[Children’s Day Hand-Play Songs] A Collection of Nursery Rhymes & Traditional Children’s Songs for Parents and Kids to Enjoy Together
May 5th is Tango no Sekku, known as Children’s Day, a time to celebrate kids’ healthy growth!
Many families display carp streamers and samurai dolls and enjoy special meals.
In this article, we’ve gathered recommended fingerplay songs perfect for Children’s Day.
Why not try them together with your family after the celebration?
These fingerplays are ideal for children in daycare or kindergarten, so have fun adding Children’s Day–themed twists as you play!
- Nursery rhymes and fingerplay songs to enjoy in May! Songs perfect for the fresh green season
- [Hand Play] Popular with kids! A collection of trendy hand-play songs and nostalgic traditional children’s songs
- Songs to Listen to on Children’s Day | A Curated Selection of Music for Tango no Sekku!
- [Warabe-uta] Beloved Classic Songs Passed Down Through Generations
- [Childcare] Games and performances that liven up Children's Day
- [Music Play] Children’s Recreational Music: Rec Songs You Can Sing and Play
- [For 1-year-olds] Fun Together! Recommended Songs and Hand Play Collection
- [Childcare] Summer songs: Full of fun! Summer nursery rhymes & finger-play songs
- Nursery rhymes to sing in spring: a collection of classic songs you'll want to sing with your children
- Get pumped with kids’ favorite songs! A memorable collection of classics that will make you want to sing along
- Hand-play songs to sing for Hinamatsuri. Songs everyone can enjoy.
- [Parenting] Parent-child bonding! Hand-play songs and traditional nursery rhymes collection
- Children’s songs for Hinamatsuri: A collection of songs everyone can sing together for the Doll Festival
[Children’s Day Hand-Play Songs] A Collection of Nursery Rhymes & Traditional Children’s Songs for Parents and Kids (41–50)
It’s starting.
A fingerplay song that uses both hands to show numbers and mimic the traits of characters or animals.
As the title suggests, it’s a song themed around beginnings, so it’s also recommended to sing before reading a picture book aloud or starting a Children’s Day event.
You play by making numbers with your left and right hands.
For example, make a scissors pose with both hands to represent a crab—there’s lots of room for creative variations.
Try incorporating Children’s Day–themed ideas like carp streamers and samurai helmets as you play.
[Hand-Play Songs for Children's Day] A Collection of Nursery Rhymes and Traditional Children's Songs for Parents and Kids to Enjoy (51–60)
Yakiimo goo-choki-pa
Even in warm May, you still crave roasted sweet potatoes! This hand-play song, “Yakiimo Gu-Chi-Pa,” is perfect for that.
Using the rock, scissors, and paper from rock-paper-scissors, it expresses the fun of eating delicious roasted sweet potatoes.
For example, “rock” shows your stomach growling when you see the sweet potato.
As you sing, you use your hands to match the lyrics and add movements.
Singing and playing will make you hungrier and hungrier.
Try singing it while you wait for the sweet potatoes to finish roasting!
Vegetable Song
The fingerplay song “Vegetable Song” features lots of veggies.
Many vegetables pop up in the lyrics, and it’s a song you can enjoy through playful sounds, onomatopoeia, and puns.
From familiar everyday produce to vegetables with katakana names, I think it helps you learn lots of names in a fun way.
If you sing and dance to this song at the table, it would be wonderful if kids start thinking, “Hey, I know that vegetable!” and take a little more interest in their meals.
Ten thousand feet in the Alps
It’s a traditional hand game where two people pair up, sing a song, and clap each other’s hands.
Haven’t most adults tried it at least once? Because it’s a simple, easy-to-remember hand game, it’s a casual activity you can do anytime, anywhere—whether with a parent and child or between friends—so it’s fun even on a whim.
The Curry Rice Song
If your family is planning to make your child’s favorite curry on Children’s Day, try singing this “Curry and Rice Song” with hand motions! The song goes through the steps of making curry rice by adding ingredients, and ends with enjoying the delicious meal.
As you sing, shape the ingredients with your hands and use motions to show putting them into the pot.
When it’s time to eat, make sure to use big, hearty eating motions! Once you can sing this hand-play song, you might even be able to help Mom or Dad with the cooking!
What shall we make with rock, scissors, paper?
Another extremely famous masterpiece in the world of hand-play songs, “What Can We Make with Rock, Scissors, Paper?” In this game, you shape your hands into rock, scissors, or paper and combine them to sing about what they can represent.
Well-known examples include a snail made with rock and scissors, and a helicopter with rock and paper.
And depending on the child, they might even invent unexpected, brand-new creations.
With just these three predetermined hand shapes, imagination can expand infinitely—this is a timeless classic among hand-play songs.
Playing bus (pretend bus play)
This is a fingerplay song where you can pretend to be a bus driver.
It starts with hand motions for holding the steering wheel, so you can enjoy choreography that mimics driving a bus.
There’s a part where the passengers pass their tickets along in order, giving everyone a role to play.
You could also set a destination and add the idea of the whole family aiming for the goal together.
It’s a song with unique developments, like enjoying the scenery or bumping into things.
It’s also fun to switch drivers and play again each time the song ends.