We’ve put together a collection of children’s songs that almost everyone has heard at least once, like “Elephant,” “The Policeman Dog,” and “Aye-Aye.” Because they’re made for little kids, looking at the lyrics again really shows their pleasing sound, easy-to-follow stories, and skillful word choices.
Famous nursery rhymes that have been sung for generations are perfect for parents and children to sing together.
This time, we’ve also selected many songs that you can do hand motions with, so be sure to enjoy singing along together!
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Animals in Nursery Rhymes, Folk Songs, and Children's Songs (1–10)
Mountain MusiciansNEW!German folk song
An endearing, picture book-like piece in which the animals of the forest become musicians and hold a concert.
In this song, mountain friends like squirrels and little birds appear one after another, each showing off their favorite instrument.
With a structure that layers on words imitating the timbre of the instruments, it carries a lively joy that makes your body start moving all on its own.
It became widely known in Japan after being featured in April 1964 on NHK’s “Minna no Uta,” sung by Dark Ducks.
Since then, it has been sung for many years on educational programs and the like.
Part of its charm is that you can enjoy it with gestures and hand motions, too.
Tanuki of Fist Mountain
“Genkotsuyama no Tanukisan” is well known not only as a Japanese children’s song but also as a hand-play song.
Since the hand motions are simple, you can do it with small children, and it’s an easy tune to remember.
It’s also sung as a game for playing rock–paper–scissors.
Old MacDonald Had a Farm
The original title is “Old MacDonald Had a Farm,” which is an American folk song in its Japanese version.
Many of you probably sang it as children, didn’t you? There’s also a parody version called “Osaka Umaimon no Uta” (Song of Osaka’s Tasty Foods).
Sparrows Samba
It sings about three sparrows dancing in various places.
You can just picture the adorable scene.
As the title suggests, it’s an upbeat, samba-style song.
The lyrics and music are by Tetsu Kashiwa, who is active as a singer-songwriter and novelist.
Song of a little bird
It’s a cute children’s song about a little bird calling its father and mother with its chirps.
It was released in 1954.
The lyrics were written by Jun’ichi Yoda, a children’s author from Fukuoka Prefecture.
The composer, Yasushi Akutagawa, also wrote music for films such as Hakkōda-san and Village of Eight Gravestones.
Elephant’s hat
It’s a song about a baby kitten, a piglet, and a raccoon dog pup one after another climbing into an elephant’s forgotten hat.
It starts with just one, but more and more keep joining in, and just imagining the animals packed tightly inside the hat is funny.
Not only that, singing each animal’s cry the same number of times as the number of animals helps children learn numbers.
By using animals kids love and their sounds, it makes learning numbers fun.
But in the end, there are even five raccoon dog pups inside the elephant’s hat.
Just how big is it? After singing with the children, it might be fun to expand on the image and talk about it together.
Shirokuma’s Jenka Dance
Known as a folk dance tune as well, “Shirokuma no Jenka” (The Polar Bear Jenka) is a cheerful children’s song that incorporates the Finnish dance music style “jenkka.” The lyrics, featuring a polar bear parent and child, are adorable and delightful.