English Folk Song · Circle Game · Elementary Music · Grades K–2
Full lyrics, circle game guide, and step-by-step teaching demonstration for elementary music class. A charming English folk song with skipping, dance movements, and unpitched percussion for grades K–2.
Lyrics & circle game guide
About this song
A Ship A-Sailing is a traditional English folk song used in elementary music classrooms for grades K–2. Its lively rhythm and nautical imagery capture students' imagination, while the circle game activities build musical skills through movement.
The "skipping to the phrase" activity is one of the most effective tools for teaching phrase awareness — a foundational music concept. Students feel the phrase in their bodies as they skip, internalizing musical structure in a way that purely auditory instruction cannot match. When students naturally stop at the end of a phrase, they've understood something profound about how music is organized.
Unpitched percussion instruments can be added to extend the activity, and Deborah provides song cards and a bunny animation for additional engagement. The song's themes — animals, food, and sailing — make it accessible and imaginatively rich for young learners.
Teaching guide
The complete step-by-step video demonstration is available inside a Singing Classroom subscription.
Sing A Ship A-Sailing yourself first, then have students echo phrase by phrase. The images in the song — ships, animals, food — help students visualize and remember the words. Use the song cards to support learning.
Once students know the song, form a circle and skip to the phrase. Students stop or change direction at each phrase boundary. This physical experience of phrase makes the concept intuitive and unforgettable — they feel it before they name it.
Have students play unpitched percussion instruments to keep the steady beat or mark the phrases. This adds an instrumental dimension and reinforces the phrase structure through another musical mode.
After students have physically experienced phrase through skipping, name the concept explicitly. Ask: "What did you notice about when we changed direction? How did you know when to stop?" Connect their physical experience to the musical term.
By grade level
Focus on learning the words and the circle game. Skipping to phrase is a joyful, accessible activity even for the youngest students. Let them experience phrase without yet naming it formally.
Name the concept of phrase explicitly after students have experienced it through movement. Use A Ship A-Sailing as a reference point when discussing phrase in other songs. Add unpitched percussion.
Second graders can identify and count the phrases in A Ship A-Sailing, notate phrase boundaries, and compare phrase lengths. Discuss how composers create variety through phrase structure.
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More songs for elementary music
How to teach this beloved circle game for elementary music class.
See teaching guide →Complete guide to this classic English circle game for elementary music.
See teaching guide →Lyrics and complete teaching guide for this traditional English arch game.
See teaching guide →Common questions
A Ship A-Sailing is designed for Kindergarten through 2nd grade. The circle game and skipping activities work well for K–1, while 2nd graders can take a more analytical approach to phrase structure and musical form.
Skipping to the phrase is a movement activity where students skip in a circle and naturally stop or change direction at each phrase boundary. Because they're responding to what they hear (the end of a phrase), they experience phrase structure physically before naming it — a powerful pedagogical approach rooted in Kodály methodology.
No — The Singing Classroom is designed for both music specialists and generalist classroom teachers. Deborah's video demonstration shows every step of the lesson, including how to set up and run the circle game and percussion activities.
The Singing Classroom is a subscription service giving you access to 150+ folk songs and singing games, each one demonstrated on video. The subscription costs $22.95/month or $199.95/year. You can start with a free 7-day trial — credit card required, cancel anytime.
The real problem
Every teacher knows this feeling. You find a song, try it on Monday, and something goes sideways — the kids don't engage, you're not sure how to introduce it, the lesson loses momentum. It's not that the song was wrong. You just didn't have a clear picture of how it actually goes.
That's what makes The Singing Classroom different. Every song in the library, including this one, is demonstrated on video, either by Deborah walking you through how to teach it or by the bunnies animation of the game, and many songs have both. You don't have to guess how to introduce it, how to structure the activity, or how to handle the tricky moments. You watch it. Then you teach it.
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One subscription gives you the complete Singing Classroom library — 150+ folk songs and singing games, every one demonstrated on video with a teaching guide, and many with animated game instructions. A Ship A-Sailing is just one of the songs waiting for you.
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