Wednesday, February 13, 2013

The Magic Penny

The Magic Penny is an old tune.  But I like to use it around Valentine's Day and Lincoln's birthday. 
It depends on your students, but in my case it works well with fourth graders and younger.
It begins:  "Love is something if you give it away..."
Magic PennyI made a penny about 6-8 inches in diameter out of foam core.  To use it with the song, I have the children stand in a line with their hands behind them.  They have to stand close and this might be a problem for some...stick them on the ends.   They pass the penny behind their backs until the song stops.  The song can pause anywhere you decide.  The person that is "it" ("it" faces the group, and observes the line as they pass the penny, of course "it" won't see much, but maybe?) has to guess who is holding the penny when the music stops.

Above is the first verse to the song.  This preview is from sheetmusicplus.com

3 comments:

Joyfully, Lisa said...

Malvina Reynolds and this song are closely associated with the Children's Music Network. Each year CMN bestows a sort of "lifetime achievement" award CALLED the Magic Penny to an artist whose body of work in children's music exemplifies CMN's mission to use music to enhance the lives of children in all ways. So glad you are using Malvina's song! And I like your 3-D penny idea, too.

Joyfully, Lisa said...

Malvina Reynolds and this song are closely associated with the Children's Music Network. Each year CMN bestows a sort of "lifetime achievement" award CALLED the Magic Penny to an artist whose body of work in children's music exemplifies CMN's mission to use music to enhance the lives of children in all ways. So glad you are using Malvina's song! And I like your 3-D penny idea, too.

Patty said...

Thank you!

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