Valentine’s Day Song

Valentine’s day is approaching so we thought we’d highlight our favorite song to sing during this time of year….Skidamarink. Skidamarink was made popular by the Canadian children’s group, Sharon Louis and Bram in the 1980s. That and their Elephant Show theme song are definitely high on my list of songs I remember well from my childhood. Many people ask, “What does Skidamarink mean?” The answer is….nothing! It’s a nonsense word that just happens to be a lot of fun for kids to sing. The song itself was the grand finale song of the 1910 Broadway musical, “The Echo”.

Most versions of Skidamarink are quite fast and not very useful for ESL classrooms. We’ve slowed it down a bit but its still just as fun. The gestures are silly and keep kids interested in the song no matter what the speed.

Here is a video of the song from our YouTube channel, followed by the lyrics and some activity ideas.

Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone!

Language Focus: “I love you”, “morning”, “afternoon”, “evening”.

Classroom Benefits: Skidamarink is a very sweet song and great for teaching around Valentine’s Day. The gestures and silly lyrics are fun enough that they will keep the attention of older learners and captivate younger learners even if they can’t follow along completely.

It’s a great song for Parent/Child classes. Parent and child can face each other and sing! And it’s a nice choice around Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Grandparent’s Day, and any day children may want to share a little love.

Lyrics and actions:

Skidamarink a dinka dink. (Put your right elbow in your left hand and wiggle your fingers.)
Skidamarink a doo. (Put your left elbow in your right hand and wiggle your fingers.)
I love you. (Point to yourself, hug yourself, and point to the other people in your group.)

Skidamarink a dinka dink. (Repeat actions.)
Skidamarink a doo.
I love you.

I love you in the morning. (Make a big circle over your head with your arms, like the sun. Bend over to one side.)
And in the afternoon. (Stand up straight with your arms above you.)
I love you in the evening. (Bend over to the other side.)
And underneath the moon. (Release your arms and make another big circle, like the moon, over your head.)

Skidamarink a dinka dink.
Skidamarink a doo.
I love you.

(Repeat)

Activity ideas:

This song continues on with just music so you can make up your own silly lyrics. For example, change it to, “Skidamarink a dink a dink, Skidamarink a dee, I love ME!! or “Skidamarink a dink a dink, Skidamarink a daa, I love Pizaaaaa!”

Skidamarink is a great performance song! If the setting permits, beforehand have the children cut out lots of tiny pink and red hearts. Put them into heart-shaped pockets hanging around their necks. Wear these during the performance. At the end of the song, the children sprinkle the hearts over their parents or in front of them. (Be sure to have a broom handy!)