Nursery rhymes and fingerplay songs to enjoy in May! Songs perfect for the fresh green season
In dazzlingly green May, many of you are surely looking for children’s songs and hand-play tunes to sing with kids at daycare or at home.
Songs that evoke spring really capture children’s hearts and add color to everyday activities.
In this article, we’ll introduce plenty of nursery rhymes and hand-play songs perfect for May.
From familiar, easy-to-sing melodies to ones that get kids moving, we’ve got a wide range—so try incorporating them into your daily childcare and parent-child time!
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Nursery rhymes and hand-clapping songs to enjoy in May! Perfect songs for the season of fresh greenery (51–60)
The skylark sings.Sakushi: Azuma Kume / Sakkyoku: Taki Rentaro
This song evokes the gentle atmosphere of spring and is truly perfect for the season around May.
The skylark mentioned in the title and lyrics is also said to be a bird that heralds spring.
Singing a song so full of spring might make you want to go look for skylarks or go see flowers that bloom in spring.
By the way, due to urbanization and the resulting decrease in green spaces like fields and meadows, skylarks have become difficult to spot nowadays.
It might be nice to try looking for them in a nature-rich place during Golden Week while singing this song.
Tea Pickingsakushi sakkyoku: fushō
Early summer is the season for shincha (new tea).
When I pass by a tea shop, the wonderful aroma draws me in, and I end up buying fresh tea without thinking.
The “Eighty-Eighth Night,” which is also mentioned in songs as the ideal time for picking tea leaves, is the 88th day counting from the first day of spring on the traditional calendar, and it usually falls on May 1st or 2nd.
Because the number eight (a symbol of prosperity) appears twice, it’s also considered an auspicious day.
Everyone can hum the song “Chatsumi” (Tea Picking), but isn’t it strange how the lyrics in the latter half often get fuzzy? This year, let’s learn the first and second verses with the children and sing them proudly on Children’s Day.
A-I-U-E-O nigirisakushi/sakkyoku: shuu saeko
A bright, rhythmic tune themed around the joy and smiles of making rice balls as a family.
With lyrics that spark curiosity and imagination about everyday ingredients, it captivates children’s hearts.
First broadcast on NHK’s “Okaasan to Issho” in April 2001, the song has been covered by many artists, including Satoko Yamano and the Himawari Kids.
It’s used in nursery schools and kindergartens as part of food education, and it’s also recommended to hum along at home while making onigiri with your child.
Let’s go to the zoo.Sakushi: Umino Yōji / Sakkyoku: T. Paxton
May has pleasant weather, and many kindergartens and nursery schools go on field trips.
If you’re heading to the zoo, we recommend the song “Let’s Go to the Zoo”! This song, which has been aired on NHK’s “Minna no Uta” and “Okaasan to Issho,” is based on “Goin’ to the Zoo” by American singer-songwriter Tom Paxton.
The lyrics describe going to the zoo and spotting lots of animals, and they also include animal sounds, so children can enjoy singing it like a wordplay game.
Sing the song and head to the zoo to look for the animals that appear in the lyrics!
Nursery Rhymes and Fingerplay Songs to Enjoy in May! Perfect Tunes for the Season of Fresh Greenery (61–70)
Watermelon-producing regionsakushi: takada sankuzou/genkyoku: amerika min’yō
This song is a Japanese piece based on the American folk song “Old MacDonald Had a Farm,” and many of you have probably played the hand game that goes with it.
The lyricist Sakuzo Takada, who wrote the Japanese lyrics for this song, also adapted many other well-loved foreign songs in Japan, including “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” “Ten Little Indians,” and “London Bridge.”
cherry
Sakuranbon is a hand-play song themed around cherries, which are in season from May to July.
You use your hands and arms to represent cherries and keep the rhythm by swinging your arms widely from side to side.
The cherry fruits are shown with clenched fists! You can stack your clenched hands under your chin to look like a beard, place them on top of your head to imitate a bear, or stretch your arms straight out in front to show driving a car—there are lots of different poses included.
Of course, you can freely change the poses made with your clenched hands! What unique poses will the children come up with?
Applause for you!sakushi: aritarou/sakkyoku: masuda tarou
This refreshing piece, themed around handclaps, was broadcast as the Monthly Song for February 2023 on NHK E-TV’s “Okaasan to Issho.” Its lyrics, which convey gratitude and encouragement through the act of clapping, gently embrace feelings too deep for words and soothe the listener’s heart.
In the video, the older performers in colorful costumes sing and dance joyfully in front of a dazzling floral set, leaving a lasting impression.
It’s a heartwarming work that cheers on children who strive every day and gives courage and energy to parents raising them.