Små Grodorna: Swedish Frog Song

If you've been keeping up with my blog lately you know this is my third post about a frog song- I am so excited about this theme for spring, and there are so many fun, accessible songs in different languages that are perfect for elementary music! Today I have a Swedish frog song, "Små grodorna", that I am thrilled to add to my repertoire.

About the Song

"Små grodorna" is a song and dance for Midsummer, which is one of the biggest holidays in the country celebrated between June 19-25 around the summer solstice. The song is made to be sung while dancing in a circle around the Maypole and is very well-known as a song for the Midsummer festival. You can see the notation of the melody here, and the lyrics and translation below:

Swedish lyrics:

Små grodorna, små grodorna är lustiga att se.

Små grodorna, små grodorna är lustiga att se.

Ej öron, ej öron, ej svansar hava de.

Ej öron, ej öron, ej svansar hava de.

Kou ack ack ack, kou ack ack ack,

kou ack ack ack ack kaa.

Kou ack ack ack, kou ack ack ack,

kou ack ack ack ack kaa.

English translation:

The little frogs, the little frogs are funny to observe.

The little frogs, the little frogs are funny to observe.

No ears, no ears, no tails do they possess.

No ears, no ears, no tails do they possess.

Kou ack ack ack, kou ack ack ack,

kou ack ack ack ack kaa.

Kou ack ack ack, kou ack ack ack,

kou ack ack ack ack kaa.

Here is a video from a Midsummer festival showing the movements- basically you show the ears and the tails with your hands in the first half, then skip around in the second half:

Lesson Ideas

This song is perfect for introducing and identifying A and B sections, or same and contrasting sections, because it has two distinct sections in the song that is demonstrated in the lyrics and in the movements. I work on identifying, creating with, and demonstrating A and B sections in grades K-2 and this is a perfect song to add to lessons with those grades. First I sing the song with the movement, telling students to copy me as we go around the circle. Once they've got the movement down I teach them the lyrics, then practice singing and moving. Then I ask them how many different parts there are in the song, and we discuss the contrasting A and B sections. 

If you use it together with the other frog songs I've shared this is a good example of duple meter (see my post here for a Puerto Rican frog song in triple meter as contrast!). The gross motor movement really helps students experience the meter more clearly- I plan to use this one after students have learned other songs in duple and triple and ask them to identify, after singing and moving with the song, what the meter is.

This is such a fun song, I know my students are going to be in stiches when they learn it (and what it means)! This collection of frog songs from around the world is turning out to be one of my favorite song collections ever- in addition to the Puerto Rican song linked above, my favorite frog song I've known almost my whole life is this frog song from Japan. If you know any more frog songs in non-English languages I'd love to hear about them in the comments, and if you've used "Små grodorna" in your teaching I'd love to hear what other lesson ideas you have for this song.