Aiken Drum has been a favorite in our house for a long while. It’s an old Scottish folk song about a man who lives in the moon, plays upon a ladle, and is made completely of food.
Each article of clothing that he wears is its own special dish, including a buttons made of penny loaves and breeches made of haggis bags. (What are haggis bags, you ask? Haggis is a savoy pudding made of sheep parts- you can read more here if you want the full details. 😉 )
We decided to make our own version of the song that was more accessible to today’s listeners. Our buttons are made of cookies, and pants made of zucchini.
Last summer, we introduced the song to kids at a local music camp that we lead. We taught the kids how to play and sing the song, and at the end of the week we played it for an audience. Our band was complete with poster board food-shaped costume pieces donning each child, and one girl proudly tapping on a ladle just like Aiken.
The song opens up a lot of possibilities for creative play, artwork, and even creative eating. We hope you enjoy Aiken Drum as much as we do!