Penguin Parade
$8.00 – $20.00
The penguins are on the move! Where are they going? They reach the water, suddenly stop and then with a belly flop, into the water they go! After swimming is over and they are heading for home, they look like penguin metronomes as they waddle side to side.
Descriptive lyrics create an interesting image of penguins going about their daily activities. Children love learning about these fascinating creatures. Songs about penguins make great performance pieces for festivals, recitals and school concerts.
Penguin Parade challenges singers as they navigate interval jumps that are based on the I-IV-V chords that accompany the song. This is also a great song for exploring 6/8 meter. Actions can be added to create visual interest as the song is sung. An instrumental verse provides the opportunity to repeat the actions while engaging in “inner hearing” or simply waddle like a penguin metronome until concluding the song by singing the first verse again.
Listen to the Donna & Andy performance track:
Listen to melody + accompaniment:
Download Includes:
- Vocal score
- Director/piano score
- Lyrics
- Accompaniment – with melody guide
- Accompaniment – piano
- Donna & Andy band – instrumental track
- Donna & Andy – performance track
- Teaching Tips and Strategies
- 15 Cross-curricular Activities
- Colouring page
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Penguin Parade
Follow along with the lyrics as you listen to the accompaniment with melody guide for Penguin Parade
Penguin Parade is one of 12 songs from the award-winning song collection "Computer Cat". Donna Rhodenizer has written these songs in a variety of styles and skill levels for singers from ages 5-12+.
Learn more about this fun collection for elementary-aged kids, choirs and solo vocal students. The 93-page book provides the vocal score, full score and separate lyrics pages for 12 songs. Enjoy!
Please note: audio tracks for the e-book version are sold separately. Print copies of the book include CD (24 tracks)
Stream or Purchase from many streaming sites including:
Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, Amazon, Pandora, Deezer.
Get audio tracks and activities with a Donna & Andy Membership
The Computer Cat CD (Donna & Andy performance and instrumental) tracks (24) are available for download or physical CD on this website.
Exploring vocabulary
Read the lyrics aloud and discuss any unfamiliar words.
- Do all students know what a belly flop is?
- What is a metronome? This may require some online searching as many metronomes are now digital. Metronomes used to be wound with a key and had a moving pendulum that would swing side to side keeping the beat. A penguin would resemble this “old fashioned” type of metronome.
Expressive singing
- Discuss the descriptive words to accent to create an expressive performance.
- Use crisp consonants and clear diction to tell the story with expression.
- Add facial expressions to complement the words. Be aware that too many movements can be distracting!
Add Actions
- Suggested actions are provided in the PDF download.
Include a dance
Include a penguin dance during the instrumental 2nd “verse” of the song.
- Use the actions you created when you were singing the song. Don’t sing the words, just do the actions. This uses the skill of inner hearing.
- Create your own unique dance during the instrumental section.
Have a parade
This marching song is a perfect time to practice some marching, and keeping the beat with your feet!
Actions suggested by the composer
Bars 9-14
- keep your feet stationary, but move your body side to side to simulate a waddling penguin
Where will they go?
- hands out to the sides, palms facing up and shrug the shoulders
With a funny hop
- after singing the word “hop” actually hop in your spot Stop - as you sing the word “Stop” hold both hands up like the sign for “Stop”
Jump into the water
- move both hands forward and away from the body in an arc showing the trajectory of a diving penguin
With a belly flop
- hold one hand at waist level, palm facing up. Move the other hand in a large arc while singing “with a belly” and on the word “flop” the hands connect in a flat clap
After swimming is over
- make swimming motions
Everybody goes home
- wave goodbye
Bars 29-32
- repeat the waddling motions used in the opening bars
Download (pdf), print and have fun colouring this page while you listen to the song Penguin Parade. Enjoy 35 more colouring pages when you get a "Top of the Class" Donna & Andy Membership.
Penguin Parade
I wrote four penguin songs for a teacher at my school who wanted to add some music to a penguin unit she was doing with her students. I didn’t have any songs to offer her but I agreed to write her some. She had a poem about penguins going on parade and she gave me a copy in case it would be useful for my writing. I wrote a little melody to go along with the poem and the students had fun learning it as part of their penguin unit. Later, I wanted to include Penguin Parade in a printed collection of my songs (Computer Cat). Finding it difficult to track down the authors of the poem, I decided it would be easier to write my own lyrics. I already had the melody I had created so I added my new lyrics and then it was easy to include the song in my collection with the other three penguin songs I had written. The penguin set includes a march, a waltz, a country line dance and jaunty “boom chick” style song. It was so much fun to write this collection of songs. Just like the penguins in The Penguin Ball, I was rather sad to come to the end of my penguin song-writing fun. For now, four penguin songs will have to be enough, but you never know, there just might be another penguin song in my future!
When you have enjoyed singing this song and doing the activities with your students - please drop by again and leave a Review on this page. Thanks!
Please send us your performing video - we might be able to post it on this page!
| Context | Action / Movement Songs, Choir – Elementary, Choir Repertoire, Classroom Songs, Expressive Storytelling Songs, Mini Musical Theatre, Movement Songs, Small Group Class, Song Collection – Computer Cat, Vocal Solo, Cross-curricular Activities, Dances |
|---|---|
| Level | |
| Topic | Animals / Creatures, Environment, Humorous, Imagination, Nature, Seasons, Winter, Action Songs, Movement Songs |
| Vocal Range | C4 – C5 |
| Voicing | |
| Duration |
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