Old MacDonald
Below you will find some projects and activities centered around the children's song "Old MacDonald." This theme page is designed to be a one day theme for younger children... Kind of a mini-theme. Parents or caregivers, will find it easier to craft with their kids if they work around a central theme. Things will be more organized, and you won't have as much trouble coming up with ideas. In addition, you can plan out a few days ahead of time what you want to do with your child.
Old MacDonald
Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O,
on his farm he had a cow, E-I-E-I-O
With a moo moo here, And a moo moo there
Here a moo, There a moo, Everywhere a moo moo
Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O
Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O
And on his farm he had a pig, E-I-E-I-O
With an oink oink here, And an oink oink there
Here an oink, There an oink, Everywhere an oink oink
Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O
Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O
And on his farm he had a duck, E-I-E-I-O
With a quack quack here, And a quack quack there
Here a quack, There a quack, Everywhere a quack quack
Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O
Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O
And on his farm he had a horse, E-I-E-I-O
With a neigh neigh here, And an neigh neigh there
Here a neigh, There a neigh, Everywhere a neigh neigh
Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O
Theme Projects, Printables, and Recipes
Tissue Paper Duck
Draw a very basic outline of a duck on construction paper. Tear yellow, white and orange tissue paper into small pieces (about an inch square). Spread glue on the duck and glue pieces of tissue paper onto it. If you layer the tissue paper, it kind of looks like feathers.
Paper Plate Pig
Glue a single egg cup (cut from an egg carton) onto the back side of a paper plate in the middle. This will be the pig's nose. Paint the paper and the egg cup pink. Let dry. Cut a 2 inch square from pink construction paper. Cut square in half corner to corner to form 2 triangels. Cut a small slit in the long side of each triangle, overlap and staple in place. This will make curved ears. Staple the ears to the paper plate. Draw on 2 eyes with a black marker. Curl one end of a pink pipe cleaner around a pencil. Staple the straight end to one side of plate at about 4 o'clock.
Paper Bag Stick Horses
Cut 2 horse head shapes out of large brown paper bags. (The head shape should be fairly large.) You should be able to get both "heads" from one large bag. If child is younger, simply hot glue or staple the two sides together, leaving a 4-5 inch gap to put in stick and stuffing at the bottom of the head. (Older children could punch holes all around and lace a string through to sew them together.) Color or decorate the head as desired. Don't forget the eyes. Stuff with newspaper. Put a large cardboard roll (like the kind from wrapping paper) into the neck. Hot glue or staple in place. You could glue or staple yarn on for the mane if you want, but it's not necessary. You could also make a miniature stick horse by using a long craft stick or paper towel tube. I will make a template for this project eventually.
Glue the Spots on the Holstein
Draw a basic picture of a cow on a piece of white construction paper. (template for this coming soon.) Cut out random blobs from black construction paper. Glue the spots onto the cow and make it a holstein.
Horse Shoes
Cut a horse shoe shape out of heavy paper or cardstock. Wrap strips of aluminum foil around the horse shoe to make it look like it's made out of metal. If you make several, you can play a kid-safe game of horse shoes.
Old MacDonald's Farm Crackers
Tint frosting green to make grass and spread it onto a graham cracker. Use the frosting to glue together smaller pieces of graham cracker to make a fence around the first cracker. Put animal crackers inside the fence and you have a tasty farm.
Pigs in a Blanket
Wrap a crecent roll around a hotdog and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes. The breakfast version is to wrap a pancake around a link sausage and serve.
Pig Slop
Mix chocolate pudding with a variety of other things like fruit, nuts, candy, etc. Talk to your child about what pig slop is and how pigs eat anything, and then serve them some pig slop for dessert.
Top your theme day off by reading a great book!
Old MacDonald Had a Farm
The Story of Ferdinand - The story of a bull who just likes to sit quietly under a tree and smell flowers instead of acting like the other bulls.
Little Red Hen - This is a great story about work before play and very young children will love the illustrations.
Barnyard Dance! - A great farm animal board book aimed at the youngest children.
Big Red Barn - Another great toddler farm book. This is a great way to introduce the farm theme to little ones.
Baby Farm Animals and Friends - This video is a great way to introduce children to farm life. The only thing that would be better is to actually take them to a farm.
Summer on the Farm - This video is a great way to introduce children to more modern farming rather than the Old MacDonald's Farm type of farm. Also a great lesson in where our food comes from.
