[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—Children’s Day, a holiday celebrating children’s healthy growth! Many families decorate with carp streamers and samurai dolls and enjoy a festive meal.
In this article, we’ve gathered some recommended hand-play songs perfect for Children’s Day.
How about trying them with your family after the celebration? These are all ideal for kids in nursery school and kindergarten, so have fun adding Children’s Day–themed twists as you play!
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[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)
Knock knock knock, Anpanman
How about trying a fingerplay song featuring Anpanman—the beloved hero that almost every little child goes through a phase of loving—and his friends? Each character has a distinct personality, and their bread-themed, humorous appearances are quite memorable.
In this fingerplay song, you rhythmically form their face shapes with your fingers.
From Anpanman to Currypanman and even Baikinman, many friends make an appearance.
Because these are characters familiar to children, it’s approachable and something they’ll likely enjoy engaging with.
Donguri Korokoro
It’s a traditional, story-style hand-play song that has been passed down for generations.
If you sing it while using real acorns or with paper puppets, children will be delighted, don’t you think? It’s a classic that both adults and children all know.
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.
magic hand
This is a hand-play song that uses the idea of hands stuck together and not coming apart.
You can represent a tengu by interlocking fists vertically, or make glasses by interlocking scissors (two-finger) hands left and right.
It also sounds fun for parents and children to think up animals and vehicles using the shapes of rock, scissors, and paper.
By expressing hand gestures after the hands have “stuck together,” you can enjoy it even more.
Why not try it with a Children’s Day theme, such as carp streamers or kashiwa mochi?
[Children’s Day Hand Play Songs] A Collection of Nursery Rhymes & Traditional Children’s Songs for Parents and Kids to Enjoy (61–70)
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.