The Ants Go Marching

We're listening. You said you wanted more of our fun-loving arrangements of kid favorites. Here's one that has always been one of our favorites, and it opens the door to a lot of enjoyable usage options.

The recording for this arrangement is unique. It combines pseudo-dramatic orchestration with the fun of an old-time radio drama. Actually, you will find three different versions of the recording on your tape. There's a full performance on Side One, complete with vocals, instrumental background, and the special "Ant Drama" between verses. On Side Two, you'll find a version that includes the accompaniment and the ant voices as well as one that is just the accompaniment, so that you can do any dramatizing with your kids.

The Drama - This song is already a story song, with the little ant doing some new thing in every verse to slow the progress of the march. It is part of what makes the story special. But we took it one step further. We extended the space between verses to restate the muted fanfare from the introduction. This provided some quality space for a little story telling.

In the recorded version (see script below), we tell the tale of the ant brigade's raid on a picnic table, starring a "Leader Ant" in authoritative voice and a "Wee Ant" gumming up the works. The one exception to this is "Ahnold Ant" after verse 9. To be honest, this was a great ad lib by John Riggio in the recording session, but it was so funny that we kept it. You may decide to just let your little ones have fun listening to the recorded drama as they sing, or you might want to perform it with students in your class, rotating the players often, of course. You may even want to create a totally new drama with your kids, using as many ants as you like. Also consider other ways of including more students, like forming a "Marching Chorus" that produces the sound of marching ants. We used several people tapping on paper with pencils to the beat while going "Hut, hut" in a high voice. Let your students use their imaginations; they'll come up with great ideas!

Move - No matter how you use it, this tune is a great opportunity for movement. Marching movements, even in place, are the best bet here. It can be as simple as just marching to all or some parts of the tune, or as complex as marching in rows based on the numbers in the lyrics, if you have the room.

across the curriculum - Science teachers can have a ball introducing real live ants into their study as you work on this one, so let them know you're doing it. Ant farms can be so educational!

Language teachers will have more to do, though, creating new verses that rhyme with the numbers, and maybe even dramas that jive with the new lyrics. Obviously there are many options. On verse seven for instance, it could be anything from "talk with Kevin" to "at 7-11™". We avoided the latter because of possible copyright problems, but it gives you an idea of the range of possibilities. Above all, though, have fun with it!