Shaker Egg Songs for Kids in PreK and Kindergarten

Here is a list of songs and activities for your primary students that involve using a shaker egg. The following songs work well with toddlers, Preschool, and Kindergarten. Several songs on my jingle bells post would also work well with shaker eggs.

“I Can Shake My Shaker Egg” by Mr. Eric & Mr. Michael

I use this to enter the music room. Kids receive an egg while they are waiting outside the door. I let them know that they need to be very sneaky and quietly walk in a circle in the room while they shake their eggs. Then, the music will get a little louder and a little faster! During the last few measures of the song, they take their eggs and hurry over to sit down on a sit spot. The words are set to the tune of “In the Hall of the Mountain King” so it’s great for Halloween.

I Love to Hear the Sounds by Kathy Reid-Naiman

Kathy’s album, I Love to Hear the Sounds, is full of classroom instrument songs for littles. Here are the two shaker-specific songs from that album!

“Shake and Stop” by Lynn Kleiner

This is a great one to introduce egg shakers to your kids. They play when they hear music and freeze on the word “stop.” To make it more fun, I stop and freeze in a new pose each time. Then, if we use the song again, I ask them to freeze in new ways.

Echoing Rhythms

Instead of tapping sticks or clapping, we can use our shaker eggs to echo rhythms. If the kids are just learning to echo patterns, eggs are a bit more forgiving for those who may struggle at first. I play the rhythm on an instrument like a tone block or sticks; then they echo with their eggs. During October, I use the words “spider” and “web” for my patterns. For example, 2 quarter notes and 2 beamed 8th notes would be “web, web, spider, spider.” I change up the words throughout the year to match my lessons. Students can also shake during the echo portions of songs like Lynn’s “Hello (Echo) Song”. Tots and Pre-K LOVE this hello song.

Shake My Sillies Out

This classic kid’s song is great with a shaker egg for obvious reasons. I like this version by Nikki Loney. There’s a little musical interlude where I let kids move or dance on their own.

There are a few other shaker egg songs and activities on YouTube, but these are the ones that I’ve tried. I found the above songs on Spotify and made a playlist for myself. Every week, I try to utilize a different instrument, so it’s nice to have a list of songs to choose from when planning my lessons.

“I Know A Chicken” by Laurie Berkner

Angela King reminded me of this gem recently on Instagram. It’s fantastic for practicing fast and slow! To jazz this one up, I have the kids make chicken sounds, hold their eggs in funny ways as if they are presenting a super special egg to the world, and then on “it was a shaky egg,” they lay the eggs on their palms and wiggle it a little as if it’s shaking on its own.

Here’s a fun twist on shaker eggs for this song if you have a gathering drum! West Music and Lynn Kleiner have both stated that these drums can be cleaned with a disinfecting wipe. Use in small groups and repeat the first half of the song for each group (the fast and slow sections). Then, after everyone’s had a turn, let the second half of the song play out as the kids shake in their seats.

Shaker Egg Playlist by Jbary

This child librarian duo has created a great playlist of shaker egg songs. Most of the songs are piggyback songs, and the lyrics are included in the video descriptions. This makes it easy to teach them without the videos.

“Shake Your Egg” by Sing Play Create

Sandra from Sing, Play, Create makes many videos for primary students. Here’s a play-along you can use if your eggs are different colors. Since the song is five minutes long, I would let the kids shake as much as they wanted to and stand and shake when their color is called. Perhaps they can move and dance around as well while showing off their shaking skills!

Full Music Lessons

If you are looking for full music lessons that utilize instruments like shaker eggs, cluster bells, and more, please check out my new Google Slides lessons. I use them with my PreK classes and the students have enjoyed them! The first lesson includes rhythm sticks, and the second lesson includes shaker eggs.

I hope these activities come in handy. It’s nice to have a few on deck when you need them!