Nursery rhymes I want to sing in July: fun summer songs
July, the beginning of summer, is hot but such a fun season, isn’t it?
How about singing joyfully in the hot summer to blow the heat away?
To prevent kids from getting heatstroke, spending time indoors singing fun songs is also recommended!
Here, we’ve gathered classic children’s songs and ones often sung at nurseries and kindergartens.
There are songs you can enjoy with hand play, too.
There are lots of songs children love, so sing and play together and feel the summer!
You can have a great time at home as well.
Use this as a guide so both kids and adults can have fun together!
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Nursery rhymes to sing in July: Fun summer songs (1–10)
Yokai Shiritori
The song “Yokai Shiritori” features all kinds of yokai in its lyrics.
Listen closely to hear which yokai appear.
Since it’s structured as shiritori, you might also enjoy it as a kind of wordplay.
It could be fun to ask the children which yokai they like and work their original yokai names into the song to get everyone excited.
It’s a tune that can be enjoyed in many settings, such as summer festivals or overnight daycare events in the summer.
By all means, try creating a new yokai song together with the children.
Sticky Samba
With its catchy tune that sticks in your head after just one listen, “Neba-Neba Samba” features melodies and lyrics that make you want to dance.
Along with the lyrics about “neba-neba” (sticky/slimy), lots of foods that evoke that texture appear.
It might be fun to imagine them and see how many you can find.
From around age two, it’s also recommended to ask questions like, “What kinds of sticky foods are there?” It could be enjoyable to include the song as part of summer food education as well.
Picnic
With its lively, energetic rhythm, “Picnic” is a sprightly song that makes you want to start walking.
Ducks, goats, dogs, and pigs appear in the lyrics.
Try singing while imitating their animal sounds! If you ask the children what sounds each animal makes before singing, they’ll be able to enjoy the song more while understanding its meaning.
Since it’s a song about heading to the fun place that is a picnic, sing it brightly and cheerfully with the children.
Nursery rhymes to sing in July: Fun summer songs (11–20)
One, two, three
Let me introduce the upbeat song “One, Two, Three.” The lyrics feature animals like frogs and penguins.
It might be fun to change the way you jump for each animal, adding variety to your movements as you dance.
As you sing, it turns into an energizing song that fills you with hope and courage for the future.
Try dancing and enjoying it while imagining a bright future! Adding some hand claps might make it even more fun.
The Curry Rice SongSakushi: Tomorogi Yukio / Sakkyoku: Mine Akira
A hand-play song popular with children, “The Curry Rice Song.” Summer is the season for curry.
Singing this song makes you crave curry, doesn’t it? What’s more, the song teaches you the ingredients and steps to make curry, so it might be fun for parents and kids to actually cook curry together while singing it.
As an aside, in the Kanto region pork is the standard meat used in homemade curry, while in the Kansai region beef is more common.
Let’s enjoy some delicious curry and power through the hot summer.
The Star Festival (Tanabata)
When it comes to July events, many people probably think of Tanabata first.
Listening to “Tanabata-sama” instantly conjures up the scenes of the festival.
The lyrics are very beautiful, evoking images of gently rustling bamboo leaves and twinkling stars.
It’s a classic song you often hear in July.
To the Sun in the Palm of Your HandSakushi: Yanase Takashi / Sakkyoku: Izumi Taku
A perfect children’s song for the brilliantly shining summer sun is “Tenohira o Taiyō ni” (Hold Your Palms to the Sun).
The lyrics were written by Takashi Yanase, creator of Anpanman, and the music was composed by Taku Izumi, who worked on many songs including the theme for “Tetsuko’s Room.” Joy and sadness, encounters with all kinds of friends and living creatures—this song deeply reminds us that these seemingly ordinary things are only possible because we are alive.
Although it’s a song for children, adults may feel it in a different, moving way.
There’s choreography that matches the lyrics, too, so sing and dance with all your energy and enjoy this moment of being alive!
