Activities for Old MacDonald had a Woodshop

Choral Singing

Invite children to sing the story with you. Have them add the following hand motions to accompany the sounds the tools make.

...in her shop she had a saw...with a zztt zztt here...
(Bend arm at elbow and make sawing motions.)
...in her shop she had a drill...with a rurr rurr here...
(Make a fist with one hand as if holding a hand drill, and pantomime turning the drill handle with the other hand.)
...in her shop she had a hammer...with a tap tap here...
(Pretend to hold a hammer and tap it gently in the air.)
...in her shop she had a chisel...with a chip chip here...
(Hold index and middle finger of one hand together, and tap that hand with the opposite fist.)
...in her shop she had a file...with a scritch scratch here...
(Rub hands together.)
...in her shop she had a screwdriver...with a squeak squeak here...
(Point index finger straight ahead and turn it from side to side.)
...in her shop she had a paintbrush...with a swish swash here...
(Make painting motion with one hand, back and forth along the opposite arm.)

Make Up a Song

Create your own Old MacDonald song by changing the setting, for example: Old MacDonald had a School (or a restaurant, or a zoo, etc.). Ask children to think of animals, people, or things that would belong in that setting, and the sounds they would make. Write the group song on chart paper, and sing it together.

Fun With Onomatopoeia

Onomatopoeic words sound like the things they describe. Ask children to identify these words in the book. Then have them listen as you make different sounds, for example, by dropping a book, tearing a piece of paper, pouring water, etc. Invite children to create their own onomatopoeic words to describe the sounds they hear.

Classifying Tools

Have children identify the woodworking tools in the book. Ask them to find tools that are used for other activities (the paintbrush, the mouse’s broom, and Old MacDonald’s artist tools).

Provide children with old magazines and scissors. Have them find and cut out pictures of different tools. Help them group the tools according to the type of activity for which they’re used, for example, cleaning tools, gardening tools, cooking tools, etc.

Paste the pictures on a large piece of paper, and label each group.

Click here if you would like a printable PDF of these activities.