Oggy oggy oggy!

A good way to warm up the campfire's voices is with a yell or two... in this one, the campfire leader does the 'oggy' bits and the campfire do the 'oy' bits.

Oggy Oggy Oggy!
                                    Oy Oy Oy!
Oggy Oggy Oggy!
                                    Oy Oy Oy!
Oggy!
                                    Oy!
Oggy!
                                    Oy!
Oggy Oggy Oggy!
                                    Oy Oy Oy!

We also use the 'AA Milne' versions of this...

Winnie Winnie Winnie!
                                    Pooh Pooh Pooh!
Winnie Winnie Winnie!
                                    Pooh Pooh Pooh!
Winnie!
                                    Pooh!
Winnie!
                                    Pooh!
Winnie Winnie Winnie!
                                    Pooh Pooh Pooh!

Tigger Tigger Tigger!
                                    Bounce Bounce Bounce!
Tigger Tigger Tigger!
                                    Bounce Bounce Bounce!
Tigger!
                                    Bounce!
Tigger!
                                    Bounce!
Tigger Tigger Tigger!
                                    Bounce Bounce Bounce!

I tend to use these near the beginning of the campfire if I don't seem to be getting much noise out of the circle; they are easy, and nobody has a problem remembering the words!

Bobby Bingo

This is another really old song - there are versions dating back to the 1780s - but it is a good one for younger groups. Each time through, drop a letter from the spelling of B-I-N-G-O. Most times, the group's done with it when you get to five claps, but if they're not, go back through replacing the claps with letters again.

There was a farmer, had a dog,
And Bingo was his name-o,
There was a farmer, had a dog,
And Bingo was his name-o,

B - I - N - G - O,

B - I - N - G - O,

B - I - N - G - O,

And Bingo was his name-o.

There was a farmer, had a dog,
And Bingo was his name-o,
There was a farmer, had a dog,
And Bingo was his name-o,

[clap] - I - N - G - O,

[clap] - I - N - G - O,

[clap] - I - N - G - O,

And Bingo was his name-o.

There was a farmer, had a dog,
And Bingo was his name-o,
There was a farmer, had a dog,
And Bingo was his name-o,

[clap] - [clap] - N - G - O,

[clap] - [clap] - N - G - O,

[clap] - [clap] - N - G - O,

And Bingo was his name-o.

There was a farmer, had a dog,
And Bingo was his name-o,
There was a farmer, had a dog,
And Bingo was his name-o,

[clap] - [clap] - [clap] - G - O,

[clap] - [clap] - [clap] - G - O,

[clap] - [clap] - [clap] - G - O,

And Bingo was his name-o.

There was a farmer, had a dog,
And Bingo was his name-o,
There was a farmer, had a dog,
And Bingo was his name-o,

[clap] - [clap] - [clap] - [clap] - O,

[clap] - [clap] - [clap] - [clap] - O,

[clap] - [clap] - [clap] - [clap] - O,

And Bingo was his name-o.

There was a farmer, had a dog,
And Bingo was his name-o,
There was a farmer, had a dog,
And Bingo was his name-o,

[clap] - [clap] - [clap] - [clap] - [clap],

[clap] - [clap] - [clap] - [clap] - [clap],

[clap] - [clap] - [clap] - [clap] - [clap],

And Bingo was his name-o.

The invisible bench

It's Sunday (or it will be when this appears on the blog) so I thought it was time for something different. Sundays will be sketches rather than songs.

This works well if your group has a gang show, but cubs or younger scouts can do this with you as the 'straight man', older scouts and explorers can do it all for themselves.

You have just finished a song, and are starting to introduce the next one when there is a voice from the side.

Cub 1: Sorry I'm late, Akela,, where can I sit?

                                   Straight man: Oh, just sit on the invisible bench. 

[Cub goes and perches as though sat on a bench]

                                   Straight man: Where was I? Oh yes,...

Cub 2: Sorry I'm late, Akela,, where can I sit?

                                   Straight man: Sit with her on the invisible bench.

[Cub goes and perches alongside]

                                   Straight man: As I was saying...

Cub 3: Sorry I'm late, Akela,, where can I sit?

                                   Straight man: You can sit there on the invisible bench.

[Cub goes and perches alongside]

                                   Straight man: Now if we can just get on...

Cub 4: Sorry I'm late, Akela,, where can I sit?

                                   Straight man: On the invisible bench.

[Cub goes and perches alongside]

                                   Straight man: And finally...

Cub 5: Sorry I'm late, Akela,, where can I sit?

                                   Straight man: On the invisible bench. (looking cross now)

[Cub looks at the four who are perched on the invisible bench]

Cub 5: But I moved the invisible bench to the other side of the campfire...

[Cubs 1-4 look at him, look at each other, and fall backwards in a pile]

Of course, they will need to practice it with you to get the timing right, and you need to make sure they fall safely AWAY from the campfire, but this is easy for younger kids to learn and nobody has to remember great wadges of lines.

Boogaloo

You can make up loads of verses for this one. I think it's probably a good idea to have three or four that you always use and drop a new one on the end when you run it, just to keep people on their toes.

The first part needs the campfire to call back to you, shown in (brackets). After that, everyone sings and does the actions in [square brackets] together. You need them all on their feet and warmed up before you go for this one...

Let me see your Boogaloo
                       (What's that you say?)
Let me see your Boogaloo
                       (What's that you say?)

Boo-ga-loo, Boo-boo-ga-loo, Wooh! 
Boo-ga-loo, Boo-boo-ga-loo, Wooh! 
                       [Thumbs up actions, silly dance]


Let me see your Frankenstein
                       (What's that you say?)
Let me see your Frankenstein
                       (What's that you say?)

Frank-en-stein, Frank-frank-en-stein, Raargh! 
Frank-en-stein, Frank-frank-en-stein, Raargh! 
                       [Arms out in front like a comedy zombie,stretch out for the roar ]
Boo-ga-loo, Boo-boo-ga-loo, Wooh! 
Boo-ga-loo, Boo-boo-ga-loo, Wooh!
                       [Thumbs up actions, silly dance]

Let me see your Dracula
                       (What's that you say?)
Let me see your Dracula
                       (What's that you say?)

Dracula, Drac-drac-u-la, Hisss! 
Dracula, Drac-drac-u-la, Hisss! 
                       [Fingers as teeth]
Frank-en-stein, Frank-frank-en-stein, Raargh! 
Frank-en-stein, Frank-frank-en-stein, Raargh! 
                       [Arms out in front like a comedy zombie,stretch out for the roar ]
Boo-ga-loo, Boo-boo-ga-loo, Wooh! 
Boo-ga-loo, Boo-boo-ga-loo, Wooh!
                       [Thumbs up actions, silly dance]

And so on. Other verses I have done have been 'Funky Chicken' and 'Ballerina'; I've seen 'Kung Fu Man', 'Elephant' and 'Crocodile', but let your imagination run wild.

What's that I hear?

I have called this a 'replacement' song; I don't know what the proper term would be, but in this case an extra line is replaced by the action each time you sing it through. It can be quite hilarious, especially if you can perfect a manic grin for the fourth line. We had to ban it from our camp fires for a while because one of our leaders collapsed into paroxysms of laughter as soon as it was mentioned.

As you go through the first time, do the action at the same time as the line. Second time through, the first line isn't sung, but the action is still done. Exentually, there are no words, just a campfire full of people acting it out...

What's that I hear  [Cup a hand to your ear]
Up in the Attic?  [Point into the sky]
It's an elephant  [One arm in front of your face as a trunk]
Riding a bike!  [Hands on the handlebars and pedal furiously]
It's an elephant  [One arm in front of your face as a trunk]
So suave and elegant  [Sweep a cape across your shoulders]
With one tail here  [One arm in front of your face as a trunk]
And one tail here.  [And the other arm behind you as a tail]

..... .... . ....  [Cup a hand to your ear]
Up in the Attic?  [Point into the sky]
It's an elephant  [One arm in front of your face as a trunk]
Riding a bike!  [Hands on the handlebars and pedal furiously]
It's an elephant  [One arm in front of your face as a trunk]
So suave and elegant  [Sweep a cape across your shoulders]
With one tail here  [One arm in front of your face as a trunk]
And one tail here.  [And the other arm behind you as a tail]

..... .... . ....  [Cup a hand to your ear]
.. .. ... .....?  [Point into the sky]
It's an elephant  [One arm in front of your face as a trunk]
Riding a bike!  [Hands on the handlebars and pedal furiously]
It's an elephant  [One arm in front of your face as a trunk]
So suave and elegant  [Sweep a cape across your shoulders]
With one tail here  [One arm in front of your face as a trunk]
And one tail here.  [And the other arm behind you as a tail]

And so on until there are no words, just actions.