert setting. Students love being able to “meow and woof” the lyrics of the second verse. Soloists may also be assigned the meow and woof sections to show off their “theatrical talents”.
Expressive Singing
Follow the markings in “It’s Raining Cats and Dogs” and sing expressively.
The mood of this song is optimistic. The singer is hoping to find lots of cats and dogs AND be able to keep the ones that are collected!
Many instructions in music scores are written in Italian and German. These are standard music terms used in music created by composers around the world regardless of the language they normally speak.
Students will need to understand the following Italian instructions:
Encourage solo singers to add some theatrical flair in bar 25, where you see the instruction to “sigh” during the rest (use the extra quarter beat created by the fermata). This can be a tired or loving sigh, or any emotion you wish to convey; or it can even be a theatrical “meow” or “woof”. The singer may add their own interpretation as they wish.
For fun, sing the whole song using only “woof” or “meow” and/or use a variety of woof/meow combinations.
Props and Presentation
Students may wish to add some props to add some visual interest to their performance. Some suggestions are:
Add actions to the song to enhance the concert or recital presentation. A list of suggested actions is included on page 10 of the PDF document.
Music Extensions
Additional music activities are provided in the printable pdf (see sample here)
Keep the Beat:
- explore steady beat
- rit., a tempo and fermata
- conducting (silent beat keeping)
Rhythm Reading:
- clap, tap and say the rhythms for the whole song
Compose - using simple rhythm elements (quater notes, quarter rests and eighth notes
- give your students the opportunity to compose their own original rhythm patterns
- use fun printable rhythm element cards (see sample of cards included in pdf download)
- read, tap, and play the simple rhythms created by the students
- combine 4-beat rhythms to create longer songs
- create rounds and canons with student rhythm patterns
Practice and reinforce understanding of rhythm patterns - using "call and response" activities
- use the rhythm patterns created by the students
- clap or play patterns, reading from flash cards
- clap or play patterns by ear
- create call and response “conversations”
Audio Sample - It's Raining Cats and Dogs
Vocal and Piano (sample)
Licensing
The audio tracks included in the It's Raining Cats and Dogs can be used for concert and studio recitals. No Licensing fee is required to add these tracks to online classes or performances.
Teaching Music to Young Students – ways to use the song:
Vocal studio teachers and classroom teachers can use "It's Raining Cats and Dogs" for a variety of purposes including performance repertoire/concerts/recitals, expressive singing, musical theatre/dramatizing the text, actions and MORE!Art
Have the students create “Raining Cats and Dogs art” while listening to the song.CROSS-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
Use It's Raining Cats and Dogs as a spring-board into other weather related activities
- discuss the rain cycle, cloud formations and weather terms.
- track and chart daily weather in your area.
- create a rain circle (see Elementary Music with Donna video on FaceBook).
- read weather and rain related books
Please Note:
When you purchase these books on Amazon using these links - Donna & Andy will receive a small commission.
Read along with Donna - It's Raining, It's Pouring
Sing other Donna Rhodenizer songs starring Cats and Dogs - find these tunes in the Donna & Andy store
- sing other Donna Rhodenizer songs about the weather
Teachers - Is Singing Restricted in Your Area (schools)?
There are still many ways to engage with this piece of music in meaningful musical ways.
Read through the lyrics together.
- Follow a printed lyrics sheet and circle all the dog and cat words in the song.
- Have the children suggest other animals that might work to create a unique version of the song.
- Do the actions for the song while listening to the instrumental plus vocal track.
- For a real challenge - do the actions for the song with the instrumental and melody guide track. A real test for inner hearing skills!
It's Raining Cats and Dogs - Download Sheet Music, Audio Tracks, Activities and Instructions
Send us your - It's Raining Cats and Dogs - Song Video
We would love to see your performance of "It's Raining Cats and Dogs". There is no licensing fee required when you post your video to YouTube. We suggest that you use this format when posting the title of your video. It's Raining Cats and Dogs - by Donna Rhodenizer - Performed by Performers Name . This helps people to find your video and will generate more video views. Then, send us your YouTube Video link so we can promote it and maybe post it on this page.
Join Elementary Music with Donna - YouTube channel and subscribe to see new videos when they are posted.
Also, join Donna on her FaceBook page where she has posted over 400 teaching videos.
Have Fun!
Composer, Elementary Music Specialist, Performer
Donna Rhodenizer
Donna has been writing songs for young elementary-aged singers since the 1980s, with over 400 songs in her catalogue! She is intrigued by the world around her and delights in sharing her unique perspective writing songs that are catchy and capture the imagination of young singers. The playfulness of her lyrics and musical stylings make her songs favourites with elementary students and young vocal students the solid musical value of her writing makes her songs popular with music educators in elementary classrooms and private vocal studios.
Join the Newsletter and get the next post.
