Hi all! Because I love you, I decided to make a fool of myself share what I’ve learned about playing ukulele in storytime in a series of videos. I know lots of folks who are seasoned uke-ists (not a word) and some who are new to the instrument. I’m somewhere in between, and I hope this will help those newbies gain some confidence in their skills and ROCK OUT in storytime – the kids love it and we all know how important singing is to early literacy skills development!
Here’s the first installment: BINGO! Kids, librarians and teachers alike all know and love this song, and it’s pretty easy to play on the ukulele. In the video I’ll share the chord fingering**, demonstrate playing the song, and show you my fun flannelboard. I learned which chords to use at this awesome site.
Please excuse the poor lighting and the video quality. I’m no videographer – remember, I did this because I LOVE YOU and want your storytime to be the best it can be!
**What I call an A major chord in the video is actually an A MINOR. Whoops!
Bingo was his name-o.
Look for Flip Flap Jack (Aiken Drum) next – the chords I found on the site above were strange, so I figured out my own!
missmaryliberry.com 
You inspired me! I’ve been flirting with the idea of uke-ing in storytime. I’m buying a uke today!
HOLY MOLY!!! This is the best site ever!!! I need to get brave, buy a uke, learn to play it, and then use it in storytime! UR SO COOL!
Tiffany! Thank you! I did not know about that site. I’ve bookmarked it for future use!
Thanks for posting this video! I started taking ukulele class in the summer so I could do use it for storytime and I have yet tried to do it. I’m not very good because I’m a beginner. However, I will give it a try because you are right, the kids don’t care! Thank you again! Have you seen this website:
http://www.gotaukulele.com/2011/02/ukulele-nursery-rhymes-chords-for.html
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I bought the ukelele over a year ago and I haven’t learned to play it. You are inspiring!!! I even suspect that it was because of your blog that I bought it. 🙂 You are wonderful for sharing!!!
You are awesome! I tried teaching myself the uke a few years back (we have one here in storage no one uses) and I just couldn’t get it. I’ve never played an instrument ever, so this might have something to do with it lol. Maybe I will try again! And I absolutely LOVE the idea of barking instead of clapping!
Anna – You can do it! I have a handy little portable tuner that clips on to the neck of the uke; it turns from red to green when it’s in tune. The kids help me by watching the light and telling me when it turns green. That way I can get away with tuning it before using it in storytime! This is it: http://www.amazon.com/Cherub-WST-550U-Ukulele-Tuner/dp/B000WEH44Y/ref=sr_1_4?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1360096220&sr=1-4&keywords=ukulele+tuner+clip+on
Thanks Mary! I appreciate this. I have TWO ukeleles, now, and am not getting anywhere with using them. (One was my gram’s from about 1920 and one was my husband’s when he was a kid). I can’t even keep it in tune, but this was inspiring; I’ll keep plugging away.