[Hand Play] Popular with kids! A collection of trendy hand-play songs and nostalgic traditional children’s songs
Hand-play songs that you can sing and play are hugely popular with children, aren’t they?
As times change, lots of new hand-play songs have appeared, and through these songs you can really feel children’s interests and curiosity.
Trendy songs are fun, but we also want to cherish the traditional warabe-uta that have been sung for generations.
Their melodies are warm, the back-and-forth of the words is amusing, and the fact that you can sing them without a piano is also very appealing.
This time, we’ll introduce plenty of hand-play songs that are favorites with kids!
From trending hits popular in childcare settings to traditional warabe-uta, we’ve got a full lineup of hand-play games that will bring smiles to children’s faces.
Be sure to join in and play along!
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- [February Songs] Introducing children's songs, folk songs, nursery rhymes, and hand-play songs about Setsubun and winter!
- Nostalgic Children’s Songs, Folk Songs, and Nursery Rhymes: The Heart of Japan Passed Down Through Song
- Useful for childcare! Today’s recommended recreational activities, including fingerplay and games!
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[Hand Games] Popular with Kids! Trendy Hand-Play Songs & Nostalgic Traditional Children's Songs Collection (21–30)
tea kettle lid stand (chatsubo)
A hand-clapping song featuring a tea caddy (chatsubo), appropriately called “Chatsubo.” This chatsubo has a bit of a problem—it has no lid! So the idea is to use the bottom of the caddy as a makeshift lid.
The song expresses this using both hands.
While alternately moving your hands, you form the lid, the body of the caddy, and then the bottom in sequence.
It seems like a simple hand game, but it’s actually quite tricky! Once your hands get tangled, it’s hard to get back on track.
But when you nail it, it feels great—so give it a try!
Two children got into a fight.warabeuta
Let me introduce a nursery rhyme that’s extremely popular with children.
This song is themed around a quarrel between kids, with lyrics that are humorous and easy to relate to.
It portrays a scuffle that keeps going even though the pharmacist tries to stop it, cheerfully reflecting everyday moments in children’s lives.
The way you play involves touching or matching fingers in sequence, which makes it enjoyable for a wide range of ages—from babies to preschoolers.
It’s perfect not only for nursery and kindergarten teachers, but also for bonding time with parents and guardians.
Singing and playing together as a family makes for wonderful memories.
I wonder if the rice crackers are done.
How to play “Osenbei Yaketa Kana”: First, two or more players form a circle and extend both hands with palms facing down.
In time with the song, one person taps everyone’s hands in order, and the person whose hand is tapped on the final “na” turns that hand over.
Anyone who has turned both hands over twice is out, and the last person remaining wins.
Bamboo shoots are sprouting.
It’s a hand game song that combines rock-paper-scissors with singing.
As the lyrics progress, you make the shapes for paper, scissors, and rock, and finish with a round of rock-paper-scissors! The rhythm is lively, so even children who haven’t learned rock-paper-scissors yet or can’t form the hand shapes should still enjoy it.
Because it’s more than just moving your hands—it has a game-like quality—it might really capture their attention.
Tea Picking
The Japanese children’s song “Chatsumi” (“Tea Picking”) has an unknown lyricist and composer.
Its original title is “Cha-tsumi.” The song is also well known as a hand-clapping game and is still widely loved across generations today.
To play, two people face each other and, in time with the music, tap their shoulders, hips, elbows, and so on, then clap hands together at set moments.
The movements are simple, so even young children can enjoy it.
Tanuki of Fist Mountain
“Genkotsuyama no Tanukisan” is a song about a baby raccoon dog living on a mountain called Genkotsuyama.
The baby tanuki drinks milk from its mom, gets cuddled, and falls asleep.
The hand game is easy—you just move your hands as the lyrics say! At the end of the song, you play rock-paper-scissors, so try playing it with friends, Dad, or Mom.
Actually, the lyrics continue even after the rock-paper-scissors part.
If you’re curious, look it up and try singing it!
horse (childish/affectionate term)Sakushi: Hayashi Ryūha / Sakkyoku: Matsushima Tsune
This piece portrays a foal walking clip-clop alongside its mother, set to a gentle rhythm.
Lyricist Yanaha Hayashi is said to have written the words based on the scene of a mare and foal he saw at the Imperial Stock Farm in Chiba, weaving the affection between animal mother and child in simple language.
Composer Tsune Matsushima aimed for a vocal range and phrasing that are easy for lower elementary grades to sing, and created accompaniment that is easy to play on keyboard or harmonica.
After being included in the February 1941 national school textbook “Uta no Hon, Upper,” it continued to be adopted in textbooks by various publishers after the war, and in 2007 it was selected for the “100 Best Japanese Songs.” It fits naturally into kindergarten and preschool choruses, and it’s easy to incorporate into fingerplay or instrumental ensembles.
If parents and children sing it together, they can have fun imitating the sound of hoofbeats.
mixed juice
This is a hand-play song themed around mixed juice, a drink full of various fruits that kids love.
In the mixed juice made in this song, we mix apples, grapes, strawberries, and cherries.
Each fruit is hidden among facial features that resemble the shape of that fruit.
Once you find the fruits in the face, use your arms to show putting them into a blender and mixing them.
When the mixed juice is ready, give it as a present to your friends or to Mom and Dad—they’ll surely be delighted!
The Bento Box Song
Even people who don’t know many fingerplay songs probably know this one, right? It’s the very famous “Obentōbako no Uta” (The Lunchbox Song).
Fingerplay songs that feature foods and animals are very popular with little children who can’t speak well yet.
It would also be a hit to make a parody version by adding your child’s favorite side dishes and ingredients!
Where are you from?
The handball song “Antagata Dokosa” is well known.
Its official title is said to be “Higo Temari Uta.” The lyrics are a bit shocking, telling of a hunter who shoots and eats a raccoon dog in the mountains.
As a handball song, it’s famous for the move where, whenever the syllable “sa” appears in the lyrics, you pass the ball under your foot while bouncing it.
There are many other ways to play with this song as well, such as pairing up like in “Alps Ichiman-jaku” to clap hands together, or jumping within a square ring to the rhythm and stepping forward on the “sa.” Beyond hand plays, feel free to enjoy it in whatever style you like.