Complete Text of the Audience Participation Version of the Ants and the Grasshopper.

TEACHER: Once upon a time, there were ants and do ants work hard. First they… CHILDREN: Dig (gesture), Dig (gesture) Dig (Gesture). TEACHER: Then they… CHILDREN: Pull (gesture), Pull (Gesture) Pull (Gesture).
TEACHER: Then they… CHILDREN: Pile (Gesture), Pile (Gesture), Pile (Gesture) TEACHER: But if that is all you ever do, life gets CHILDREN: Boring. TEACHER: One day they heard a strange sound CHILDREN: (Children gesture as if playing a fiddle and hum a tune.)
NOTE: it can be any tune. I prefer an Irish ditty. TEACHER: Over the hill came a grasshopper playing a fiddle.
CHILDREN: (Children gesture as if playing a fiddle and hum a tune.) TEACHER: The ants listened. (They do.) TEACHER: The grasshopper played some more. CHILDREN: (Children gesture as if playing a fiddle and hum a tune.) TEACHER: Suddenly, for the first time ever, the ants began to dance. CHILDREN: (The ants “dance.” It can be a little thing, arms out, no sound, as they sit.) TEACHER: When the ants went back to work, they had a lot of energy. First, they’d CHILDREN: Dig (gesture), Dig (gesture) Dig (Gesture).
TEACHER: Then they’d… CHILDREN: Pull (gesture), Pull (Gesture) Pull (Gesture). TEACHER: Then they’d CHILDREN: Pile (Gesture), Pile (Gesture), Pile (Gesture) TEACHER: Taking breaks to listen to the music. CHILDREN: (The grasshopper plays.) TEACHER: And they’d dance CHILDREN: (They dance.) TEACHER: Then it got cold. And the fiddle music sounded strange. CHILDREN: (The children do shivering fiddle bits) TEACHER: Well, they couldn’t dance to that. They asked… CHILDREN: What’s wrong? TEACHER: The grasshopper said, CHILD: It’s getting cold. TEACHER: An ant said… CHILD: You should go home. TEACHER: The Grasshopper said… CHILD: I don’t have a house I never built one. I played the fiddle. TEACHER: Some of the ants said… HALF OF THE CHILDREN: Let him freeze. TEACHER: The others said… THE OTHER HALF OF THE CHILDREN: But what about the dancing? TEACHER: So, on Saturday morning, CHILDREN: Ant Day Off!
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TEACHER: They decided to build a house for the grasshopper. First, they’d… CHILDREN: Dig (gesture), Dig (gesture) Dig (Gesture). TEACHER: Then they’d… CHILDREN: Pull (gesture), Pull (Gesture) Pull (Gesture).
TEACHER: Then they’d CHILDREN: Pile (Gesture), Pile (Gesture), Pile (Gesture) TEACHER: When the house was done it had two rooms, one room for the grasshopper and one room for their… ALL: Dancing floor!!!!!!! TEACHER: Every night when they were done with their work, the grasshopper went to work. He played the fiddle. CHILDREN: (They play the fiddle and hum the tune.) TEACHER: And the ants would do some… CHILDREN: Ant Dancing! (They do.) TEACHER: And that’s a new fable about … ALL: The Ants and the Grasshopper.