Songs to Sing with Toddlers

If you didn’t know, young children LOVE to sing!  Group time (also known as circle or story time in many preschool classrooms) was always my favorite time of the day when I was a preschool teacher, especially in the toddler classes.  This is when the whole class comes together to have discussions, read books and sing songs.

When I was teaching I, of course, had my favorite songs that were fun to sing and that the kids also loved.  The best songs to sing with toddlers are usually ones we (in the field) call “fingerplays” which means there are motions to accompany the songs.

There are the classics like Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and the Itsy Bitsy Spider but I also learned a ton from other teachers and to go along with our thematic units.

Here are just a few of my favorite songs to sing with toddlers:

5 Little Cookies

5 Little cookies in the bakery shop (hold up 5 fingers)

All dressed up with sugar on top. (wiggle fingers)

Along comes Doodle with a penny to pay (put hand out to child to ask for pretend penny)

He takes a cookie and he runs away (take child’s hand and sign “cookie” in his/her palm and move hand to his/her chest)

…repeat with 4, 3, 2, 1.

No more cookies in the bakery shop (shrug shoulders)

All dressed up with sugar on top 

Along comes Sugarplum with a penny to pay (put hand out to child to ask for pretend penny)

Sorry, no more cookies in the shop today! (shrug shoulders)

Little Acorn

I’m a little acorn brown

Lying on the cold hard ground

Everybody steps on me

That is why I’m cracked you see

I’m a nut (click tongue & knock head twice)

I’m a nut (click tongue & knock head twice)

I’m crazy! (make a funny face)

Here is a Bunny

Here is a bunny with ears so funny (bend two fingers over)

And here is a hole in the ground (make hole with other hand)

When a noise he hears, he pricks up his ears (straighten fingers)

And hops into his hole so round (put “bunny” in hole)

Make a Pancake

Make a pancake pat, pat, pat (pat hands together)

Do not make it fat, fat, fat (stretch hands apart)

You must make it flat, flat, flat (pat hands together)

Make a pancake just like that (clap hands together)

Tiny Tim

I have a little turtle, His name is Tiny Tim (pretend to hold something to your chest)

I put him in the bathtub, To see if he could swim (pretend to let him go) 

He drank up all the water, He ate up all the soap (pretend to gobble up something)

And when I took him out, He had bubbles in his throat (point to throat) 

Bubble, bubble, bubble, bubble, Bubble, bubble. (pretend to grab bubbles in the air)

POP! (Clap hands loudly)

I used to print out each song and laminate (using clear contact paper when on a budget, more on how here) and kept a song library in my classroom right next to the books.

Download the Song Library Cards for the above songs and more.

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Songs and fingerplays books I love:

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The Book of Fingerplays & Action Songs

The Best of Wee Sing

The Complete Book of Rhymes, Songs, Poems, Fingerplays, and Chants

Preschool Songs & Fingerplays: Building Language Experience Through Rhythm and Movement

This post is part of my Music and Movement in May series, this month’s Monthly Milestone.