Wishy Washy Wee - Come Along with Me!
Every year around May or June (our school year goes into June!) I will teach my first grade students Wishy Washy Wee. I’m not sure exactly where I learned it. All I know is I’ve been using it almost every year since I started teaching. It’s a super fun and engaging song dance that can be taught to and enjoyed by almost any grade level. For our first grade spring concert this year, we’re doing an ocean theme, and Wishy Washy Wee will definitely be included in the performance.
The lyrics are:
Oh, we are two sailors
Come from o'er the sea
If you want to go away again
Come along with me!
Oh, Wishy Washy Wishy Washy
Wishy Washy Wee
If you want to go away again
Come along with me!
There are other versions and extra verses that exist out there, but this is what I’ve always used and it works for me.
As with the lyrics, the song dance has many variations, but here is what I commonly use:
Formation:
Everyone stands in a circle. Two people (the “sailors”) start in the middle of the circle.
Verse:
The two sailors skip around the inside of the circle. The rest of the class claps while singing the song.
Chorus:
Each sailor stops in front of a student in the circle. They hold hands with that student and swing their arms in and out, like a gentle tug or rowing motion. While swinging arms, they also do a heel-dig step with their feet in time to the music.
"Come Along with Me":
The sailors and their partners switch places. The new students now become the next pair of sailors, and the dance starts again!
In some versions, the two sailors link arms and do an arm swing in the middle of the circle.
In addition to the lyric video on YouTube, I’ve created some free resources for teachers to use in their classrooms. First is a simple Orff Arrangement that I use with my first graders. There is also the mp3 track of the song recording. Finally, there is a looped version of the song which contains the verse and chorus occurring 8 times. If you put this into Google Slides or PowerPoint, you can set it to loop and the song should seamlessly loop over and over again. However, I do recommend having your studnets sing without any accompaniment first, as that help build independent singing skills.
Please click here to access the materials.
These resources are completely free, but if you found them useful, please consider leaving a donation to support my work either on PayPal or Buy Me a Coffee.
How do you use this in your classroom? Do you find these resources helpful? What more would you like to see? Please leave a comment in the video or reach out to me at awreyna@gmail.com to let me know!