[Childcare] Recommended songs and nursery rhymes for November: Fun autumn fingerplay songs
November is late autumn—the season of falling leaves—and a time when we start to feel winter approaching.
This time, we’ve gathered children’s songs and fingerplay songs with a November theme.
From pieces that evoke autumn scenery to songs that hint at the coming of winter, we’ll introduce plenty of sing-and-play fingerplay tunes!
They’re perfect for play at home, daycare, or kindergarten, so be sure to give them a try.
We’ve provided movement examples, but it’s also fun to arrange them in your own style!
Before the real cold sets in, let’s all sing and play together on these autumn days!
- [Children’s Songs of Autumn] Autumn songs, school songs, and traditional children’s rhymes. A collection of classic pieces to sing in autumn.
- [2026] Songs to listen to in November: masterpieces of late autumn, autumn songs.
- Recommended children's songs and hand play songs for October! Music time in childcare that feels like autumn.
- Song of the Maple Leaves. An autumn children’s song/nursery rhyme/folk song
- December children's songs, folk songs, and nursery rhymes: fun winter hand-play songs
- Songs for January: Nursery rhymes and fingerplay songs we want children to grow familiar with
- A collection of classic nursery rhymes and hand-play songs for September! Enjoy autumn with your child through songs.
- Collection of winter nursery rhymes, folk songs, and children's songs. Includes fun winter hand-play songs too.
- [Autumn Songs] Songs of autumn. Classic tracks and popular favorites you’ll want to listen to in the fall.
- [For Seniors] Autumn Songs That Touch the Heart: From Nostalgic Children’s Songs and School Songs to Showa-Era Kayōkyoku
- Snow Songs to Enjoy in Winter! Children's Snow Nursery Rhymes & Hand-Play Songs
- Recommended for daycare activities! A Halloween song you can sing and play with
- Autumn anime songs: iconic tracks for the deepening fall
[Childcare] Recommended songs and nursery rhymes for November: Fun autumn finger-play songs (21–30)
Red sky at duskSakushi: Nakamura Ukō / Sakkyoku: Kusakawa Shin
In autumn, sunsets look especially beautiful, don’t they? It depends on the region, but in November the sun usually sets around 5 p.m., so if you’re out for an evening walk with a little child, there’s a good chance you’ll catch the sunset.
At times like that, how about singing this song together with your child? Parents will certainly know it, and since it’s a classic children’s song, your child has probably learned it somewhere too.
It may seem like an ordinary moment, but it’s sure to become a scene that remains in your child’s heart as a lasting memory of autumn.
Potato Digging Song
Perfect for the autumn season, this song is a children’s tune about the fun of digging sweet potatoes.
Set to a bright and cheerful melody, it depicts children experiencing potato digging.
The call-and-response chant “Untokosho, dokkoisho” is memorable and really livens things up when everyone sings together! It’s often sung at autumn events and harvest festivals, and its simple, easy-to-remember lyrics make it enjoyable even for very young children.
Singing it before a potato-digging outing is a fun way for everyone to share the excitement.
Child of Autumn
This is one of the works by Hachiro Sato, who wrote the lyrics for many children’s songs, and it features various symbols of autumn in its lyrics.
It portrays children and is a song that warms the heart.
As you listen, it may remind some of you of your own childhood.
Acorn Boy Goes ExploringSakushi: Aramaki Shake, Hirai Takahito, Kizzu Purannā / Sakkyoku: Aramaki Shake, Hirai Takahito, Kizzu Purannā
This is the play song “Acorn Boy Goes Exploring” by childcare singer-songwriter Shake Aramaki.
Featuring a beloved acorn as the main character, the song comes with fun choreography typical of play songs.
The movements are very simple, but they’re designed so children can play while adding their own twists, like hopping and jumping.
Since the lyrics tell the story of an acorn going on an adventure, it’s sure to capture children’s interest!
Fruit Train
“The Fruit Train” is a song about various fruits riding on a train.
Kids love both trains and fruit, don’t they? The lyrics include not only fruit but also a variety of autumn delicacies, making it a lot of fun to imitate and sing along.
It seems the train runs on fallen leaves as fuel.
It’s a fun way to learn about foods that are in season in autumn!
Here you go, sweet potato!Sakushi: Mine Katsumasa / Sakkyoku: Okada Rikio
The play song “Hore Hore Satsumaimo,” featured in the childcare magazine PriPri, is a tune that lets you fully enjoy the flavors of autumn—digging up sweet potatoes, pretending to be sweet potatoes, and eating sweet potatoes.
Many preschools and kindergartens hold sweet potato digging events in the fall, so children will probably pick up this song quickly and have fun with it.
The days are cold, but if you move your body energetically, you’ll warm up in no time!
echo gameSakushi: Ouchi Yasuyuki / Sakkyoku: Wakatsuki Akito
If you’ve ever been mountain climbing as a child, you’ve probably played the “echo game,” right? The song “Yamabiko Gokko” is exactly about that echo game.
You sing the same line twice in a row, or deliberately say funny sound effects.
Since about half of the lyrics are made up of onomatopoeia, even little kids can enjoy it.
If you split parts with your friends and sing together, it might feel like a real echo and be even more fun.