Physical and vocal warm-up exercises

Just as athletes warm up before exercising in order to prepare the body and help prevent injury, it is important for singers to do vocal warm-up exercises before a singing session.

This video will give you lots of exercises you can use with your group. Do three to five repeats of each exercise. Hold stretches for a count of five.

We’ve also put together video of two fun action songs, ‘Baby Shark’ and ‘Baby 1, 2, 3  Head and Shoulders’. You can view them below. I find children always enjoy doing these and I love them too. These are the versions I like to do but you will find lots of variations on the Internet.

In an ideal world, all primary schools teachers would begin their working day in the classroom with a little physical exercise and some basic vocal exercises, followed by a little singing.

This could help energise everyone, relax the children and prepare the teacher’s voice for the day ahead. It would also help the children realise that singing can be a natural part of every day.

Can you imagine how a little 15 minute session each morning might encourage more children to participate more readily during the scheduled singing time?