Egg shakers are one of my go-to instruments in my elementary music classroom, especially with my younger students.
They provide a great way to practice rhythm and beat, but they also augment text well for some cool sounds.
Plus, even cheap ones sound like real instruments.
I’m often asked by parents and other music teachers for my favorite egg shaker songs, so I decided to write up this list with a few of my faves sorted by age level.
Enjoy!
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Table of Contents
4 Egg Shaker Songs For Babies
With egg shaker songs for babies, we don’t want to overwhelm them or scare them with sound.
In reality, we can’t expect them to do much of anything with the egg shakers, but there are two main ways we can use egg shakers with them:
- We shake the egg shakers to the steady beat along with the songs we either listen to or sing for our babies ourselves (even better!).
- Give them to the babies to shake while we sing or listen.
The goal here is merely to expose them to the sound of songs.
If we’re the ones shaking the beat, we’ll start to build an unconscious awareness of the beat.
If the babies are shaking, it’s simply a time to make the shaking fun.
The best things we can do at this age level are to simply provide a good experience with music and bond with our kids.
There isn’t much of a difference between toddler and baby songs for egg shakers, but here are four of my favorites for babies.
Five Little Monkeys
London Bridge Is Falling Down
Pitter Patter Listen To The Rain
Cobbler Cobbler Mend My Shoe
4 Egg Shaker Songs For Toddlers
With toddlers and egg shakers, we can encourage them to do a little more.
We want them to:
- Shake the eggs to a steady beat
- Shake on specific words or parts of a song
With the steady beat part, any song will do, including the ones above.
For shaking on certain words, we need to pick songs with repeated words or sections that aren’t too challenging.
We’ll up the challenge of it all in preschool in the next section.
It’s also a good idea and important at this age level to start setting up expectations for how to treat instruments.
If you treat these like toys and let the kids throw or smash the eggs on the table or ground, don’t be shocked when they do something similar to a piano or ukulele later on.
Starting kids with the idea that instruments are fun but need to be treated with respect is key.
Honestly, it’s something that many adults fail at too.
I can’t tell you how many of my own fellow classroom teachers walk into my room and start playing or pounding on my stuff.
OK. Rant over. Here are four of my favorites for the toddler years.
Pro-tip: Everybody loves to just shake like crazy, but make it intentional by saving it until the end of the song for a “grand finale.”
Old MacDonald Had A Farm
This song is perfect for shaking on the animal sound words.
Shaky Shaky Egg
Shake Your Sillies Out
I love this Raffi track.
His songs are perfect for toddlers and preschoolers alike.
Blue Sky
This song shows a great way to use popular music in a way to play with egg shakers too!
It’s important to share the music you like with your toddlers too!
(As long as it’s appropriate…)
5 Egg Shaker Songs For Preschool
Preschool is the place where I play a lot of egg shakers.
They’re quick ways to get kids playing an instrument and doing important musical ideas like:
- Steady beat
- Playing at specific times (on certain words)
- Dynamics (loud and soft)
- Tempo (fast and slow)
- Learning colors
Again, there’s no reason not to use all the songs from the previous sections (and I do), but here are 5 I hold off on until the kids are at preschool age.
B-I-N-G-O
With this one, I have the kids play the steady beat for the main part of the song and then only play on the letters you say with the “B-I-N-G-O.”
My Mother, Your Mother
Here is a rhyme and chant I learned from a cousin who is also a music teacher.
You pat the beat for the first part, and then you have the kids copy what you say and shake to match the words.
There’s no real music with this, so just say it like a nursery rhyme.
My mother, your mother, live across the way.
Every day they have a chat, and this is what they say.
Then for the second section, I have them echo words like we’re carrying on a conversation.
Here’s an example:
Hey, how are you?
I am good. How are you?
Fine, thanks for asking!
What are you up to?
I am cooking breakfast.
What are you making?
Chocolate chip pancakes.
That sounds delicious!
Would you like to have some?
Yes, please, my good friend!
Shaking with the words is actually getting them ready for rhythm later on in their schooling and lives too!
Don’t be afraid to get a little silly for this one.
Naughty Kitty Cat
For this one, they can either shake the beat or only shake the cat sounds.
Shake And Stop
Herman The Worm
4 Egg Shaker Songs For Elementary
In the elementary music room, egg shakers become another tool to practice any of our concepts.
This rarely depends on the level, and it can be as simple as a steady beat or as complex as a mixed meter or dotted notes.
It all depends on what you’re teaching your students at the time.
With Kindergarten and early First grade, we’ll do many of the same things as we did in preschool in regards to egg shakers.
But assuming we’re a little older, here are some songs with good rhythm practice I’ll use with egg shakers.
I Can Play A Rhythm
Ickle Ockle Blue Bottle
Oats, Peas, Beans, and Barley Grow
Rocky Mountain
