Lovely nursery rhymes, folk songs, and children's songs

[Childcare] Recommended songs and nursery rhymes for November: Fun autumn fingerplay songs

9 years of experience as a nursery school teacherRisa Shibata
I am an active nursery school teacher with 9 years of experience. After graduating from university, I worked at a daycare center. The time I spent happily with children—playing piano, singing songs, and doing finger-play—are priceless memories to me. Currently, while raising three children of my own, I work at an after-school day service, engaging with children and providing individualized developmental support. Drawing on my diverse experiences as a childcare worker and as a mother, I hope to express and convey my thoughts through writing.
Deputy Editor of RAG MUSICSasashina
Deputy Editor of the web media RAG MUSIC. I’m Sasashina, a mom currently raising an elementary schooler and a preschooler. In my student days, I studied broadly at Kyoto College of Science and Technology, covering sound, lighting, and video technology, and acquired skills from comprehensive stage production to the fundamentals of creative expression. After graduation, I joined a music production company, where I still work, and have consistently built my career on the production side, taking on diverse tasks centered around music. Currently, I mainly handle articles for children, drawing on what I’ve learned about parenting in my own way, as well as insights and discoveries from interacting with my kids every day. I hope I can be of help to you, even just a little!

November is late autumn—the season of falling leaves—and a time when we start to feel winter approaching.

This time, we’ve gathered children’s songs and fingerplay songs with a November theme.

From pieces that evoke autumn scenery to songs that hint at the coming of winter, we’ll introduce plenty of sing-and-play fingerplay tunes!

They’re perfect for play at home, daycare, or kindergarten, so be sure to give them a try.

We’ve provided movement examples, but it’s also fun to arrange them in your own style!

Before the real cold sets in, let’s all sing and play together on these autumn days!

[Childcare] Recommended Songs and Nursery Rhymes for November: Fun Autumn Finger-Play Songs (41–50)

oden (Japanese stew with assorted ingredients such as daikon radish, tofu, fish cakes, and eggs simmered in a light soy-based broth)

[Fingerplay Song] Oden ♪ A fingerplay song that encourages speech

oden (Japanese stew with assorted ingredients such as daikon radish, tofu, fish cakes, and eggs simmered in a light soy-based broth)

Oden is a hand-play song that combines the delicious winter dish “oden” with simple hand movements.

The ingredients in oden actually include lots of shapes like circles, triangles, and squares.

It’s a song that even children who can’t speak yet can enjoy, so we recommend first listening to it repeatedly.

For the circle, triangle, and square gestures, teachers at nurseries and kindergartens, as well as parents and children together, should try them in a hand-play style.

It’s even more fun if you sing while imagining a tasty bowl of oden!

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Excuse me, udon shop.

November hand-play song with lyrics: “Excuse me, Udon Shop”

Excuse me, udon shop.

Here’s a hand-play song that features lots of food and is likely to be popular with children: “Excuse Me, Mr.

Udon Shop.” A song about udon is perfect for the chilly autumn season.

In the first verse it’s the udon shop, and the key point is adding gestures for tanuki and kitsune.

In the second verse it’s the ramen shop, and just like with udon, the slurping-noodles motion is very cute.

The third verse is a restaurant, and you do gestures that match each food; I think it’s fine if everyone does their own different gestures however they like.

The way the food theme changes from verse one to three is another point that draws children in.

It’s also fun to make parody verses by swapping in everyone’s favorite foods!

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Acorns and a Little Squirrel

[Fingerplay Song] Acorns and the Little Squirrel

Acorns and a Little Squirrel

This is the counting song “Acorns and the Little Squirrel,” themed around acorns and a squirrel.

It’s a song where the acorns being chased by the squirrel keep increasing, and you can play along by counting numbers 1 to 10 with your hands.

As kids enjoy the growing number of acorns and wonder, “What happens at the end?”, they naturally learn the numbers too—so it’s recommended even for children who struggle with number order! The melody is very cute, so it’s fun just to listen to as well!

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Apple rolling

[Hand Play] Rolling Apples – Recommended for kindergartens, nursery schools, and teaching practicums!

Apple rolling

A hand-play song where you sing the names of various fruits and vegetables to the tune of “Gu-Choki-Pa de Nani Tsukurou.” The familiar melody and the comical, pun-filled lyrics about foods are so cute.

Some children may even grow to like foods they’re not fond of by feeling closer to them through the hand-play song.

It’s perfect for kids who love sound effects, and it’s a hand-play song that lets them enjoy not only their favorite foods but even the ones they don’t like.

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In conclusion

We introduced recommended songs, nursery rhymes, and hand games for November.

Did you find a song that the children are likely to enjoy? They all let you experience uniquely Japanese scenery and a sense of the seasons through music and play.

We hope not only children but adults as well will enjoy the deepening autumn season.