[Children's Songs] Cute songs recommended for childcare. List of popular nursery rhymes.

Caro’s eyeballwarabeuta

Nursery rhyme “Kyāro no Medama” (Frog’s Eyeball) #Japanese traditional kids’ game

In dazzlingly green May, you can hear frogs calling from the rice paddies, can’t you? The perfect season to play this children’s song, whose rhythmic chants are such fun.

Its startling theme is cauterizing a frog’s eyeballs with moxa, but set to a lively beat it somehow turns into a delightfully playful song! Some say the sound of the words in the latter half may be connected to a song that was popular in the Meiji era.

It’s interesting to sing it while feeling a bit of history.

How to play is up to you—become a frog and jump, sit on an adult’s knee and bounce, and more.

Even on rainy days, moving your body indoors will lift your spirits! Imagine the frogs hopping, and raise your voices together as a parent and child to get excited.

Panda Rabbit Koalasakushi: takada hiroo / sakkyoku: inui hiroki

Let's try the hand game 'Panda Usagi Koala' together!!

The fresh greenery of May feels great, and it’s the perfect season for a trip to the zoo, isn’t it? That’s when this song—featuring three kinds of animals appearing one after another—is perfect for parents and kids to sing and play together.

With lyrics by Hiroo Takada and music by Yuki Inui, it has been loved for many years, including being featured on the December 1990 album “NHK Okaasan to Issho Best 35.” Broadcast on NHK’s “Okaasan to Issho,” this piece is especially fun because you can imitate animals in time with the rhythmic calls! The simple choreography is easy to learn right away, making it perfect for getting everyone excited on a field trip bus or at a picnic.

Be sure to strike cute poses together and have fun!

Song of a little bird

Song of a little bird

It’s a cute children’s song about a little bird calling its father and mother with its chirps.

It was released in 1954.

The lyrics were written by Jun’ichi Yoda, a children’s author from Fukuoka Prefecture.

The composer, Yasushi Akutagawa, also wrote music for films such as Hakkōda-san and Village of Eight Gravestones.

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Elephant’s hat

Elephant’s Hat (♪ The elephant forgot and left it behind ~) by Himawari 🌻 With Lyrics | Cute Nursery Rhyme to Soothe Crying Babies – From “With Mother” | Zo-san no Bōshi | Elephant’s Hat

It’s a song about a baby kitten, a piglet, and a raccoon dog pup one after another climbing into an elephant’s forgotten hat.

It starts with just one, but more and more keep joining in, and just imagining the animals packed tightly inside the hat is funny.

Not only that, singing each animal’s cry the same number of times as the number of animals helps children learn numbers.

By using animals kids love and their sounds, it makes learning numbers fun.

But in the end, there are even five raccoon dog pups inside the elephant’s hat.

Just how big is it? After singing with the children, it might be fun to expand on the image and talk about it together.

Sparrows Samba

Sparrow Samba (With Mother) / Tetsu Kashiwa, Saeko Shuu, Akira Hayashi

It sings about three sparrows dancing in various places.

You can just picture the adorable scene.

As the title suggests, it’s an upbeat, samba-style song.

The lyrics and music are by Tetsu Kashiwa, who is active as a singer-songwriter and novelist.

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Huh, where is it?Sakushi: Kanzawa Toshiko / Sakkyoku: Koshibe Nobuyoshi

Where Are You? [E Tele] Lyrics: Toshiko Kamizawa / Composition: Nobuyoshi Koshibe Okaasan to Issho♪

This is a very unique and fun fingerplay song where you search for where animals’ body parts are.

As you respond to the prompts by pointing “up,” “down,” and “sideways,” or by touching your own body, children’s powers of observation and curiosity will naturally be drawn out.

Written by lyricist Toshiko Kanzawa and composed by Nobuyoshi Koshibe, this piece has been loved across generations since it was included on the album “NHK Okaasan to Issho,” released in April 1992 as a related song to the NHK program Okaasan to Issho.

March, when children are on the verge of graduating or moving up a grade and you can feel their growth, is the perfect time for this—whether in nursery schools and kindergartens or at home spending one-on-one playtime with your child.

Enjoy warm springtime moments together with lots of laughter!

Horse’s tail, pig’s tail.Sakushi: Abe Hitomi / Sakkyoku: Yamamoto Naozumi

Horse tails, pig tails

Broadcast on NHK’s Minna no Uta in August 1983, this song is a humorous children’s tune themed around the tails of a horse and a pig.

Written by Hitomi Abe and composed by Naosumi Yamamoto, it was selected as an outstanding piece in NHK’s Children’s Song Lyrics and Composition Contest.

The story charmingly likens a boy’s puppy-love—teasing the girl he likes—to animal tails, sweetly capturing that childish urge to tug on her pigtails.

Sung by Kyu Sakamoto and the NHK Tokyo Children’s Choir, it became well-loved and was rebroadcast in 2010 and 2015.

There are also covers by various artists, including Seiji Tanaka, and it is widely sung in kindergarten and nursery school choirs.

Its lively melody and catchy refrain make it perfect for parents and children to sing together.