Fun Song & Story Acting with Chicken Little

It’s great fun to engage children in stories with music and acting. Elsewhere on this blog, you can find posts about my musical versions of stories such as “The Three Little Pigs” and “The Tortoise and the Hare.” Click on “Story Songs” to find several examples. These musical dramas don’t require much rehearsal – just invite kids to step into the parts.

This past year, one of my kindergarten music classes did a very fun version of “Chicken Little” for our school play. With just a little preparation, you can create your own in-class version of the little chickie who thinks the sky is falling, along with a host of other characters from Funny Bunnies to the sly Foxie Loxies.

Children can decide what part they would like to play. Don’t worry if more than one person wants a part – just create two or three of the same character. If you are acting it out very informally, an adult can read the narrator parts and the kids can simply act out the animal part they’ve chosen. In Chicken Little, half the fun is letting the “actors” take a little time to create their silly animals with sounds and movements.

Below is the script. You will notice that the little song repeats frequently, but that’s actually a good thing when working with young children.  They learn it quickly and enjoy singing it over and over. You can find a recording of the whole story here: https://soundcloud.com/antelopeliz/chicken-little In the recording, there were multiple versions of each character, including Chicken Little.

Chicken Little

A play adapted by Liz Buchanan ©2017

Narrator 1: This story is called Chicken Little.

Narrator 2: Once upon a time, Chicken Little went for a walk in the woods.

(Chicken Little comes to center stage, where an oak tree is standing. Chicken Little stops and sits down to rest in front of a person playing the Oak Tree.)

Narrator 3: When Chicken Little stopped to rest, and something fell on his/her head.

(The Oak Tree drops an “acorn” on Chicken Little. A squirrel picks it up and runs away when Chicken Little isn’t looking. Chicken Little jumps up and rubs his/her head, looking very upset.)

Chicken Little: Ouch! The sky is falling!

Sung by all children:

Oh, no! Something fell down!  Oh, no! It’s falling all around!

The sky is falling, Oh no. The sky is falling, I’ve got to go.

And tell the king about this thing, ‘cause the sky is fall-ing.

Spoken by all: Soon Chicken Little met the Silly Kitty.  (Kitty does a little kitty dance and says Miaow.)

Kitty: Miaow!  What’s the matter, Chicken Little?

Chicken Little: The sky is falling!

Kitty: Oh, no!

Sung by all:

Oh, no! Something fell down!  Oh, no! It’s falling all around!

The sky is falling, Oh no. The sky is falling, I’ve got to go.

And tell the king about this thing, ‘cause the sky is fall-ing.

Spoken by all: Soon they met the Funny Bunny! (Funny Bunny hops a bit, then stops.)

Funny Bunny: What’s the matter, Chicken Little?

Chicken Little & Kitty: The sky is falling!

Funny Bunny: Oh no!

Sung by all:

Oh, no! Something fell down!  Oh, no! It’s falling all around!

The sky is falling, Oh no. The sky is falling, I’ve got to go.

And tell the king about this thing, ‘cause the sky is fall-ing.

Spoken by all: Soon, they met Henny Penny. (Henny Penny flaps and says Bok Bok.)

Henny Penny: What’s the matter, Chicken Little?

Chicken Little & others: The sky is falling!

Henny Penny: Oh no!

Sung by all:

Oh, no! Something fell down!  Oh, no! It’s falling all around!

The sky is falling, Oh no. The sky is falling, I’ve got to go.

And tell the king about this thing, ‘cause the sky is fall-ing.

Spoken by all: Soon, they all met the Lucky Ducky. (Ducky flaps and say quack quack.)

Lucky Ducky: What’s the matter, Chicken Little?

Chicken Little & others:  The sky is falling!

Lucky Ducky: Oh no!

Sung by all:

Oh, no! Something fell down!  Oh, no! It’s falling all around!

The sky is falling, Oh no. The sky is falling, I’ve got to go.

And tell the king about this thing, ‘cause the sky is fall-ing.

Lucky Ducky: (Pointing up) Quack-quack. Hmm! But it looks like the sky is still up there!

(Chicken Little and other animals look at each other, confused.)

Chicken Littles & Others: Huh?

Spoken by all:  Then, along came the sly Foxy Loxies. The Foxies said:

Sung by all, or by Foxes:

What’s all this I hear you calling?

Did you say the sky is falling?

I can help, come right this way!

I’ll help you at my house today!

(Foxes secretly look at something called “Chicken Cookbook” and rub their tummies like they can’t wait to eat Chicken Little.)

Lucky Ducky: Quack-quack-quack.  Those Foxes, they are oh, so sly.  Those Foxes will tell you a lie.

Foxes: Not us!

Ducky: Quack-quack. Yes, you!  Go away!  (The Ducky grabs the cookbook and Foxes exit in a huff.)

(Oak tree drops another acorn on Chicken Little. The Squirrel steps out, ready to grab the nut.)

Chicken Little: But the sky is still falling!

Squirrel: No, it’s not, it’s just a nut. Yum!

Chicken Little & all other animals/birds: Oh!

Chicken Little: Why didn’t you say so before?

All Sing:

The sky didn’t fall, Oh no. The sky didn’t fall, oh, no.

It was just a nut, so off we go. It was just a nut, so off-we-go!

2 Comments

  1. I LOVE this!! I’ll give it a try with my Kindergarten class this year!! Thank you, Liz!

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