Dementia Cafe Quiz ☕️ Animal Songs
- Simon O'Donovan
- Apr 15, 2025
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 17, 2025
Here is another Dementia Cafe Quiz for your CST group's enjoyment. This time it's 40 clips of 'Animal Songs' for members to match with images of animals. It relies on musical memory and photo recognition.
You could print off screenshots of the animal grid or if you click on the first picture a slide show will open. On the other hand, if you think 40 songs and images are too much, just click on the images and songs you want to use and print them off for the tables.
⛔️ PS There is a Rolf Harris song included. You might want to exclude this if you feel playing it would be triggering for your group. Instead you could play the TV theme from 'Skippy The Bush Kangaroo' - I have added it at the end of the playlist.
So, here are the songs in the correct order ...
Followed by a Spotify playlist, the idea being facilitators mix it up and members shout out the animal and tick it off.
Spotify playlist ... https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7BLoM8Wh3D8fCB6JMmqoik
"Talk To The Animals"
Here's another animals in music activity. Play the song 'Talk To The Animals' from 'Dr. Dolittle' and ask members to listen carefully and note down any animals they here in the song. Afterwards, you can list them all.
Here is the song video (best I could find) ...
Here are the animals in order ... Use these images as prompts for recall.
"Talk to the Animals" is a song written by British composer Leslie Bricusse.
Written for the 1967 film 'Doctor Dolittle', it won the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 40th Academy Awards. It was performed in the film by Rex Harrison.
Here are the lyrics ...
Talk to the animals?
just imagine it!
Chattin' to a chimp in chimpanzee,
Imagine talking to a tiger,
chatting with a cheetah,
Oh, what a neat achievement
that would be!
If we could talk to the animals,
learn their languages,
maybe take an Animal Degree?
I'd study elephant and eagle,
buffalo and beagle,
Alligator, guinea pig, and flea!
I would converse
in polar bear and python,
And I would curse in fluent kangaroo
If people ask me,
"can you speak rhinocerous?"
I'd say "of courserous!
Can't you? (haha)!"
If I conferred with our furry friends,
man to animal-
think of the amazing repartee!
If I could walk with the animals,
talk with the animals,
grunt and squeak
and squawk with the animals!
And-
...they could talk to me!
If I consulted with quadrupeds
Think what fun we'd have,
asking over crocodiles for tea!
Or maybe lunch
with two or three lions,
walruses and sea lions
What a lovely place
the world would be!
If I spoke slang to orangutan-
the advantages,
any fool on earth could plainly see!
Discussing Eastern art and dramas
with intellectual llamas
That's a big step forward,
you'll agree!
I'd learn to speak
in antelope and turtle.
My Pekinese
would be extremely good!
If I were asked to sing,
in hippopotamus?
I'd say "whynotamous?"
and would!
If I could parlay with pachyderms
It's a fairy tale
worthy of
Hans Anderson and Grimm
A man who walks with the animals,
talks with the animals,
grunts and squeaks
and squawks with the animals!
and they could talk to me!
A man can talk to the animals. It's a miracle!
In a year from now, I guarantee
I'll be the marvel of the mammals, playing chess with camels
No more just a boring old M.D
I'd study
every living creature's language
So I can speak
to all of them, on sight
If friends say,
"can he talk in crab or pelican?"
You'd say "like Hell, he can!"
-and you'll be right!
And if you just stop to think of it
there's no doubt of it,
I shall win a place in history!
FOR I CAN
WALK WITH THE ANIMALS!
TALK WITH THE ANIMALS!
grunt and squeak
and squawk with the animals!
and they can squeak
and squalk
and speak
and talk,
to me!
And finally, here is a singalong plus lyrics video ...
Title: I know an old lady
----------------------------------------
I know an old lady who swallowed a fly,
I don't know why she swallowed the fly,
I guess she'll die.
I know an old lady who swallowed a spider,
That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,
I don't know why she swallowed the fly,
I guess she'll die.
I know an old lady who swallowed a bird,
How absurd to swallow a bird!
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,
I don't know why she swallowed the fly,
I guess she'll die.
I know an old lady who swallowed a cat,
Imagine that, to swallow a cat!
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,
I don't know why she swallowed the fly,
I guess she'll die.
I know an old lady who swallowed a dog,
My, what a hog, to swallow a dog!
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat,
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,
I don't know why she swallowed the fly,
I guess she'll die.
I know an old lady who swallowed a goat,
Just opened her throat and swallowed a goat!
She swallowed the goat to catch the dog,
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat,
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,
I don't know why she swallowed the fly,
I guess she'll die.
I know an old lady who swallowed a cow,
I wonder how she swallowed a cow?!
She swallowed the cow to catch the goat,
She swallowed the goat to catch the dog,
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat,
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
That wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,
I don't know why she swallowed the fly,
I guess she'll die.
I know an old lady who swallowed a horse,
She's dead, of course!
Comments