[Music Play] Children’s Recreational Music: Rec Songs You Can Sing and Play

Real GoneCars

Real Gone (from Cars)

One of the charms of Disney movies is anthropomorphism.

Snowmen talk, and cars and airplanes have human-like personalities—there are all sorts of elements that spark children’s imagination and curiosity.

The film Cars is like that too.

It’s not just a simple good-versus-evil story; friendship and love run deep beneath it all.

Sheryl Crow’s song “Real Gone” pairs perfectly with a cool dance.

It’s also a great BGM choice for school sports days during sprints or relays.

The Cars soundtrack is packed with tracks you can use, including songs by Chuck Berry and Rascal Flatts.

Kuikaimanimani

Quick Eye Mani Mani - Junko Wajima - Junko Kamishima

This song, with words that sound like incomprehensible incantations, was broadcast in 1961 on NHK’s “Minna no Uta.” There seem to be various theories about which country it comes from and who created it, but the official Minna no Uta page says it’s a South American folk song with lyrics written by Shiro Takahashi of the YMCA.

Its sheer strangeness and lack of apparent meaning, if anything, make it fun to sing.

The sun sets behind the distant mountains.

“Homeward” (The sun sets behind the distant hills) – Song of Memories 27 – Dvořák Symphony No. 9

This is an arrangement of the second movement from Dvořák’s Symphony No.

9, “From the New World.” Speaking of “From the New World,” it is sometimes mentioned alongside Beethoven’s “Fate” and Schubert’s “Unfinished” as one of the “three great symphonies,” and many people have probably heard its melody.

The Japanese lyrics are by Keizo Horiuchi.

Playing bus (pretend bus play)Lyrics by: Yoshiko Kayama / Music by: Akira Yuyama

Bus Pretend Play (♪ We’re riding on a big bus ~ To our neighbor, hey!) by Himawari 🌻 With Lyrics | Children’s Song | BUS GOKKO | Vehicle Song, Eurhythmics, Nursery Teacher Exam Set Piece 2019

This lively children’s song by Yoshiko Kayama and Akira Yuyama captures the excitement of setting off on a trip in a big bus.

Set to a rhythmic melody, it gently portrays children enjoying pretend play with vehicles.

It’s a song you can sing while moving your hands and body, so it naturally brings smiles to children’s faces.

Long cherished in childcare and educational settings, it’s also used as a play song.

With spring outing season approaching, why not sing it together as a family before a walk or a day out? If everyone enjoys it while keeping the beat, it will surely create wonderful memories in children’s hearts.

The Bear of the Forest

“The Bear of the Forest” (with gestures) [Japanese Song / Shoka]

This is a song with lyrics adapted by Yoshihiro Baba from an American folk tune.

It’s a song that everyone knows well.

It was broadcast on “Minna no Uta” in 1972 and became widely known in Japan.

The English and Japanese versions differ in the latter half of the lyrics, and the storyline in which the bear and the young lady become friendly appears only in the Japanese version as an original addition.

A big song

(Elementary school students' fun song and dance) Big Song

This is a song written and composed by Koichi Nakajima.

Since it’s set up like a call-and-response, even people who don’t know it can probably sing along by imitating the first singer.

With lyrics that are easy for young children to understand and a melody that’s easy to sing, it’s perfect for kids to sing at their first camp.

Funiculi Funicula

Funiculi Funicula (in Japanese)

It’s a song composed to attract passengers to the Italian mountain railway called the “Funicolare.” Because there were very few riders when it first opened, Mr.

Luigi Denza was commissioned to compose a theme song, and this piece was created.

In Japan, isn’t it better known with different lyrics as the children’s song “Oni no Pantsu” (The Ogre’s Underpants) set to the same melody?