Dinosaur Song – Hokey Cokey/Hokey Pokey

When delivering dinosaur workshops to children in Reception classes or Year 1 we like to incorporate lots of physical exercises to keep the children enthused and to help reinforce learning.  Our dedicated teaching team provide all sorts of ideas to support extension activities following one of our school visits and we dove-tail our work into the national curriculum helping the teachers to provide a rich and challenging term topic or dinosaur themed science day.

A Reception Class Prepares Questions for our Dinosaur Workshop

Questions, questions and even more questions!

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Dinosaur “Hokey Cokey”

As part of our large range of prepared extension activities we enclose a version of the “Hokey Cokey/Hokey Pokey” that has been modified so that it can be used as a song activity to support a lesson all about dinosaurs.  Everything Dinosaur recommends that the children be given plenty of space for this activity so that they have room to carry out the actions that accompany the song.

Dinosaur Song – sung to the Tune of the “Hokey Cokey/Hokey Pokey”

Don’t forget the actions, this is a great song and dance activity for budding young palaeontologists.

Verse 1 (use feet for the actions)

You put your big feet in

You put your big feet out

You put your big feet in

And you stomp them all about

You do the Dino-Pokey and you turn around

That’s what it’s all about

Verse 2 (use hands and fingers for the actions)

You put your sharp claws  in

You put your sharp claws out

You put your sharp claws  in

And you wave them all about

You do the Dino-Pokey and you turn around

That’s what it’s all about

Verse 3 (use arms to make a tail that the children can swing behind them)

You swing your long tail in

You swing your long tail out

You swing your long tail in

And you shake it all about

You do the Dino-Pokey and you turn around

That’s what it’s all about

Verse 4  (have the children pull a “scary dinosaur face”)

You put your pointy teeth in

You put your pointy teeth out

You put your pointy teeth in

And you crunch them all about

You do the Dino-Pokey and you turn around

That’s what it’s all about – Roar, Roar Roar!

A Note for Teachers and Teaching Assistants

This activity can be undertaken in a large classroom, or better still the school hall or gym.  Have the children spread out or perhaps they could form a big circle, but make sure that they have enough space so that they can perform the actions safely, we want to avoid any bumps, mishaps or bruises.

As an extension activity idea, perhaps with more confident learners, can the children write their own verse?

Everything Dinosaur provides a free download that contains all the words to the dinosaur “Hokey Cokey/Hokey Pokey” song, plus a large range of free to download teaching resources, simply go to Everything Dinosaur’s specialist teaching website and visit the free teaching downloads pages.

Everything Dinosaur’s award-winning website: Everything Dinosaur.

For inexpensive dinosaur and fossil themed teaching resources, we recommend: Dinosaur Games and Dinosaur Crafts for Kids.

These resources are all part of the support we provide with regards to dinosaur workshops in schools, teaching about dinosaurs in school.  To contact a team member to ask advice over the wide range of dinosaur themed gifts and toys we stock: Email Us.