Song Structure

The intentional pause before “for the storm to end” creates space to re-center attention, regulate energy, and guide transitions between verses. Sometimes, large movement songs can become chaotic and feel crowded. This pause was written as a preventative step to avoid an overwhelming experience.

What Is a Zipper Song?

In a zipper song, the melody and the chord progression stay put. One lyric or movement slot opens for the participant to fill (think Old MacDonald or Wheels on the Bus). In Calling All Animals, the kiddos name an animal and how it moves to the boat. The structure is reassuringly consistent, while the content evolves with the community’s input.

I love giving this to kiddos. The imbalance of power in their lives is intense, and a zipper song creates a moment they get to control.

More on that: Zipper Songs: A Theology of Participation and Trust

Calling All Animals Lyrics and Chords

Chords: G C D

Part A:

G                    C    G
Calling all animals, over here
D
It's gonna rain, the flood is near
G                       C        G
Noah's ark can keep you safe and dry
D                               G
As the rain pours down from the sky

Part B: This is the place to collect kids’ ideas and encourage them to move like that animal!

D
If I were a kangaroo, I'd jump to the boat
G                            D        G
I'd jump to the boat with my kangaroo friends
JUMP JUMP JUMP
D
If I were a kangaroo, I'd jump to the boat
     G          D (pause!)
Jump aboard and wait
                 G
For the storm to end

Back to A, repeat! Swap the animal names and movements each time you share part B.

If I were an elephant, I would stomp to the boat…
If I were a sloth, I would creep to the boat…
If I were a snake, I would slither to the boat…

More animals to try:

If I were a bug, I would crawl to the boat…
If I were a bird, I would fly to the boat…
If I were a horse, I would gallop to the boat…

More than Cute 

Songs like Calling All Animals are nutrient-dense experiences: joyful, efficient ways to support growth across multiple developmental domains while engaging children in sacred learning. As they move their bodies through space with others, they’re practicing coordination, balance, and spatial awareness. When they make animal sounds, they strengthen breath control, articulation, and vocal development, all while feeling agency inside a Jewish story: to imagine, decide, and embody.

This kind of embodied music-making reminds us that Jewish education begins not only in the mind, but in the body and the senses. Through rhythm and play, children build skills, confidence, and connection to Torah, all at once.

Benefits

• Zipper format gives children agency. They contribute ideas and feel ownership.
• Pause structure helps maintain energy balance and prevents chaos.
• Children experience themselves as active participants inside a Jewish story.
• Models that excitement and structure can coexist.

How to Use This Song

Before singing, I like to build anticipation through environment and sound. I’ll often play soft rain and thunder sound effects as families enter the room or use a rainstick to create the sense that a storm is coming.

Then, I bring out my Noah puppet. “Shalom! My name is Noah!” he says. I ask the children what they know about him.

Model animal movements and sounds with your whole body. Your energy invites their participation. Use pacing intentionally: movement during verses, stillness in the pauses.

After singing, consider pairing this song with a rainbow song and scarves.

Teaching Tips for the Zipper

In all my zipper songs I start by exampling and inviting, and I take the first turn myself so nobody has to go first into an empty room.

Ask, “Which animal should come next?” Let children contribute ideas and make choices. For younger children, offer specific animal choices. For older children, let them generate ideas freely.

I try to stay responsive to the group. Leaders can decide to choose the animals or to ask for input.

I never require anyone to speak their idea aloud, because I do not want to put a single person on the spot. I ask folks to show me with a hand if they want to contribute.

Jewish Context

This song is rooted in Parshat Noach פָּרָשַׁת נֹחַ  and reflects a core approach to Jewish early childhood education: Torah is something we live with our whole bodies. Through rhythm and play, children build connection to text, tradition, and community in ways that feel joyful and accessible. By moving like the animals, children step inside the story.

A Companion Song: Old Man Noah Built an Ark

Calling All Animals and Old Man Noah Built an Ark work together to tell our story. Calling All Animals gets everyone to the boat. Old Man Noah, sung to the tune of Old MacDonald, brings fourteen cows and two pigs aboard.

Old Man Noah Built an Ark Songleader Guide

Building Your Parshat Noach Repertoire

• Teaching Parshat Noach: Jewish Music, Movement, and Meaning
• Two by Two or Seven Pairs? What the Torah Says About the Animals on Noah’s Ark

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